Military faces intensive archival search to pinpoint gay purge numbers

The Defence Department says a painstaking review of dusty personnel files in the national archives may be needed to determine how many people were forced out of the military for being gay or lesbian.

The Trudeau government has signalled its intention to apologize to former military members, hoping to make amends to those who endured federal discrimination over the decades due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The policies had their roots in government efforts that began as early as the 1940s to delve into the personal lives of employees who were considered security risks.

However, inquiries to Defence – including a formal request under the Access to Information Act – reveal the department has no firm sense of the numbers affected between 1969, when homosexual acts were decriminalized, and 1992, when military restrictions on gays were lifted.

National Defence’s human resources system does not include information on a person’s sexual orientation, nor does it record the specific reason why a person was released from the Armed Forces, spokeswoman Suzanne Parker said in a written response to questions from The Canadian Press.

Due to these limitations, it is “impossible to provide a tight estimate’’ of the number of Forces members released between 1969 and 1992 due to their sexual orientation, Parker added.

A February 2016 briefing note to the senior associate deputy minister of defence, released under the access law, recommended that “further work be done’’ to determine the number of people discriminated against and whether the federal government should offer a redress package.

The government now faces a brewing class-action lawsuit in Federal Court that would cover members of the military and other federal agencies.