This video takes a look at Le Village, the scene in Montreal, Quebec.
Montreal's Gay Village (The Village, French, Le Village gai or Le Village) is located on Saint Catherine Street East, downtown, centred on Beaudry metro station, in the Ville-Marie borough of the city. The Village runs approximately from Berri Street to De Lorimier Street, a distance of nearly two kilometres, making it the largest in North America in terms of scope of the complete area.
The area was occupied by the gay and lesbian community after the huge expulsion of many gay businesses from an area closer to Saint Lawrence Boulevard (or "The Main" as the locals call it).
The government lent their support in securing the Gay Games. The city later lost the right to hold the Games under that name because the Federation of Gay Games considered their plans too ambitious. Instead, Montréal Rendez-Vous 2006, the first edition of the World Outgames, took place in Montréal, with the 2006 Gay Games moved to Chicago.
Gays and lesbians live all over the highly accepting city, so their residential density in the Village is only slightly higher than elsewhere. However, the Village contains a variety of shops and services targeting the community, and so serves as an entertainment and tourism centre rather than as a gay neighbourhood strictly speaking. A wide range of local media, radio and TV stations are located in the same area as the gay community.
The Village contains a wide variety of nightlife: bars and discotheques catering to all tastes (Montréal has more gay bars and discotheques than Paris, and as many as San Francisco or New York), including three very large entertainment complexes, one of which is the largest of its kind in the world. There are also a wide range of boutiques, restaurants, cafés, bed-and-breakfasts, and major chain-style hotels. In fact, the first recorded gay establishment in North America was Montrealer Moise Tellier's apple and cake shop on Craig Street (now Saint Antoine Street) in 1869.
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