An exhibit is travelling through Vancouver Island libraries that details the unfair dismissal of LGBTQ members from Canada's civil service, RCMP and armed forces between the 1950s and the 1990s.
On loan from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the pop-up exhibit titled 'Love in a Dangerous Time' includes several boards detailing the stories of Canadians impacted by what has become known as the 'LGBTQ Purge,' during which tens of thousands of people were investigated as part of a policy of demoting and firing LGBTQ workers.
Jason Kuffler, Vancouver Island Regional Library's events and promotions officer, told the B次元官网网址 Bulletin that this is the second exhibit from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights that VIRL has had the opportunity to host, following a replica of the Indigenous in 2021.
"That sort of created a partnership or relationship between the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and the Vancouver Island Regional Library and they knew we could handle it B次元官网网址� the logistics and so forth," Kuffler said.
One of the survivors detailed in the exhibit is Michelle Douglas, executive director of the .
Douglas joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1986 for a nine-year commitment. At the time, she didn't even know the there was a policy on sexual orientation, but learned the importance to hide her identity when she fell in love for the first time with a fellow officer. Soon after she was interrogated by police for several days, and was discharged after affirming to be lesbian.
In an interview, Douglas said she was completely dedicated to her career and was shocked by this idea that she could be subjected to interrogation.
"It's so important that anyone seeing this exhibit has a chance to learn about a very important piece of Canadian history that's little known," she said. "It will inform people this historical injustice happened, tell the stories about some of those that were victimized by formal government policy and the struggle to end that period of oppression experienced by people who were very courageous and just wanted to serve their country."
In 1989, she launched an historic lawsuit against the armed forces for discrimination and unfair dismissal, winning a settlement that forced the military to end its part in the purge and restore the lost ranks. In 2018, a class settlement was reached, with money earmarked for compensation as well as reconciliation and memorialization measures.
The pop-up exhibit on display is one of the measures to come from the money.
"It's the first of its kind, not only anywhere in Canada, as far as we know anywhere in the world," Douglas said. "It's telling the stories of what happened during this period of time, and that's what makes it so important."
While the purge may be over, Douglas warned that in some ways, she can see history repeating itself.
"We're seeing greater violence, hate and attacks against the 2SLGBTQI community, and we never want to see that happen again. It's immoral and unjust to pursue such devastating policies against a group of people."
In particular, she pointed to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who is planning an executive order to ban transgender service members from the U.S. military as early as his first day of office. During his first term in 2017, he banned transgender Americans from joining the military, which was overturned by President Joe Biden in the following term. If the upcoming ban goes through, 15,000 members of the American military are expected to be discharged.
"I worry about what that pertains for Canadian context. I don't think they'll go that far, but I don't want to see the hard-won protections and laws achieved over decades here in Canada rolled back and worn away," Douglas said. "That is terrifying to me."
The exhibit will be at the Nanaimo Harbourfront branch until Wednesday, Jan. 15. From Jan. 16 to Feb. 20 it will be in Campbell River, and from Feb. 21 to March 28 it will be shown at the Cowichan library. Kuffler said VIRL is also planning a virtual presentation with survivors before the exhibit finishes its tour of the Island. Another version of the piece is set to launch at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights this month.
