Love in a Dangerous Time

From the 1950s to the 1990s, the Government of Canada systematically investigated, harassed, and fired 2SLGBTQ+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP, and the federal public service for purported national security reasons during what came to be known as “the LGBT Purge.” This was one of the longest-running, largest-scale violations of human rights in the workplace in Canadian history. 

This is a powerful pop-up exhibition about this era, created by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in partnership with the LGBT Purge Fund, and with input from 2SLGBTQ+ community members, activists, educators, scholars, and survivors. 

It draws on first-hand accounts to tell the story of how people were targeted based on suspicion of their sexuality, investigated, interrogated, and in many cases, removed from their jobs. The pop-up also explores how 2SLGBTQ+ people resisted this Purge through political activism and successful legal challenges that expanded human rights protections for all Canadians. 

Love in a Dangerous Time: Canada’s LGBT Purge connects the past with the present and seeks to generate new conversations about human rights, gender and sexual diversity, and contemporary challenges. This exhibit is designed to educate and inspire Canadians to help create a future in which the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ people are respected.