National monument honouring LGBTQ+ persecution victims opens in Ottawa
Thunderhead sculpture funded by $145M settlement marks decades-long federal purge of queer and trans workers
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Canada's first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ persecution officially opened Friday in Ottawa, just west of Parliament Hill, honouring thousands of people purged from federal employment during the Cold War and beyond.
The monument, called Thunderhead, features a sculpture with mirrored tile imprinted with a cloud shape and hundreds of thousands of small glass squares evoking disco balls. In Anishinaabe teachings, thunderheads are clouds home to thunderers—beings "whose storms renew the land and make things right," according to the LGBT Purge Fund.
The $15 million monument was funded through a $145 million settlement in a class-action suit brought by 719 people who said Ottawa purged them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Researchers estimate 9,000 people across the federal workplace—including the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the federal public service—were hunted down, lost their jobs, and faced harassment and discrimination. The purge began in the 1950s and continued into the 1990s.
Michelle Douglas, head of the LGBT Purge Fund and a lesbian, was herself fired by the Canadian Armed Forces in the late 1980s with the words "not advantageously employable due to homosexuality" written on her release documents. Her 1992 lawsuit forced the military to expand anti-discrimination policies. "Not enough people know that this was a historical injustice of great magnitude," she said.
The monument includes spaces to read history, quietly reflect, and picnic, and spaces to gather for solemn occasions. The Public Service Pride Network held a dance party around the monument Friday evening. Douglas and others emphasized that visitors can make it what they need it to be—a place to grieve, learn, and celebrate.
The opening ceremony Friday included Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour, dignitaries, and prominent Canadians who identify as LGBTQ+, including two-spirit people. The monument's opening comes amid a global rollback in LGBTQ+ rights, from provincial policies making transgender children feel unsafe at school to Senegal and Ghana boosting criminal penalties for same-sex relations.
By the numbers
How much did the Thunderhead monument cost?
The Thunderhead monument in Ottawa cost $15 million to build.
How many people were in the class-action settlement?
719 people brought the class-action suit that resulted in the $145 million settlement funding the monument.
How many federal workers are estimated to have been purged?
Researchers estimate approximately 9,000 people across the federal workplace—including the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP, and the federal public service—were purged because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
When did the purge of LGBTQ+ federal workers occur?
The purge began in the 1950s and continued into the 1990s.
