Portrait of Sir Alexander Wood, half-length, in a green coat and white cravat

Sir Alexander Wood was born in Fetteresso, Scotland in 1772. He moved to Upper Canada in 1793 and became one of the founding fathers of the city of Toronto (then called York). He was one of the city’s leading merchants, a lieutenant in the militia and later sat on the bench as a magistrate.

He was involved in a homosexual scandal in 1810 and fled to Scotland, but in two years he was back in Canada and resumed his duties. In spite of ridicule and discrimination he had a successful career in public service: he was on the executive of nearly every society in York, often as treasurer; he was manager of several businesses and acted for clients in land transactions. Wood died in 1844 at the age of seventy-two while in Scotland. The British Colonist paper called him one of Toronto's "most respected inhabitants".

In the early nineteenth century "Molly" was a derogatory name for a gay man. In 1826, when Alexander Wood purchased fifty acres of land east of Yonge Street, north of Carlton Street in York (Toronto), it was rudely referred to as Molly Wood's Bush. It is now Toronto's gay village. Three Streets in the area are named for its founder: Alexander Street, Wood Street and Alexander Place. A statue has been erected in his honour, hailing him a gay pioneer. A bar and a beer have both been named after him, and he is the subject of a biographical play.

Today Sir Alexander Wood is celebrated as an important figure in LGBT history, one of the first openly gay men in the continent of America.