Open Secrets
José Torrealba, director.
Canada, 2003, video, 52 min.

Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 8PM
National Library of Canada, 395 Wellington
Tickets: $10 at the door

Open Secrets uncovers a lost chapter in Canadian military history: how the Armed Forces dealt with homosexual behaviour in their ranks during and after World War II. Director Torrealba brings this compelling history alive through firsthand accounts from war veterans who break their silence after more than 60 years.

We hear from five men, barely adults when the enlisted, who reminisce about their first sexual experiences, visits to gay bars in London and Naples and drag comedy performances.

Initally, the Army overlooked homosexual activity, but as the war advanced, they began to crack down. In chilling detail, we learn of military tribunals and threats of imprisonment, discharge and public exposure. This documentary film is produced by Germaine Ying Gee Wong and is a National Film Board production.

Introducing the screening is a 30-minute presentation by Prof. Thomas Waugh of Concordia University entitled I Love A Man in Uniform. The discussion, illustrated by slides both historical and erotic, highlights the context of perennial fantasies of military life and community within gay male cultures, paralleling the invisible history of lived queer experience within the armed forces as explored in the film. Prof. Waugh has published widely in Canada and the USA. His latest work is "Out/Lines: Underground Gay Graphics From Before Stonewall".

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