Goodbye to Laurent McCutcheon, a man for whom nothing was impossible

Last Saturday, about 100 people gathered at Saint-Pierre-Apôtre church in Montreal's Gay Village to say goodbye to Laurent McCutcheon, the pioneering Quebec LGBTQ+ activist who died earlier this month at 77.

In 1982, McCutcheon became the president of Gai Écoute, a telephone help line for LGBTQ+ people — a position he held for 31 years. The service, which became Interligne in 2017, is offered to Quebecers in French and English, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

McCutcheon fought for the recognition of same-sex marriage and helped set up the Fondation Émergence, an organization that raises awareness about the realities faced by LGBTQ+ people. He also created a fund to support other LGBTQ organizations.

McCutcheon was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and died July 4, after receiving medical assistance in dying.

Malika Dehraoui is on the board of directors of Interligne and knew McCutcheon for many years. She pays tribute to him in this essay.

I am moved to see so many wonderful testimonials about Laurent McCutcheon and his legacy. The passing of this amazing human being is a big loss to the LGBTQ+ community, not only in Canada but around the world.

I met Laurent more than 20 years ago; I was supposed to have a six-month contract with Gai Écoute (now Interligne), and I ended up spending several years volunteering for the organization.

The first things I noticed about Laurent was his smile and his contagious energy. He was always in the process of developing a new project, a new idea or trying to bring things to the next level. He was an inspiring person. The word "impossible" did not exist in his vocabulary.

I never met anyone else with such dedication to bring awareness to others about the LGBTQ+ community; he was always one step ahead and never accepted the status quo.

He was a real leader who brought not only the changes we were all aspiring to, but he laid the groundwork for changes to come. He leaves us with the responsibility to pursue his legacy and keep it alive.

Some of the members of Interligne and members of the community at large, myself included, come from countries where we cannot talk openly about homosexuality. Laurent was a model of bravery and commitment. He was curious about what was happening elsewhere and was therefore very aware of and sensitive to how the LGBTQ+ community was dealing with threats and rejection in other parts of the world.

On the board of Gai Écoute, Laurent was always shaking things up. During the monthly volunteer meetings, he chose just the right words to emphasize the importance of commitment toward the organization, and he used the right tone to make everybody feel part of the family.

He also had his own way of inspiring each one of us to dream about the future and to persuade us all it was worth dreaming about. I will remember him as a real leader and a charismatic person.

Laurent was a diplomat, a visionary, a dreamer, a negotiator, an intellectual, a communicator — but also a handyman. In addition to his involvement in the LGBTQ+ community, he managed to find the time to map out a renovation of his family home, to build a chalet from scratch and to undertake other creative projects.

Each time the organization had to move to a new address, Laurent was the architect, designing the plans for the new place and rushing around with other volunteers to arrange the space so everyone felt comfortable and at home again.

That is how I will remember him — a person full of life who had tons of ideas and was unstoppable.

His vision, his entrepreneurial spirit and his generosity will always be remembered. We will miss you, dear Laurent.

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