Sudbury woman to be in Ottawa for federal apology for persecution of LGBT public servants

A Sudbury professor and researcher will be in Ottawa next week when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologizes to LGBT Canadians for historic abuses in the federal service, including the RCMP and the military.

Until 1992 in Canada, being gay in the military was not only illegal, it could mean an investigation, arrest, hostile interrogation and being fired. 

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Lynne Gouliquer joined the military in 1976 and worked as an air weapons technician with the Air Force. She left in 1995 to pursue graduate studies and completed her masters and PhD.

Gouliquer, who was 18 years old when she joined the military, didn't know her own sexual orientation at that time. About three or four years into her service, she said she realized she was a lesbian.

"The climate was not healthy. You could not be out," she said.

"Often people were removed, and [they] went so fast there, we could only call it disappearing. We knew why."

Gouliquer said she didn't get kicked out of the military for her sexual orientation, but said the culture didn't change even when the law did in 1992.

"I left because it was no longer a place where I felt I could grow," she said.

"I was pushed out in a sense, because their culture wasn't accepting enough. If their culture was open and accepting enough, I probably wouldn't have left."

Let go with no help

She left and started doing research on the topic. She completed her Masters of Arts on lesbians in the Canadian military. Eventually, she worked with other professors to research looking at LGBT soldiers in the military.

Gouliquer said 126 people were interviewed for her research.

"So we have sort of a history of the Canadian military from their perspective and what happened to them," she said.

She says some told her they were kicked out of the military and told they were being given an honourable discharge so they could get a job in the future.

"They just let them go with no help, with nothing," she said.

"The investigations that these people were submitted to … were horrible on them."

"They would lie to you, blackmail you," she said. "They would ask you horrible questions about the sexual that you would get into with your partner. They would try to get you divulge on other people. They would say, 'well, we know you're lesbian, we know you're gay, we know you're a pervert — now tell us who else is.'"

The first step

Gouliquer said many people at the time didn't talk about it because not everyone was out as gay to their friends and families.

She said she's pleased the topic is being discussed so openly now.

"The apology is like the first step," she said.

"Educating the public [that] this is what happened in the past [and] we don't want it to happen again. This is huge for me."

She said she's hoping to secure another grant to do more research on the topic in the future.