Ron Dayman

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1948–1991 

Ron Dayman, an early writer for The Body Politic periodical in Toronto, and public spokesperson at GATE, Toronto, worked with Jearld Moldenhauer on establishing the Canadian Gay Liberation Movement Archives in 1973, later called the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives, now simply called Arquives. Moldenhauer is credited with having the idea and seeding the collection with various books and documents, however, Dayman did the bulk of the work cataloging it all, initially storing archival materials in his basement.

Around 1974, he moved to Ottawa, where he was a significant activist for Gays of Ottawa, writing in their periodical, GO Info, and then he later moved to Montreal. At GO, he criticized the press and police in the handling of the 1975 so-called ‘Vice-Ring’ case, the scandal of which led to the suicide of Warren Zufelt. He became the National Gay Rights Coalition’s first secretary in July 1975.