Freedom Isn’t Free
Debate on gays in the military reminds that human rights must be defended
Gilles Marchildon

There are many things we need to remember. Among them are history and its lessons, the courageous fight against oppression, the contemporary battle for peace and people who defended noble ideals.

On Remembrance Day, there is usually ample coverage of the sacrifices of many, and of the great atrocities of war. This space will draw attention to another chapter worth remembering.
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In 1992, the Canadian Forces lifted its ban against enlisting openly gay men and women. In the previous decade, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had established a new foundation for challenging this exclusion, but it took Michelle Douglas and her court case to prompt that change.

This does not mean that gays had never served in the army prior to that decision. Homosexuals have always fought alongside their straight comrades. Many remained in the closet while some created friendships and networks from within.

One of the Boys provides more information on gays in the military. It’s a social history of queer servicemen in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War, and it was written by McGill University history teacher Paul Jackson.

We can also read the story of army major Herbert Sutcliffe. A career soldier who fought in the Second World War and rose through the ranks, Major Sutcliffe was dumped on June 1, 1962. The army had decided that being gay made him a threat to national security.

He writes about his experience that fateful morning:
“On the first of June ’62, when I left my apartment, the movers were there packing everything to go to Washington. I had got the plum of army postings, the Pentagon. I drove to the office and was to have lunch at the officer’s mess and then drive to Washington. When I got to the office someone said, ‘The colonel wants to see you.’

“I went in to his office, and he was standing there and said: ‘You’re not having a luncheon. You’re not going to Washington. You’ll be out of the army tomorrow. The RCMP have proved to us that you are a homosexual.’
“It was just, pow, just like that. I was in shell shock.”

Sutcliffe was only one of almost 400 people to lose their jobs between 1959 and 1968, the years during which the security panel — a committee of RCMP officers and representatives from the Privy Council and the departments of National Defence and External Affairs — investigated 9,000 men and women suspected of homosexuality.

Laurentian University sociology professor Gary Kinsman co-authored The Canadian War on Queers, which delves into that period.

Fortunately, things have changed and Sutcliffe might review what he once wrote: “I don’t think the military will ever change its mind to say, ‘He may be gay, but we don’t worry. He’s a good soldier.’ Maybe it will come to pass, in time.”
It has come to pass, but we should remember — lest we forget — that the freedoms our servicemen fought for overseas need to be defended in our own country too.

Gilles Marchildon is executive director of Egale Canada (www.egale.ca), a non-profit organization that advances equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-identified people, and their families, across Canada.