Chris Bearchell

Christine (Chris) Bearchell (August 16, 1953–February 18, 2007) was a Canadian gay liberation activist and right to privacy advocate. Between 1976 and 1987, she was a regular contributor to The Body Politic. During her time living in Toronto from 1975 to 1995, she co-founded or was a leading member of several organizations, including Canadian Lesbian and Gay Rights of Ontario and Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project. She also participated in the protests against Operation Soap.

Early life Bearchell was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1953. She was the eldest daughter of Julia Battersby and Ben Bearchell, and had one younger brother and two younger sisters. Bearchell attended Jasper Place High School, where she was a captain of the debate team and successfully lobbied for the repeal of a dress code requiring girls to wear skirts. She left home at the age of 15 to live with another woman. As a teenager, she participated in the anti-Vietnam War movement and the Campaign to Defend Dr. Henry Morgentaler. She moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1975.

Gay liberation

Bearchell was a towering figure in the Gay Liberation movement in Canada. She spoke about their goals, saying "Discrimination became a reality as gay people emerged from the closet in larger numbers. We wanted to organize people in opposition to that discrimination, in part to bring them out in even greater numbers, knowing that that was a necessary precondition for the creation of a gay community and a gay political movement."

Bearchell first became involved in activism in Toronto by organizing the lesbian workshop of the Ontario Federation of Student Women Conference in 1974, and shortly afterward joined the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights of Ontario (CLRGO), then called the Coalition for Gay Rights in Ontario, as well as the Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE). She served on the executive committee of GATE and in February 1975, was chosen as the chairperson of the Committee to Defend John Damien, a gay jockey who had been fired by the Ontario Racing Commission. The show consisted primarily of humorous satirical segments, and ran from September 21, 1978 to early 1979 on Rogers Cable.

Bearchell was also an early member of the Lesbian Organization of Toronto (LOOT).

The Body Politic

Bearchell began writing for The Body Politic in 1976. She had a column called "Dykes" and wrote about lesbian issues. In 1978, she helped lead a campaign to defend the paper against criminal indecency charges.

Operation Soap

Bearchell participated in the Feb. 6, 1981 protest against the mass arrests conducted by Toronto Police the previous night during Operation Soap. Bearchell gave a speech to the gathered protesters at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley in Toronto's Gay Village, and was reportedly the one to start the chant "No more shit!", which became a prominent slogan in the community response to Operation Soap.

Sex workers' rights Beginning in the 1980s, Bearchell began organizing in the sex workers' rights movement. In 1983, she was a founding member of the Canadian Organization for the Rights of Prostitutes (CORP) along with Peggie Lee, Danny Cockerline, Feather, and Gwendolyn. This organization advocated for the decriminalization of prostitution, spoke out against the prosecution of those involved in sex work, and provided advice and support to sex workers facing criminal charges. During the period of 1986 to 1991, Bearchell was one of the activists "at the helm of CORP's efforts for decriminalization".

Personal life In the 1970s, Bearchell was in a non-monogamous relationship with activist Konnie Reich.

In 1984, Bearchell began a relationship with Irit Shimrat, another activist. Shimrat published a magazine for former psychiatric patients, Phoenix Rising, out of the basement of their collective home, and helped Bearchell launch a new magazine, Epicene, after The Body Politic folded in 1987. The LGBTQ2S ArQuives in Toronto, Canada, holds a collection of Bearchell’s belongings.