Rose, who was slight in build and disabled by AIDS symptoms, and who dyed his hair pink, was set upon along with the friend by a group of four youths shouting homophobic slurs.
[8] The murder was one of several around that time which forced the STCUM to review and revise its emergency safety procedures,[9] and one of several which led the federal government to toughen penalties under the Young Offenders Act.
[1] A candlelit vigil was held in Rose's honour at the Parc de l'Espoir, and hundreds of participants marched to the location of his death at the Frontenac metro station.
[12][13] His death was covered by newspapers such as the Montreal Mirror, and in May, McGill University's CKUT-FM devoted a special 15-hour broadcast to programming about homophobia.
[3] Its first public activist event held at the entrance of the Complexe Desjardins in Montreal on March 19, 1990, was a "die-in" protest commemorating the first anniversary of Rose's death.