"Down At the Whorehouse?": Reflections on Christian Community Service and Female Sex Deviance at Toronto's Street Haven, 1965 - 1969
Keywords:
Community-based programs, Delinquency, Homophobia, Lesbianism, Lesbians-History, Toronto (Ontario), Youth sexualityAbstract
This paper focuses on Street Haven, a drop-in centre that opened in Toronto, Ontario in 1965 to service female ex-offenders and street women, the majority of whom were gay, drug users, and prostitutes. Interviews and archival materials reveal how white, middle-class. Haven volunteers endeavoured to improve the lives of "the girls" in the interests of "normal" womanhood. At the same time, stories told by volunteers complicate notions of societal norms unilaterally imposed by Christian "do-gooders" on "deviant" subjects.Metrics
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