The monument will honour members of the LGBTQ2+ and those that were systematically purged from positions through government and law enforcement.
TDS News -Today Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and project proponent the LGBT Purge Fund, in cooperation with the National Capital Commission, announced that five teams have been short-listed to submit design proposals for the Monument honouring members of the LGBTQ2+ community.
The design teams have until August 2021 to complete their proposals. The design concepts will be evaluated by the same jury that reviewed the RFQ submissions. The jury includes experts in the fields of visual arts, landscape architecture, architecture, and urban design, as well as LGBT Purge survivors, representatives from key stakeholder groups, and subject-matter specialists.
The Monument will memorialize the profound impact of the discrimination experienced by Canada’s LGBTQ2+ communities and will celebrate their achievements. The Monument site will also have the capacity to host large gatherings and balance public visibility and space for contemplation.
The LGBT Purge refers to the period when LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canadian federal public service were systematically discriminated against, harassed, and often fired as a matter of policy and sanctioned practice, due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
“It is clear that the vision for this Monument as conceived by the LGBT Purge Fund has touched a chord with the Canadian and international arts and design community. I want to thank all the teams that took the time to apply to our Request for Qualifications. We received many excellent submissions, and the jury took great care to select five teams to propose Monument designs that will recognize this shameful period in Canadian history and move us toward a more positive future free from discrimination. We look forward to seeing the designs later this year.” Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage
Over time, survivors and their allies worked hard to secure apologies, gain recognition, win compensation, and change Canadian law. A ground-breaking legal settlement was reached in 2018. Canada was the first country in the world to provide substantial compensation for the harm inflicted on its own people through decades of state-sponsored discrimination.
The LGBT Purge Fund is a not-for-profit corporation established in 2018 to manage memorialization and reconciliation projects mandated by the settlement. The Fund is responsible for building an LGBTQ2+ National Monument that will “memorialize the historical discrimination against LGBTQ2+ people in Canada, including with respect to the LGBT Purge.”
As the project proponent, the LGBT Purge Fund is providing $8 million for the project and is working with Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission to ensure the Monument meets the objectives of the settlement agreement and embodies the vision developed with Purge survivors and Canada’s wider LGBTQ2+ community.
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