A Queer Legends × Art Against Empire crossover. Ian Danger Capstick sits down with Cleve Jones, the activist who conceived the AIDS Memorial Quilt on a cold November night in 1985 with a stack of posterboard and Harvey Milk's own bullhorn, given to Cleve after Harvey was assassinated.

They talk about the afternoon Cleve first walked into Castro Camera, the morning Gilbert Baker raised the first rainbow flag, the grandmothers who could not find the words, and Seven Days in June, the new mobilization Cleve is building to mark forty-five years of HIV and AIDS. Close to an hour, close to uncut, and one of the most important conversations either one of our shows has had this year.

We hope you enjoy this crossover episode. And don't worry...season 3 of Queer Legends: An Oral History Podcast is in the works!

On 25 January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that launched a new military Purge of America's Transgender servicemen and servicewomen. Trump's Order is based on outdated, bigoted and transphobic tropes that do not hold up to scientific, nor legal scrutiny. In this episode I introduce you to United States Space Force Colonel, Bree Fram, one of the highest-ranking, openly transgender, officers in the United States military. Hear what it's like to defend America from within Donald Trump's Republican-made culture war. NOTE: The opinions expressed by Colonel Fram in this episode are her own and they do not reflect those of her employer.

In this haunting episode, I explore the chilling discovery of a former Canadian Armed Forces interrogation room used during the LGBT Purge, that's now an ordinary office space. Once a site where gay and lesbian soldiers were questioned and persecuted for their sexuality, this room's dark history has been erased, its walls repainted and repurposed while its secrets lay dormant. Join us as we uncover how this space of institutional violence is being remembered many decades later.

Learn more at https://lgbtpurge.ca/

Cover art photo by Aaron Cohen, Canadian Museum For Human Rights

Create and hosted by Shawn Dearn. Executive Producer: Ian Capstick

The road to justice for LGBT Purge survivors was not an easy one - even after the Government of Canada's apology. Seeking justice also meant that Purge survivors had to confront and relive some truly terrible memories. The eighth and final episode in our series that tells The True Story Of Canada's LGBT Purge celebrates victory; seeks accountability from Carleton University for the 'Fruit Machine' and more documents from the federal government; explores a 1960s Purge mystery linked to Rideau Hall; introduces the drag queen who is also a CAF pilot; and the queer Thunderhead monument breaks ground in Canada's capital!

Before the Government of Canada's apology and before the LGBT Purge class-action lawsuit, there was a small group of dedicated Canadians who were determined to get justice. This network of Purge survivors, academics, researchers and activists was known as the We Demand An Apology Network (WDAN). The WDAN group was the catalyst that led to the landmark class-action lawsuit, settlement, and apology to queer Canadians. Meantime, the lives of queer soldiers and RCMP members were improving, but only slightly. You're going to be surprised/not surprised by a couple of these stories - including the military's first Pride Flag raising ceremony, and how the Government of Canada's apology nearly fell apart at the last minute.

By the early 1990s the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney knew it could not continue the military's anti-homosexuality policies. However, his ministers and military kept looking for loopholes to continue their discrimination against LGB soldiers. Discover the behind-the-scenes legal drama that led to, what many consider to be, the end of the military's ban on gays in the military - including an interview with former diplomat and Chief of Defence Staff, John de Chastelain. Legal challenges to the government's heteronormative views of relationships were also leading to equal employment benefits, which would eventually apply to members of the military and RCMP.

The 1980s were a pivotal decade in Canadian politics and history, including key battles for queer liberation and rights. You'll hear about former MP Svend Robinson's efforts to get homosexuality into the Canadian Human Rights Act and protection under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the military and RCMP efforts to undermine the Charter rights of their members; and a straight Commanding Officer who defended his top-performing soldier from multiple SIU investigations. A young Queen Elizabeth II also has a few things to say in this episode!

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.