QMUNITY to mark 30th Anniversary of the end to the discriminatory ban of Gays and Lesbians serving in the Canadian Armed Forces

QMUNITY to mark 30th anniversary of the inclusion of 2SLGBTQIA+ persons in the military

By Daniel Itai

Emerging from the Pursge. QMUNITY, a BC based 2SLGBTQIA+ rights group, will on October the 5th and the 7th mark the 30th anniversary of the end to the discriminatory ban of Gays and Lesbians serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.

The anniversary will be held in Vancouver on the 5th of October from 6pm to 9pm at the Junction Pub and on the 7th of October in BC's capital, Victoria, from 6pm to 9pm. However, the venue is yet to be announced. Click here for more information.

"In partnership with Egale Canada and the LGBT Purge Fund, QMUNITY is excited to present this special event to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the end to the discriminatory ban of Gays and Lesbians serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. Thanks to Michelle Douglas’ Court case survivor of the PURGE, and Executive Director of the LGBT Purge Fund, these discriminatory policies were dismantled, and dignity was restored for thousands of people," read a statement from QMUNITY.

On the 27th of October 1992, Canada's Department of National Defense was prompted by a Federal Court ruling that its restriction against Gays in the military violated Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The challenge to the Canadian Defense policy was brought by Michelle Douglas, 28, a Lesbian who was forced to resign from the Canadian Air Force in 1989.

In his ruling, Canadian Federal Judge Andrew MacKay said that Ms. Douglas' rights had been denied and that the government's prohibition against homosexuals, and any related interim policies, "are contrary to the Charter."

For much of the Canadian history, servicemen and more recently, servicewomen faced severe penalties if authorities discovered they identified as 2SLGBTQIA+. For example, the Naval Discipline Act, passed in Britain in 1866 and adopted as Canadian naval law until 1944, decreed that men found guilty of “sodomy” or “indecent assault” would be imprisoned or otherwise punished, including hard labour. Indecent assault was a vaguely defined charge often applied to sexual acts between men, even if consensual, that did not include sodomy.

During the Second World War, individuals had to pass a medical exam in order to enlist in the armed forces. The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) used a classification system called PULHEMS, which stood for Physique, Upper body, Lower body and locomotion, Hearing, Eyesight, Mental status, and emotional Stability to assess applicants. Each category was scaled from 1 to 5.

The highest score was reserved for individuals considered completely unfit for service. The RCAMC classified Gay men as “psychopathic personalities,” along with “chronic delinquents, chronic alcoholics, and drug addicts.” This automatically gave them an S5 rating. The medical corps also considered Gay men to lack “truthfulness, decency, responsibility, and consideration.”

Gay men were also considered a threat to military authority and general troop morale, and were regarded as “medically unfit for service anywhere in any capacity."

The military also used the Naval Discipline Act as well as the Army and Air Force Act to target Gay men already serving in the forces. Section 16 of the Army and Air Force Act applied to officers who were Court-martialed and discharged in disgrace for behaving “in a scandalous manner.” They were also denied various rights of citizenship, including working for the Crown. The act also applied to lower ranks of soldiers who, if convicted of “disgraceful conduct of (an) unnatural kind,” faced a range of penalties, including discharge and imprisonment with hard labour. However, at that time, homosexual offences did not apply to women in the military.

Fast-forward to November 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized for the purge in the public service prompting the government to agree to a $145-million settlement. This included $110 million in compensation for civil servants affected by the purge and $15 million for historical reconciliation, education, and memorialization efforts.