Former Canadian Navy sailor’s career cut short because of his sexuality

There was a time when homosexuality was a criminal offence in Canada and carried the potential of imprisonment.

Many people lived in fear of prosecution and led “double lives.”

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It was especially difficult for members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Any member found to be homosexual faced the risk of immediate dismissal.

It was a time in which the Government of Canada openly and legally discriminated against non-heterosexuals, a time that Frank Letourneau remembers well.

“If push came to shove they would have forced me to resign, they would have dismissed me,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If push came to shove they would have forced me to resign, they would have dismissed me," he said.

Letourneau served as an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy.

He was born in Montreal and pursued a law degree in his youth but couldn’t shake his interest in the navy.

After serving in the reserves he decided to drop his lawyer pursuits and become a full-time sailor.

He joined the regular forces at age 20 and became a naval lieutenant aboard the HMCS Saguenay, a destroyer that was sunk in Lunenburg Bay after she was retired to become an artificial reef.

While working as an operations officer aboard the destroyer, he was selected to become the Admiral’s Aid.

A prestigious position that put him shoulder-to-shoulder with senior ranking members.

“It was a very, very thrilling experience as a newly promoted junior officer,” Letourneau said.

He was enjoying early success in his career and had aspirations of captaining a ship.

“It was a very fulfilling experience and one that qualified me for promotion to become the second in command of a ship and ultimately get command of a ship, that was my initial goal.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was a very fulfilling experience and one that qualified me for promotion to become the second in command of a ship and ultimately get command of a ship, that was my initial goal."

But he never got the chance to fulfill that goal because at 30 years old his career was cut short.

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Military Police called him into CFB Halifax and informed him they had enough evidence from a year-long investigation to determine he was homosexual.

Deciding to take the “less humiliating” road, he delivered his letter of resignation and his military fate was sealed.

Letourneau is one of thousands of estimated Canadians who were forced out of the military, RCMP and public service careers due to their sexuality.

But the federal government is trying to make amends.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau selected Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault last month as his special adviser on LGBTQ issues.

In his role, Boissonnault will lead the drafting of an apology to LGBTQ people whose careers were cut short by government policies of the time.

“My message to people is that the federal government and I are committed to listening and hearing your stories to find out exactly what happened to you as individuals,” Boissonnault said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My message to people is that the federal government and I are committed to listening and hearing your stories to find out exactly what happened to you as individuals," Boissonnault said.

It’s an apology that Letourneau said is very much deserved.

“It would just be the official recognition that the government of Canada deprived itself of competent people who were willing to serve the nation,” he said.