Long before queer retail went mainstream, Priape in Montréal was already an institution. Founded in 1974, it became one of the first openly gay sex shops in North America — a place where men could buy erotic magazines, leather gear, toys, and fashion without shame, judgment, or coded language.
More than a storefront, Priape was a cultural engine. Its catalogs reached queer customers across Canada and the U.S., its leather lines shaped gay style for decades, and its Saint-Catherine Street flagship became a community hub where identity, desire, and visibility were part of everyday life.
