Thank you.

Taanishi. Hello.

I am speaking to you today from the Robinson-Huron territory, home of the Anishinabe and Métis peoples.

I am a 16-year veteran, having served in the Canadian Armed Forces between the years of 1976 and 1995. My maternal grandfather served during the Second World War, and my paternal grandfather's brother died in the First World War.

I am an LGBT purge survivor, having served during the most harrowing years for anyone who identified as LGBT or as a woman.

I am Métis and my home territory is Treaty 3, which is located predominantly in northwestern Ontario. It's the only treaty in Canada that Métis or the “half-breeds”, as they were known then, were invited to sign. I'm a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and a member of their veterans' council.

I identify as lesbian, woman, two-spirit, Métis and now as a veteran. The latter is more recent.

After leaving the military in 1995, I completed my M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology. For my bachelor's degree, I studied the Military Family Resource Centres and women. For my master's degree, I studied lesbian military members. For my Ph.D., I studied women military members. Following my Ph.D., I held a Banting fellowship, and in 2015, I secured a permanent position in academia at Laurentian University. I'm also an O'Brien fellow.

My program of research focuses on marginalization, specifically what marginalized groups experience when they are a member of or are associated with an institution—for example, LGBTQIA+ military members and their partners and the military.

With my colleague, Dr. Carmen Poulin, we have collaborated on two large tri-council funded studies involving the Canadian military and marginalization.

The first study was conducted in the late 1990s and early 2000s. We examined the experiences of LGBT service members and their partners regarding the impact of military policy concerning homosexuality—the infamous CFAO 19-20. We interviewed 126 people comprised of three groups: those who that have been discharged, those who were LGBT and still serving, and civilian partners of these two groups.

The second study is in progress. We are examining the experiences of currently serving 2SLGBTQIA+ service members and their partners.

We are also conducting another tri-council funded study on Métis identity.

Personally, my military service left scars. I have PTSD that is associated with military sexual trauma and years of exposure to a deeply homophobic, anti-LGBT, anti-woman, anti-indigenous military culture and institution. I lived most of my career in the closet, not being able to openly identify as a lesbian, not wanting to identify as indigenous, and if I could have, not revealing that I was a woman.

I'm very happy and grateful for the advancements within both our military and Veterans Affairs. However, I think we still have more to do. While policies and practices have changed, invisible, deep-seated prejudice still exists and the culture needs to shift.

I believe that a certain amount of tunnel vision in the histories and stories of these marginalized people exists. For example, with regard to the LGBT purge, I know from our research that many LGBT military members served undetected for years and are now retired. They, however, carry the trauma of being subjected to that history of purging in the long-enduring culture and institution that embraced homophobia and that was dominated by toxic, masculinized heterosexism.

Our research done in the 1990s is the only study done in the pre-LGBT class action settlement time. Except for our study, the story of partners or spouses of the LGBT purge survivors remains unknown, invisible and unacknowledged.

With respect to being a veteran, from the outside, I am a success story, yet I walk around with the psychological wounds of having endured the marginalization of being an LGBT member during the purge years and of being a woman who served during those years—less than welcoming times. I often wonder whether anyone thinks of the ongoing impact that this has.

Does anyone wonder where the perpetrators are? I think about this often when Remembrance Day approaches, when I seek help from Veterans Affairs, if I'm going to a Legion or if I attend a gathering of veterans.

I also wonder what VAC and the military know about Métis, Métis veterans, Métis experiences and Métis histories. Have they thought about Louis Riel and how he died at the hands of Canada's military? He died for his people, defending them, their homes and livelihoods, yet he was charged with treason and hanged.

It's a challenge for me, on the one hand, to be a proud veteran who served their country and, on the other hand, to hold this knowledge of how the Métis were treated historically. I've yet to reconcile that contradiction. I wonder how much the VAC and the military know or acknowledge that part of Métis history.

Thank you. Maarsii for this time and for hearing me.

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