Circumstances

Introduction

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his speech “Remarks by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to apologise to LGBTQ2 Canadians” on 28th of November, 2o17, in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada.

Trudeau delivers an apology for the decades of mistreatment and abuse that LGBTQ2 Canadians – and those suspected to be LGBTQ2 – suffered as a result of discriminatory laws and practices in Canada. The Prime Minister especially addresses the victims of the Purge (see below), and their families and friends.

In Canada, a sexual act between same-sex individuals was considered a crime between 1841 and 1969. The punishment for this crime was initially death, although records suggest that those convicted were typically pardoned by colonial governors. The death penalty was later changed to imprisonment for periods of time that varied over the years. In 1967, Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau (Justin Trudeau’s father, later the 15th Prime Minister of Canada) introduced reforms that gradually decriminalised homosexual acts. The reforms were adopted in 1969 for homosexual acts between individuals aged 21 and over. However, this change did not end the discrimination against LGBTQ2 individuals in Canada.

The Purge and the Cold War

The Purge refers to a government campaign to remove LGBTQ2 people from public servi...