Times Changing: 1980s & 1990s
By the 1980s, anti-queer policies in the government and especially in the military were "unambiguous," and it was beyond an open secret that to be openly gay was to be discharged.[1] Moreover, the decade saw evolutions that were not reflected in policy; binary terms like 'gay' and 'lesbian' did not always apply (365).[2] Queer public servants had learned to adapt and "perform heterosexuality" in order to survive.[3]
The LGBT Purge continued through the 1980s and into the 1990s until purge survivor Michelle Douglas challenged the federal government in the Supreme Court. [4] While this challenge brought an end to official anti-LGBT employment and security screening policies, it did not bring an end to workplace discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in the public service.
In 1988, Member of Parliament Svend Robinson became the first openly gay Canadian MP. Robinson would go on to advocate for individuals affected by Canada's LGBT Purge, and eventually be contracted to work on the Historical Document Collection of LGBT Purge records.[5]
The LGBT Purge continued until Michelle Douglas successfully challenged her discharge in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992.
References
[1] Gary Kinsman and Patrizia Gentile, The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation, Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2010, p.p. 362-363.
[2] Kinsman and Gentile, The Canadian War on Queers, p. 365.
[3] Kinsman and Gentile, The Canadian War on Queers, p.p. 225-226.
[4] Kinsman and Gentile, The Canadian War on Queers, p. 412.
[5]“Document Library: Historical Document Collection.” Purge LGBT, June 1, 2022. https://lgbtpurgefund.com/document-library/.