Author of 1971 We Demand Statement Passes Away

It is  with deep sadness that the conference organizing
committee shares with you news of the passing of Herb Spiers, the author of the 1971 "We Demand" statement. Below is an obituary written by his close friend and ally, Ed Jackson.

In Memoriam – Herb Spiers (November 8, 1945 - March 2, 2011)

Herb Spiers, the principal researcher and author of the brief “We Demand” died in New York City on March 2, 2011 after several years of struggle with HIV and cancer. The list of legal and social injustices highlighted by “We Demand,” launched during the first Canadian public gay liberation demonstrations in Vancouver and on Parliament Hill in August 1971, became a kind of a strategic blueprint for the Canadian movement. Herb was looking forward to being the person to read out parts of “We Demand” at the Ottawa demonstration ("An American making demands of Canadians. How cheeky," he observed years later) but it was not to be: he was involved in a car accident on the way from Toronto and never managed to join the contingent on Parliament Hill. Herb was a significant player in gay movement activities in Toronto in the early 70s: a board member of CHAT, one of the founders of Toronto Gay Action and a member of the Body Politic Collective.

After receiving his PhD in philosophy from OISE, Herb moved to New York City in the late 70s, where for a time he lived a charmed Manhattan life of disco, drugs and Fire Island summers. When AIDS began to decimate his friends, he became actively involved with ACT UP and headed up its influential Issues Committee. He fondly remembered his participation in the writing of the Montreal Manifesto, also known as “The Declaration of Universal Rights and Needs of People Living with HIV Disease,” which was read publicly when ACT UP demonstrated at the International AIDS Conference in Montreal in June 1989.

Herb was a memorable character: handsome, charismatic, often outrageous, always generous, a loyal friend. He was a quirky pioneer of Canadian queer activism in the early years. I will miss him.

For more details on Herb’s life, see http://outhistory.or/wiki/Herbert_Spiers:_November_8%2C_1945-March_2%2C_2011

The full text of the 1971 "We Demand" statement is available online at the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives. http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/wedemand.htm