THE PURGE
History of the Purge
Overview
From the 1950s to the early 1990s, queer Canadians were purged from the Canadian civil service and military. Homosexuality was framed as a 'perceived threat' to national security, over concerns that queer Canadians were at a greater risk of blackmail by Russian spies. This was used to justify firings of 'suspected homosexuals' and subjecting queer civil servants and military personnel to invasive and degrading interrogations, led by the RCMP.
The Fruit Machine
In the 1960s, Frank Robert Wake, a psychology professor with Carleton University, created 'the fruit machine' - a detection device that used pupil responses to nude images to 'identify' homosexuals. Despite the lack of scientific backing and the clear human rights abuses, the fruit machine was used to interrogate over 8,000 public servants. Many of these people were fired or forced to resign.
The Military
The purging of queer Canadians continued into the military, where methods like the fruit machine turned into polygraph machines and demeaning interrogations. Military personnel who were suspected of being queer were hounded until they confessed, at which point they were discharged without explanation. Some were involuntarily admitted for psychiatric treatment. Records of deviancy or being 'not advantageously employable due to homosexuality' were written on records, and discharged personnel were denied benefits, severance pay, and their pensions.
Ending the Purge
The Purge officially continued until the early 1990s, when Michelle Douglas launched a legal challenge against the government seeking damages for her 1989 dismissal from the military on the basis of her sexuality. Shortly before the trial in 1992, the military dropped their discriminatory policy.
The Outcome
Across four decades, almost 9000 people lost their jobs due to the Purge. Thousands more had their privacy invaded through invasive tests and interrogations. Many suffered from this trauma, and turned to substance abuse or took their own lives.
In the end, only the RCMP tried to blackmail queer individuals - there was never any security risk from queer civil servants or military personnel.
The Apology
in 2017, Justin Trudeau officially apologized for the decades of discrimination. In 2018, a class-action lawsuits by dismissed civil servants and military personnel was settled by the government, providing funding for a memorial near Parliament.
