Veterans purged from military for sexual orientation lay wreath at Montreal ceremony

Private Martine Roy was only 20 years old in 1984 when she was arrested, interrogated and dismissed from the Canadian Armed Forces for being what was then termed a “sexual deviant.”

Today, after fighting for the right to be recognized as a veteran, she laid a wreath at Montreal’s Remembrance Day ceremony on behalf of victims of the wave of persecution that has become known as the LGBT Purge.

Roy was one of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that led to a $145-million settlement and a 2017 federal apology for decades of discrimination against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

The Montreal native says her dismissal from the Armed Forces affected every aspect of her life, and she struggled for years with shame and fear that she would be subjected to further discrimination in the workplace.

Roy says attending Remembrance Day ceremonies allows her to feel like a part of the military as a proud veteran and to commemorate others who had similar experiences but are no longer living.

She says some of the funds from the court settlement are being used for initiatives that honour the contribution of Canada’s LGBTQ+ veterans, including a monument in Ottawa dedicated to purge survivors.