Dear Friends,
As we observe the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) on May 17, I am thoughtful of the struggle our 2SLGBTQIA+ community has faced to get where we are today. I am also reminded how much farther we must continue to fight against homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia as these fears, intolerances and prejudices continue to find — sometimes insidious and sometimes quite overt — ways to oppress our communities.
I had the honour of attending the PSAC National Equity Conferences in Winnipeg this month. Winnipeg is the home of the Canadian Human Rights Museum, which is currently housing a special exhibit on Canada’s LGBT Purge, titled Love in a Dangerous Time. For those who are unfamiliar with the LGBT Purge in Canada’s Public Service and Military, please view the short documentary film The Fruit Machine, embedded below.
I also had the honour of hearing from Michelle Douglas, the brave purge veteran who took the Canadian Armed Forces to court in 1992 to assert her right to equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was due to her legal challenge that the Canadian military formally ended its LGBT Purge.
It took the actions of so many activists throughout the history of the Purge — from the 1950s to the 1990s — to lead to the chain of events that allowed Michelle to discreetly pull aside Canada’s first openly gay Member of Parliament, Svend Robinson, and ask for help to start the legal battle. Michelle’s victory opened the door to many of her fellow purge survivors to come forward and fight for redress from the Canadian government.
An official apology was issued by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017, and an LGBT Purge fund was developed that resulted in the exhibit mentioned above as well as a monument in Ottawa to honour all of those who did not live long enough to hear the apology or receive the redress.
Let us take some time this year for IDAHOBIT to reflect on our struggles and victories of the past. Let us consider what actions we can take to step up for those most vulnerable in our 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Let us defend them from systemic harm, like the LGBT Purge, bred from the fear at the very heart of homophobia, biphobia, and transpobia.
With love,
Damir Moric, PSAC BC 2SLGBTQIA+ Coordinator
If you would like to connect with me or other PSAC BC members who are part of our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, please join our caucus chat on WhatsApp.