Queer Legends: An Oral History Podcast Shawn Dearn

Welcome to Season 2 of Queer Legends: The True Story About Canada's LGBT Purge. We begin with amazing new research that has uncovered what life was like for gay and bisexual soldiers during the First World War. From the “gross indecency” laws that imprisoned heroic Canadian queer soldiers, to the military-sanctioned drag shows that made Ross Hamilton’s ‘Marjorie’ a star. This is where Canada’s anti-queer campaign and the Cold War began. You'll also hear from someone who knew Ross Hamilton, personally!

This is a true-crime episode. Gripped with paranoia about Soviet spies using ‘human weaknesses’ to steal government secrets, Canada and its allies started hunting for and eliminating homosexuals from government employment. Investigative journalist Dean Beeby tells the incredible story about how the RCMP interrogated a retired Canadian ambassador to death for being gay; plus Patrizia Gentile, co-author of The Canadian War On Queers and a professor at Carleton University, gives you context for how the Government of Canada invented an imaginary enemy in "gay people".

The Government of Canada and RCMP Intelligence Service engaged in unethical human research experiments on homosexual Canadians throughout the 1960s. Queer Legends' research sheds new light on the origins and timeline of Canada’s so-called ‘Fruit Machine’ project and its clear links to Carleton University; the CIA’s MK Ultra program at McGill; and to other similar human research programs on homosexuals that took place in the United States. Meanwhile, changing social attitudes about homosexuality and a terrible Supreme Court of Canada ruling led Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to say "the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation." Listen now!

Canadian queer resistance emerges in the 1970s and puts a spotlight on the injustices facing gays and lesbians. This caused further police, military and government crackdowns on queers across Canada - particularly in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa in the lead up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Lesbians in the Canadian Armed Forces were “walking a tightrope” over the perils of sexual violence by servicemen and discovery of their sexual orientation. 

Coming June 1, 2024 | Season 2 of Queer Legends shares The True Story of Canada's LGBT Purge in a landmark, eight part documentary series. This is the first documentary to examine the full extent of Canada's anti-homosexual campaigns using newly declassified documents released by the LGBT Purge Fund. From ridiculous to shocking, you'll hear amazing true stories from courageous survivors; academics; researchers; former MPs and cabinet ministers. 

The violent Montreal Police raid of a popular after hours party known as ‘Sex Garage’ sparked two days of LGBTQ2S protests and a Queer rights revolution in the province of Québec. We must never forget the police violence, even as we celebrate the courage of Queer Montrealers and the ACT UP New York "groupies" who helped change everything. This is their story, in their own words. 
Hosted by: Award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Shawn Dearn. Cover art by Tim Singleton. Produced by Secret Agents.
Listening Note: Take care of yourself during this episode. It includes graphic descriptions of police brutality and violence aimed at Queer Montrealers. The sounds of protests are real and some clips are of people who are no longer with us, taken from 1990 TV news coverage.