Canada opens its first national monument to LGBTQ+ Canadians in Ottawa

Thunderhead, Canada’s first national monument dedicated to the country’s LGBTQ+ people, officially opened in Ottawa on August 21. According to the LGBT Purge Fund, it is intended as a place of remembrance, education and public gathering.

The monument stands beside the Ottawa River near the Portage Bridge. It was designed by Public City Architecture with Elder Albert McLeod and artists Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. At its centre is an 11-metre column that appears to be broken open from within by a thunderhead form lined with thousands of mirrored tiles. The grounds also include a healing circle with 13 stones, a medicinal garden, a fruit orchard and a tribute space with a sugar maple honouring those who served Canada.

Canadian Heritage explains that the monument commemorates, among others, those harmed during the LGBT Purge. From the 1950s to the mid-1990s, Canadian authorities identified, harassed and dismissed LGBTQ+ members of the armed forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal public service. Construction was funded with proceeds left from the 2018 settlement of survivors’ class action against the Government of Canada.

Governor General Louise Arbour, Minister for Women and Gender Equality Rechie Valdez, Indigenous representatives and purge survivors spoke at the opening ceremony. Canadian Architect also reported the opening. The design was selected through an international competition in 2022, and construction began in May 2024.

Photo: “Thunderhead, Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ National Monument.” Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada. Copy of the version available on Canada.ca, reproduced without alteration under the Canada.ca terms for non-commercial reproduction.