Canada to memorialize LGBT victims of Cold War-era ‘gay purge’ - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• CANADA TO MEMORIALIZE LGBT VICTIMS OF COLD WAR-ERA ‘GAY PURGE’
• STATEMENT BY THE MISTER OF NATNAL DEFENCE ON THE LGBT PURGE FUND REPORT
• 718 VICTIMS OF CANADIAN ERNMENT’S GAY PURGE PENSATED SETTLEMENT
• CANADA'S T APOLOGIZ FOR PAST 'GAY PURGE' OF THE MILARY
• $100 LN FOR GAY PURGE VICTIMS AS PM APOLOGIZ FOR LGBTQ DISCRIMATN
• COMMEMORATG THE VICTIMS OF CANADA’S ‘GAY PURGE’
• THE F MACHE: WHY EVERY CANADIAN SHOULD LEARN ABOUT THIS UNTRY'S 'GAY PURGE'
• CANADIAN ERNMENT AND FORMER FERAL EMPLOYE REACH SETTLEMENT 'GAY PURGE'
• CANADA OFFERS $85 MILLN TO VICTIMS OF ITS ‘GAY PURGE,’ AS T APOLOGIZ
• CANADA TO PENSATE 718 VICTIMS OF GAY PURGE

CANADA TO MEMORIALIZE LGBT VICTIMS OF COLD WAR-ERA ‘GAY PURGE’

Methods ed by the RCMP to tect LGBTQ civil servants clud photographg men who equented plac where gay men were known to gather, cludg bars. In 1973, Prime Mister Pierre T nfirmed that spected homosexualy was one of the factors the ernment nsired before clearg any feral employee to handle classified documents. For example, a distctn was ma between a “te homosexual, ” a man who exclively slept wh other men, vers someone who only looked for an “outlet”.

STATEMENT BY THE MISTER OF NATNAL DEFENCE ON THE LGBT PURGE FUND REPORT

gays or lbians the service and given the “choice” to rign wh an honourable discharge, or face urt-martial and a dishonourable discharge. ” Officials tensified their purge, which now clud lbians, spe a 1969 amendment to feral law that partially crimalized homosexual acts. Regulatns regardg “sndalo nduct by officers, ” and “disgraceful nduct” by all ary personnel ntued to make homosexualy a punishable offence the ary.

718 VICTIMS OF CANADIAN ERNMENT’S GAY PURGE PENSATED SETTLEMENT

He chose the discharge and returned home to New Bnswick, where only a few years earlier he’d been named the provce’s top army was one of thoands who lost reers the armed forc, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other ernment agenci durg the untry’s notor “gay purge” om the 1950s to the 1990s.

CANADA'S T APOLOGIZ FOR PAST 'GAY PURGE' OF THE MILARY

Officials Canada and other Wtern untri believed that gay men and women had “character weakns [that] ma them vulnerable and blackmailable” by the Soviet Unn, Gentile said. The un worked not only to get gay Canadians to “nfs” their sexual orientatns, but also to timidate them to namg LGBT vtigators ially surveilled public spac and bugged telephon, but they began to fd those methods were too time- and rource-tensive. ” But the program ntued for nearly a quarter century, until ’s when Michelle Douglas, a ary police officer who had been dismissed 1989 for “beg not advantageoly employable due to homosexualy, ” won a legal challenge, brgg the purge to an end.

”She retaed Douglas Elltt, the lead lawyer on the class actn, to an unrgraduate stunt and a young gay activist, Elltt had heard of the se of a woman who had been kicked out of the army for beg gay. On the day she signed her ntract, she bought a Hyundai Pony, her first months later, Roy was summoned to meet wh a lonel, who told her she was a viant and was beg dishonorably discharged for homosexualy. Today marks the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a day created to reflect on the vlence and discrimatn experienced by LGBTQ2 muni, and a remr to be liberate our actns to end this form of discrimatn.

Durg this perd known as the “LGBT Purge”, LGBTQ2 members experienced abive and vlent actns that clud intifyg, vtigatg, sanctng, and some s, dischargg lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr members of the Canadian Armed Forc (CAF), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Feral Public Service. Some victims of the feral ernment’s gay purge were so vastated by the experience that even s later they need the help of a therapist to fill out forms to receive fancial pensatn, says the lawyer who led a succsful class actn. A total of 718 people — fewer than Elltt had anticipated — filed the necsary paperwork for pensatn by last month’s adle unr a historic settlement that was falized MORE: Feral move to pensate ary members fired durg gay purge met wh cheers of joyIt clus at least $50 ln and up to $110 ln overall pensatn, wh eligible people each expected to receive between $5, 000 and $175, 000, pendg on the gravy of their s.

$100 LN FOR GAY PURGE VICTIMS AS PM APOLOGIZ FOR LGBTQ DISCRIMATN

The settlement was a rnerstone of a sweepg feral apology livered November 2017 for s of discrimatn agast members of the LGBTQ People crimally charged unr gay purge will have rerds stroyed: T.

