General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
General Idea relaxes in the installation Reconstructing Futures, 1977, installation, mixed media, overall 274 x 432 x 1,017 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, photograph
by Jeremiah S. Chechik. From left: Felix Partz, AA Bronson, and Jorge Zontal
Queer Identity
As a group of three men who identified as gay, General Idea played with notions of
gender and sexuality. Their performances and imagery pushed the boundaries of sexual
identity representation. While the group was active, key changes were taking place in
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North America with regard to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights. In
1968, just before AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal met in Toronto, Justice
Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced an omnibus bill that reformed Canadian law with
regards to homosexuality, as well as abortion and contraception. This law was
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implemented in 1969, and, amongst other things, it decriminalized homosexuality. That
same year, New York City was rocked by the Stonewall riots, a series of violent protests
against the police raid of a gay bar in Greenwich Village.
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