So the McGill coming out group’s theme is, and I quote, “the army’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy.”
The army does not have a don’t ask, don’t tell policy. The army is bound by the same provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that have been read since <i>Egan</i> to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Openly gay people are free to serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
To review: you live in Canada. CA-NA-DA. You know, that country where you <i>live</i>. <b>Not</b> the United States. And your laws are occasionally different from theirs.
Under Clinton in the US the American military had a “Don’t ask, Don’t tell policy” on gays. Basically, so long as no one knew you were gay, they couldn’t remove you from duty.
Canada doesn’t have any such policy, as far as I know.
Matt, I was in the army reserves in Calgary about 15 years ago. At the interview by the CO to get into the unit, he only really cared about 2 things. That you weren’t a commie or gay. Especially not gay. He told me about all the nasty things people would do to you if they found out you were gay. Charter of rights or not, you were in for a rough time. I don’t think this was an unusual attitude back then, but I hope things have changed.
I have no doubt, Balduran, that unofficial homophobia could still be rife in the Canadian armed forces. What pissed me off at present was blithely referring to the American army as ‘the army’ by students at a Canadian university.
More specifically, the armed forces retained the right to kick people out who they knew to be gay, but they weren’t allowed to initiate investigations just to find out if a soldier was gay. If your CO happened to catch you necking with another guy, they could can your ass, but if they didn’t already have any evidence, they couldn’t go looking for some.
But you had to go throw in that 55 yard line, didn’t you? You thought that extra 2% of alcohol in your beer would divert our attention. And could your endzones be any bigger? What is it? Like a quarter mile? Oops I mean a half a kilometer?
And what in the name of Bronco Nagurski is an Allouette?
Hey, I get really pissed off when I get some Canadian quarter or penny that has been passed off by some Canadian agent as real money. Obviously it’s a plot to destabilize the Florida economy. What, you think that’s legal tender down here? If so, join the army.
Right on. I had an interview in the fall of 2002 to join the CF as a reserve officer. In the interview, one of the questions asked was whether I’d have a problem working with people of differing sexual orientations. (Actually, I’m not sure exactly what phrase they used anymore, but the question was fairly long, in which the interviewer made very clear the Forces’ policy of equality for everyone. They also asked about racism, and working with women, etc.)
Even so, I know people in the military who think there’s a no-gays policy. Or thought there was, until I explained otherwise. I had one friend warn me to hush-up when I came out, lest military kick me out.
Nowadays, the Canadian Forces not only has the Queen’s Own Rifles; we have queens with rifles!
What the American policy is supposed to achieve, I don’t know.
