She finished at the top of her courses.
But her excellence didn't matter.
 
She was discharged from the military because she was gay. Canada wouldn't let her serve because of who she was.

Do you know about Michelle Douglas?
 
You should know about Michelle Douglas.
In 1989, she was dismissed for being “Not Advantageously Employable Due to Homosexuality.”

She sued and in 1992, just before her case went to trial, the Canadian military abandoned its policy.
Between the 1950s and mid-1990s, thousands of LGBT members, were systematically discriminated against, harassed, and often fired.

LGBT members were followed, interrogated, abused, and traumatized. Their careers were destroyed, their benefits, severance, and pensions, denied.
The people who interrogated Michelle Douglas? The people who questioned and pressured and confronted her?

The people who stood by in silence?
The people who should've supported her?

They were us, too.

Never forget.
The LGBT Purge is over, but discrimination remains.

If you see it, call it out.
If you hear it, call it out.

It's not someone else's problem.
It's our problem.

Don't stand by in silence.

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More from @CAFinUS

31 May
215 children.

Where would they have gone?
What would they have seen?
Who would they have loved?
 
215 children.
Canada is so Canada sometimes that you have to remind people of the cruelty and racism that lingers from our past, that lasts and lasts.

Please know it’s still there, embedded, lurking, hurting, killing.

This day. Every day.

Never forget.
National Indian Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Read 4 tweets
30 May
A boy, a girl, and a soldier.

They're holding hands in Gander, Newfoundland. They're facing Kentucky.

We told you about them before.
We'll you again for #MemorialDay.
1985. 12 days before Christmas Eve.

American soldiers in Egypt finish their tour. A plane is waiting to carry some of them home.

Some soldiers give their tickets to those with spouses and children. They want them to get them home early.
They board the plane.

After six-months on a peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula, they are tired and eager for home as they cross the Atlantic.
Read 16 tweets
28 May
He ran when Canada tried to steal his culture, but they captured him. He ran faster the next time.

He ran the Boston Marathon five minutes faster than everyone. He ran messages in France.

He ran and ran and ran, but Tom Longboat still couldn’t outrun racism.

Remember Cogwagee. Image
They say a runner was once leading a British officer to the front when the officer grew irritated with the brisk pace.

The officer: "For God's sakes, who do you think I am? Tom Longboat?”

The runner: "No sir. That’s me.” Image
The Professional Runner. Image
Read 5 tweets
11 May
Italy. 1943.

Scaling a mountain with the Black Devils, he's treating casualties as the Nazis fire down on them. Exhausted, he seeks shelter with fellow soldiers.

They turn him away. They turn away their own medic as bullets rain down on them. Why?

Sam Boroditsky was Jewish.
But a senior non-commissioned officer is also seeking shelter. He hears them turn Sam away.

“The Jew boy doesn’t go in, I’m not going in.”

Sam survives.

He survives the war, marries, has children and grandchildren, and lives a long life in Canada.
What would’ve happened if the senior non-commissioned officer said nothing?

What would’ve happened to Sam?
What would’ve happened to his family?
What would’ve happened?

Don’t stand by.
Read 4 tweets
9 May
There are people on this website who will have you believe that a bunch of Canadians in the Middle East recently seized 17,500 pounds of illicit drugs, rescued a turtle from a pile of trash, and whipped up sour cream like a dream.

That can’t be true, right? Right? 🇨🇦 Image
🐢 Image
👨🏿‍🍳👨🏻‍🍳

cc: @DurhamGordon, @kurtarnold_kurt
Read 4 tweets
26 Apr
A girl, a boy, and a soldier.

They stand in Ottawa facing Korea.

Why?
Korea. April, 1951.

5,000 Chinese soldiers storm south into the Kapyong Valley.

South Korean troops are retreating. After fighting fiercely through the night, the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment withdraws.

Who’s left to hold the line?

700 Patricias.
5,000 Chinese.
700 Canadians.

2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry is low on food and ammunition.

By nightfall, the Chinese come in waves.
Read 19 tweets

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