Photo by Cole Breiland

Professor Kinsman speaks about his book “The Canadian War on Queers”

Stacey Goyan

News Editor

Last Friday, Dr. Gary Kinsman, a Laurentian Sociology professor, spoke at Lakehead about his book “The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sex Regulation.”

He discussed Canada’s history of conducting surveillance and interrogation on LGBT organizations and individuals, and viewing them as national risks.

While on the surface, national security appears to have little to do with sexual practices, Kinsman noted that throughout Canadian history, this has been used to regulate LGBT individuals and organizations.

The book compiles various oral histories of LGBT individuals involved in the civil service or military who were interrogated as national security risks.

Dr. Kinsman explained that his use of the word “queer” was not meant in a derogatory fashion, but rather as a method of reclaiming the word. He said that reclaiming a once hurtful term can “turn it back on our oppressors.”

Dr. Kinsman also noted that his use of the word “queer” includes bisexual, trans, and two-spirited identities.

Kinsman called the “Cold War on Queers” to be a surveillance and interrogation campaign run through national security aimed at identifying LGBT individuals in the public service and military.

His book discussed how that National Security particularly watched leftist organizations.

According to Kinsman, people claiming LGBT identities were believed to be a hazard to Canadian nationalism and security.

“Our movements themselves were considered a risk to national security,” said Kinsman regarding LGBT rights organizations.

One problem presented by Kinsman is the notion that the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada is the “end-game” of the LGBT rights movement.

He described this as a desire for the LGBT movement to forget its radical roots of resistance and in favour of the belief that all rights have been won. Kinsman felt that being “let into” the national fabric was not enough.

In his lecture, Kinsman argued the successes of the LGBT movement ought to empower other forms of resistance, such as to class struggle and Orientalist constructions of the Middle East as the “backward other.”

Kinsman concluded his presentation by taking questions from the audience and signing copies of his book.