The four were evicted from the Brunswick House, a working-class beer hall on Bloor Street, and subsequently arrested, and three were later tried in Ontario Court for obstruction of justice.
[1] Their version of the song challenged the unwanted male attention they were receiving at the bar that night, exemplified in this verse: “When I see a man who’s sexist and does something that I don’t like, I just tell him that he can Fuck Off, I enjoy being a Dyke!”[3] The four were asked by the owner to leave the premises.
[10] According to historian Kelly Phipps, "They returned to the Brunswick House hoping to find witnesses, but were met by two uniformed police officers, two bouncers, and two plainclothes detectives.
During the five hours of processing their paperwork, police officers amused themselves with remarks such as, “I bet you drive a tug boat” and “Did you ever put your finger in a Dyke?”[11] The arrest and subsequent trial received coverage in The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and a number of smaller community papers and magazines.
[1] The three women, Pat Murphy, Adrienne Potts (now Rosen) and Heather Elizabeth were represented by lawyer Judy LaMarsh, who was a former Liberal cabinet minister.
Warner describes the "anger and concern" of the Toronto gay community, and notes that a public meeting was called at which the "Brunswick Four minus One Defense Fund" (named so because only three people were arrested; Susan Wells was not) launched.
The charges were laid by the Crown after the three women produced evidence in the form of doctor's notes and photographs of extensive bruising.