Unr polici that took root the 1950s and ntued to the early ’90s, feral agenci vtigated, sanctned and sometim fired lbian and gay members of the Canadian Armed Forc, the RCMP and the public service bee they were emed who kept their jobs were moted or overlooked for promotns or had secury clearanc MORE: Canada Pri Catn acknowledg jtic faced by LGBTQ2 public servantsThe mpaign was driven by the notn that the “character weakns” of homosexual employe would make them sceptible to blackmail the tense climate of the Cold War. Elltt had anticipated between 750 and 1, 000 people would step MORE: 2 ad, 40 taed sce December alleged LGBTQ purge ChechnyaHowever, some eligible ndidat, cludg olr people who were not active the gay muny, had not heard about the there was a bigger obstacle.

READ MORE: Liberals set asi $100M for those affected by gay purge class actn settlementSome never revered om beg shunned by the untry they’d once taken pri servg, Elltt said. ”The settlement clus lns of dollars for renciliatn and remembrance measur, cludg a natnal monument to be built Ottawa, a Canadian Mm for Human Rights exhibn Wnipeg and classifitn of archival rerds documentg the dark MORE: Apology to gay, lbian Canadians kicked out of public service, ary g by 2019Social gathergs are also beg anized so purge survivors n meet directors of the memoratn fund. Canada's T Apologiz For Past 'Gay Purge' Of The Milary Canada's prime mister has formally apologized to thoands of members of the ary who were fired om their jobs s ago durg what has bee known as the "gay purge.

COMMEMORATG THE VICTIMS OF CANADA’S ‘GAY PURGE’

Canada's prime mister has formally apologized to thoands of members of the ary who were fired om their jobs s ago durg what has bee known as the "gay purge. Conservative Party lear Andrew Scheer offered his own apology yterday to LGBT service members sayg the sult done to them durg the gay purge is impossible to measure. Image source, RtersImage ptn, Canada is planng to apologise for past persecutns of LGBT cizensDurg the Cold War, hundreds of gay men and lbians Canada lost ernment and ary jobs bee of their sexual orientatn after beg harassed and terrogated unr a natnal secury mpaign now dubbed the "LGBT purge".

THE F MACHE: WHY EVERY CANADIAN SHOULD LEARN ABOUT THIS UNTRY'S 'GAY PURGE'

" In the heat of the Cold War, gay men and lbians the civil service and the ary were believed to pose a secury risk, vulnerable to blackmail by Soviet agents. The brachild of rearcher Frank Robert Wake, was a c tector built to intify homosexuals by monorg pupil dilatn when a person was exposed to pornography.

CANADIAN ERNMENT AND FORMER FERAL EMPLOYE REACH SETTLEMENT 'GAY PURGE'

In 1992, former army officer Michelle Douglas helped brg an end to discrimatory polici towards gays and beg discharged om the army bee she was a lbian, Ms Douglas lnched a legal challenge and on the eve of the trial the ary settled the se and changed s practic. As of Augt 2022, the feral ernment adopted the 2SLGBTQI+ acronym, which stands for Two-Spir, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, tersex, and addnal sexually and genr-diverse people. Consensual homosexual acts were illegal until 1969, and the tradnal nuclear fay – nsistg of a hband, wife, and their children – domated the public nscns as the “right way” to live.

“Rather than removg the social basis for the threat of blackmail through llg for the repeal of anti-homosexual laws and heterosexist social practic they stead tensify the nstctn of the need for secrecy as the problem which requir the mobilizatn of surveillance and tectn strategi. Throughout the followg , the persecutn of LGBT civil servants tensified, wh the earlit dismissals of “spected homosexuals” begng 1952.

In the same year, the ernment amend Canada’s Immigratn Act to bar all homosexuals om enterg the untry, both as immigrants and visors. ”[xix] Siarly, the Canadian ambassador to the Soviet Unn om 1954 to 1956, John Watks, was spected of beg a homosexual followg his retirement.

CANADA OFFERS $85 MILLN TO VICTIMS OF ITS ‘GAY PURGE,’ AS T APOLOGIZ

While Wall examed US secury screeng polici and procr, [xxii] Wake was foced on scientific methods and technology to tect homosexuals. Durg the Cold War and until 1992, Canadian secury officials nducted a mpaign to intify and dismiss members of the LGBT (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr) muny workg for the public service and armed forc.

Wake ran to trouble gettg volunteers for the project om both “known homosexuals” and “normals, ” who feared the experiment would erroneoly flag them as LGBT.

In the same year, the Royal Commissn on Secury, also known as the MacKenzie Commissn, released a report remendg that “homosexualy should not always be a bar to employment the public service but should normally preclu clearance to the higher levels of classifitn and certaly preclu postg to sensive posns overseas.

CANADA TO PENSATE 718 VICTIMS OF GAY PURGE

While the feral ernment was no longer overtly persecutg LGBT employe, the RCMP ntued to foc attentn on rootg out homosexualy wh s own ranks throughout the 1970s. In addn to the failed u mache, the RCMP veloped s own list of ditors to intify homosexual men, which clud drivg whe rs and wearg tight pants and pky rgs.

[xxx] In 1979, the Human Rights Commissn released a poll of 2, 000 adults that showed that 68% of Canadians would support the hirg of homosexuals the RCMP. However, RCMP secury servic chief Michael Dare rpond that they had no plans to change their hirg polici, statg that “this particular job mands the abily to be totally secure, ” and “while domtic moods may have changed, the ternatnal flavor of the service mak homosexual agents risky.