Out and proud in the military
In the past 20 years, the Canadian Forces has gone from being a homophobic organization that actively hounded out gay and lesbian members, to one of the world’s leading advocates of open integration.
Rana Sioufi, a spokeswoman for the Forces, says after abolishing the don’t ask/don’t tell policy in 1992, the armed forces no longer has a specific policy for gay and lesbian members, and uniformed personnel regularly march in Pride parades and marry in base chapels. “Members who are same-sex partners are entitled to the same respect and dignity as heterosexual married couples or common-law partners,” Sioufi says.
That’s a long way from the treatment Michelle Douglas received in 1989. She did not reveal that she was a lesbian, but the Special Investigations Unit kicked in the closet door.
Douglas was interrogated on the suspicion she was gay and ultimately dismissed on the grounds that she was “not advantageously employable due to homosexuality.”
“It was a very, very different time,” the Toronto Escort Agency woman says. “There was a sense that gays in the military were somehow tantamount to criminals. It was a really sad approach.”
Douglas fought back in court, eventually leading to the abolition of the policy in 1992.
“It was a very unpleasant experience at the time — but in the end, Canada did the right thing, and I’m very proud of that,” she says.
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