The first openly gay judge in Canada, Justice Harvey Brownstone, Law’80, spent most of his life on the outside looking in, and it shaped his approach on the bench and to life. For example, it saw him dig into his pockets to make sure people appearing in his courtroom would not go hungry. And his ingenuity and drive to succeed made his YouTube show, Harvey Brownstone Interviews, a global phenomenon. His 2026 memoir, Without Prejudice: My Life as a Gay Judge, has already been made into a Hollywood movie starring David Arquette and David Mazouz. And his remarkable success all started with a surprising first job.
When I was 19, I told my parents I was gay and they kicked me out. I ended up penniless at Queen’s, so I started asking professors and staff if they knew anyone who needed their house cleaned – I didn’t know how to do anything else. So, my first job was scrubbing toilets.
Rejection is a very powerful motivator – I don’t recommend it as a parenting tool – but I am very grateful that I endured what I did because it made me an overachiever. I got top marks in law school, I never lost a trial as a lawyer, I became a judge at 38, I wrote a bestselling book (Tug of War) and hosted a national television show (Family Matters) for two seasons while on the bench. After retirement, I created a YouTube talk show that became one of the most acclaimed interview programs on the planet. All of that happened because of my need to gain parental acceptance.
Being openly gay in the ’70s was highly unusual and not easy, even at Queen’s. One professor told me I was wasting my time since I was never going to get a job due to the “status quo, conservative nature” of the legal profession. So, I hope my memoir will inspire people to follow their dreams and overcome obstacles imposed by the prejudices of others. I also wrote the book to give the public a long-overdue glimpse into the real culture of the justice system and the judiciary.
In 1979, I was lucky to get a summer job as a family court clerk in Toronto for [future Supreme Court Justice] Rosalie Abella. When I told her my family had rejected me for being gay, she said, “You’ve got what it takes to be a great lawyer, and you could even be a judge one day.” I thought, “She’s out of her mind,” but she gave me hope. Sixteen years later, during my interview to be a judge, I told the panel: “I’m sure I’m the only candidate you’ll ever meet who spent five years on welfare.”
I believe my experience as a social outcast gave me empathy and compassion for the litigants in my court, because I was able to tell them: “Look, I was on welfare before you were born and I’m telling you, there’s hope you can make it.”
When I was in family court, I arranged to give frozen turkeys to impoverished litigants the week before Christmas, and I often gave lawyers money for their clients to buy lunch. I wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t known what it was like to go hungry.
In the end, there really isn’t a lot to say about cleaning toilets, but I do pay my house cleaner really well because I still remember what it’s like to do that job.
