SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Pride Month

Honourable senators, I rise today to mark Pride Month. Pride is about coming together and being visible. Pride is about being proud, conscious, courageous, loyal and upright about one’s affirmation of their identity and dignity. Pride is about healing, honouring new ideas and living in harmony. It represents self-love, inclusivity, diversity, awareness and so much more. It is about being the person you were born to be.

As we have heard, there are countries where such freedoms do not exist and basic human rights are denied, especially those of marginalized communities, such at the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. They endure loss of employment, ostracization and imprisonment and even face violent state-sponsored death.

Our own rights and freedoms were hard won, and preserved by the people of the Canadian military who risked and lost their lives in wars on battlefields far from home. They fought against tyranny and for our freedoms. Members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community were among those who willingly donned uniforms, bore arms, hoisted our flag and lost their lives to protect our freedoms.

Regrettably, Canada does not have to scratch too far below the surface to find our own checkered history of exclusion with respect to this community, including within the Canadian Armed Forces. For decades, community members were forced to hide who they were, facing abuse, career stagnation and even imprisonment and expulsion with a criminal record if found out. When I joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1989, I had to sign an official document, held on my official file, stating that I was not a member of this community so I could not be blackmailed.

In the face of persecutions and through great personal sacrifice, groups of individuals have pushed back and begun reclaiming their denied freedoms.

Michelle Douglas was an officer with a promising career. She was discharged during the purges of the late 1980s. Fighting back, Michelle launched a class action lawsuit against official discrimination in the Canadian Armed Forces and in 1992 helped stop the unjust treatment of community members.

Necole Belanger, a retired Chief Warrant Officer with a 35‑year career serving Canada as a military policeperson, survived the purges. Necole advocated for diversity and inclusion from within the military, raising awareness among leadership of the need for cultural change. She was a role model.

Progress has been made, and institutions continue to evolve. In the words of a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who suffered discrimination throughout their career yet still achieved the highest ranks:

While we observe other areas of the world take steps backwards with acceptance, we will continue to move forward with progress. We will challenge previously accepted norms. We will remain vigilant in addressing unacceptable treatment and behaviours and will not allow for hard won rights to be eroded. We will be allies to those around us, advocate for 2SLGBTQI+ peoples . . .

Honourable senators, I stand as an ally celebrating our military people in all their diversity. They serve to protect our freedoms — and serve Canadians with pride.