Learn how 2SLGBTQ+ members of the Canadian military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and federal civil service were investigated, interrogated and removed from their jobs. Meet the brave activists who fought back. Explore the history of Canada’s LGBT Purge and find inspiration to help create a future in which the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ people are respected.

From the 1950s to the 1990s, the Government of Canada systematically persecuted 2SLGBTQ+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the public service. Known as “the Purge,” it was an attempt to remove 2SLGBTQ+ people from the workforce, justified by arguments that they presented a threat to national security. 2SLGBTQ+ Canadians fought back, launching political and legal campaigns to ensure sexual orientation became a protected ground under Canadian human rights law. Their activism ultimately dismantled the Purge and led to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s apology to 2SLGBTQ+ Canadians in 2017. It also led to a class action settlement in 2018 that established the LGBT Purge Fund, which partnered with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to develop an exhibition about this troubling history, and the inspiring acts of resistance it sparked.

The travelling exhibition includes:

• All artifacts. Loan agreements for the artifacts are the responsibility of the CMHR;
• Images, audio soundscapes, graphics, AV projections, digital interactives and accessibility features;
• IT/AV components. Remote IT/AV support will be provided;
• All physical graphic/environmental components (venues will be required to produce single‐use graphics).

Note

Assets used within the exhibition are licensed for exhibition use. Licensing for promotional use may be the responsibility of the venue.

Partners

Love in a Dangerous Time: Canada’s LGBT Purge is delivered in partnership with the LGBT Purge Fund.

In 2016, survivors of the LGBT Purge launched a nation‐wide class action lawsuit against the Canadian government and a historic settlement was reached in 2018. The settlement allocated between $15 and $25 million for “reconciliation and memorialization measures.” These funds symbolically represent compensation for the suffering of victims of the LGBT Purge who did not live long enough to receive individual compensation under the settlement. We hope that this exhibition is a fitting tribute to their lives and legacy.