Montreal drag, nightlife scene legend Armand Larrivée Monroe remembered as trailblazer
CBC
Armand Larrivée Monroe, a veteran Montreal drag queen described as a pioneer of the city's nightlife scene, has died at the age of 88.
Montréal Pride announced his passing in a lengthy Facebook post Saturday night, calling him "a giant of Montreal life."
"Initiator of a bubbling, flamboyant gay scene, [Monroe] not only opened doors for those who would one day be called drag queens, but also shattered a glass ceiling for men who simply wanted to love each other in public," the post read.
Monroe, famously known by his stage name La Monroe (for his affinity for Marilyn), made waves in the city's gay scene starting in the late 50s, creating what has been called the city's original drag club and showcasing content created by and for the gay community — all at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized.
"Armand was a pioneer who revolutionized nightlife in Montreal — not just gay nightlife — but nightlife in general," said Richard Burnett, an arts and entertainment journalist for various media outlets and columnist for "Three Dollar Bill," which ran for 15 years and remains Canada's only LGBTQ-centred weekly.
The youngest of 13 children, Monroe grew up in Montreal's Saint-Henri neighbourhood. An admirer of "the bright lights of the big city," he always sought a career in showbiz, according to Burnett.
Monroe made his debut in 1958. At the Tropical Room of the Downbeat Club on Peel Street, later renamed PJs, he was hired to program and MC shows.
There, Monroe hosted drag performances and gay cabarets until the 80s, introducing a new policy: gay customers served by gay waiters and gay bartenders. It was also where he started performing as La Monroe.
"He could come on stage as Josephine Baker and Marlene Dietrich or Marilyn Monroe or Lena Horne," said Burnett, adding Monroe brought "the best of the best talent" to the Downbeat, including performers from the U.S.
For Monroe's 24th birthday on Aug. 27, 1958, he organized Montreal's first public dance between gay men in the Tropical Room.
"Nothing like that had ever happened before," said Burnett, adding that day "revolutionized gay nightlife."
Luc Provost, the man behind Montreal's most famous drag queen, Mado Lamotte, remembers Monroe as an eccentric and one of the men "who started it all."
Starting his own drag career in 1987, Provost says he owes much of the success he's found in the art form to Monroe and the trail he blazed for the drag queens of today.
"Many people tell me that I opened doors 30 years ago when I started Mado," Provost said.