'He braved up when we needed him': Friends pay tribute to pioneering gay activist Tom Burns

When no one wanted to be the face of Nova Scotia's first gay advocacy group in the 1970s, Tom Burns stepped up.

He grew up in Halifax in the 1960s, feeling invisible like he was the only gay person in the city.

But when his best friend came out to him, he realized he wasn't alone,and he didn't want anyone else to feel invisible like he did.

"We [knew] that there are gay people. We met them, we talked to them so we said, well, why not organize to help them come out and to try to end discrimination?" Burns told CBC Radio's Mainstreet in July.

Burns died in Halifax on Saturday. He was 76.

In 1972, Burns became the first chairperson of Halifax's Gay Alliance for Equality and helped start the Halifax Gayline, a queer support line that operated for more than three decades.

He also opened Halifax's first gay book store, The Alternate Book Shop.

"Tom Burns has left his footprint all over the city by being one of the first gay rights activists in the city," David Gray, a longtime friend of Burns, told CBC Radio's Mainstreet on Monday.

"He was a noble, a brave and a courageous man to do what he did."

Burns and Gray, along with a few others, started the Gay Alliance for Equality in 1972 after being inspired by the Stonewall Inn riots that happened in New York City only three years prior in 1969.

FIRST PERSON | Meet the pioneer of Halifax's queer community in the 1970s

2 years ago

Duration 4:54

Tom Burns was the first chairperson of the Gay Alliance for Equality in 1970s. He helped manage a support line and would eventually open the Alternate Book Shop.

The riots are regarded as a landmark event in the gay rights movement in North America.

Graysaid Burns took the job of chairperson when no one else wanted it because many people were fearful of ridicule and potential repercussions.

"We were determined to do this regardless of the consequences. This was something that had to be done and you know, just the ordinary guy can brave up when the cause is noble enough and that's what Tom did," he said."He braved up when we needed him."

'Impossibly humble'

Rebecca Rose, a Dartmouth author, interviewed Burns in 2018 for her book, Before the Parade, which outlines the history of Halifax's gay, lesbian and bisexual communities between 1972 and 1984.

She said during the interview, Burns was "impossibly humble."

"When he spoke about founding the province's first gay advocacy organization or opening the province's first gay bookstore, he would say, 'and that's about it,' after every sentence, as if what he and his other activists had done wasn't phenomenal," Rose said Monday.

Although humble, she said Burns was proud of what he and other gay activists achieved, primarily through education.

With the Gay Alliance for Equality, Burns visited Dalhousie University and Saint Mary's University to talk about homosexuality.

The group also started the Halifax Gayline, which offered mental health support and guidance to gay, lesbian and bisexual people whether they were out or not, and tried toend the practice of conversion therapy.

"Tom and his fellow gay, lesbian [and] bisexual activist friends created this province's movement for gay liberation," Rose said. "Without them, we wouldn't have the activism, the community, the spaces that we have today, including Pride."

Rose said The Alternate Book Shop, Halifax's first gay bookstore, which Burns opened in 1975, created a safe place where people could learn about their homosexuality. She said Burns had relied on books to learn about his sexuality as a young man and he wanted to do the same for others.

She said the bookstore alsopaved the way for other queer spaces in the city, like Venus Envy.

"It was the Gay Alliance for Equality. It was the phone line. It was the bookstore. I mean, really he had a role in all of that, and all of those things were so, so important to the early LGB+ community and so important for the community of today."

She said although she only met Burns in person a few times, she'll re-read his section of her book and feel close to him.

"I'll remember his bravery and his humbleness and I'll just be forever grateful to him."

Burns's life and legacy will be celebrated at a wake and memorial service Thursday at the Dartmouth Funeral Home from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A church service and burial will follow on Aug.29at 10 a.m. at Saint Genevieve's Church in East Chezzetcook.