Embassy of Canada Art Gallery in Washington

Love in a Dangerous Time: Canada’s LGBT Purge

Love in a Dangerous Time: Canada’s LGBT Purge exhibition on display in the gallery at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, DC

This pop‐up exhibition, by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, speaks to decades of human rights violations against 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians who wanted to serve their country and the brave activists who fought back. It is designed to educate and inspire Canadians to help create a future in which the rights of all 2SLGBTQI+ people are respected.

From the 1950s to the 1990s, the Government of Canada investigated, harassed and expelled 2SLGBTQI+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP and federal public service during what came to be known as “the Purge.” Thousands of careers and lives were destroyed through this sweeping national policy, which came to be known as the LGBT Purge. But 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians led political and legal campaigns to change the policy and ensure protection under Canadian human rights law.

In 2016, Purge survivors launched a class action suit that resulted in a historic settlement in 2018. That large settlement established the LGBT Purge Fund, which worked with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to develop Love in a Dangerous Time. The aim is to raise awareness of this little‐known history and to inspire new generations to rise to today’s challenges. This travelling exhibition complements the Museum’s much larger exhibition, Love in a Dangerous Time: Canada's LGBT Purge, which is open in Winnipeg until early 2026.

We invite you to read some of the survivors’ compelling - yet harrowing - stories from May 21 to September 5, 2025.

The exhibit is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, free of charge, at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.