![]() ![]() “The records, the way they’re sorted, are just a complete mishmash,” she said. Her efforts to detail the gross-indecency cases involved sifting through some 200 court files. Worthman is now a master’s student and freelance researcher, as well as executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Queer Research Initiative. “And so I approached the Purge Fund with a project proposal.” “And I knew that I owed it to my community to do whatever I could to get these stories out there,” she said in an interview. When Worthman’s Veterans Affairs contract ended in May 2022, she wasn’t finished delving into the First World War era. The settlement with Ottawa was a key element of a sweeping federal apology delivered in November 2017 for decades of discrimination against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Her findings have just been published under the auspices of the LGBT Purge Fund, a non-profit organization established through a class-action settlement. ![]() The painful, often bleak, stories of these men were uncovered by Sarah Worthman while doing research at Veterans Affairs Canada. Hardy was one of at least 19 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force involved in consensual relationships who were arrested and tried for what was then known as gross indecency. Shortly before being killed in action, the teenager spent time in prison doing hard labour as a military punishment for his sexuality. 2017 Parksville Qualicum Beach Discovery Guideįrederick Lea Hardy died fighting for Canada near Vimy Ridge in the First World War. ![]()
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