From the time it opened its door in 1972, Le Mystique was a hit. The building which
housed the newest gay gathering hole (which may account for it's nickname "The Hole")
included le Rocambole above, and above that was Truxx, which in time became L'Oxygene.
A roll call of Montreal's gay nightlife across the last three decades starts with
these iconic names.
Joe has been with Le Mystique since the beginning. He became a hero when the police
raided Truxx on the night of his birthday, in 1978. It was the biggest reported gay raid
in Canada, with 154 customers and staff taken into police custody.
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The support for Joe and his
customers was the most impressive manifestation of gay solidarity until then.
For more than a decade, Le Mystique was the busiest place in town. Crowned by Bacchanalian
Sundays, le tout Montreal was here. Nitty-gritty?: The barmen relieved themselves in the
lane. Why? The line-up to the john was sometimes 45 minutes long! The music blasted
while bodies pressed against bodies, and smoke from a variety of tobacco weaved its
way in and around the crowd.
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