The LGBTQ2+ National Monument is a planned public monument in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, dedicated to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit communities in Canada.[1] The monument was launched by the LGBT Purge Fund, an organization created from the 2018 settlement of the class action suit against the Government of Canada by victims of the purges of LGBTQ employees from the federal civil service in the 1960s.[2]

In 2020 the fund and the National Capital Commission announced the planned site, a parkland site on Wellington Street between Library and Archives Canada and the Portage Bridge,[1] and launched a design competition for artists and architects to submit proposals.[3]

In November 2021, the five shortlisted designs were unveiled.[4] They included The Lens, by Fathom Studio, Two Row Architect and MVRDV; A Glass Bowl, by MASS Design Group and Stephen Andrews; Bapiiwin, by SOM, HTFC, Rebecca Belmore, Noam Gonick, Lyle Dick and Iraklis Lampropoulos; Thunderhead, by Public City, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan and Albert McLeod; and OnCommonGround by bbb architects Ottawa, PWP Landscape Architects, WSP Engineering, Nadia Myre, Udo Schliemann, Robert Lepage, Nicole Crevier and Trudi Fontaine.[4]

In March 2022, the Thunderhead design was announced as the final winner by LGBT Purge Fund director Michelle Douglas.[5] It will feature a mirrored thunderhead cloud inside a large column surrounded by an orchard, a medicinal garden, a healing circle with stones selected by indigenous elders and a walking path, and is intended to serve both as a space for quiet reflection on LGBTQ history in Canada and a venue for artistic performances and protests.[5]

The monument is slated to open in 2025.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Blair Crawford (January 23, 2020). "LGBTQ2+ memorial to be built near Library and Archives Canada". Ottawa Citizen.
  2. ↑ Jim Bronskill, "Cheers erupt as Federal Court judge approves historic gay purge settlement". CBC News, June 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ Angelica Zagorski, "Five teams short-listed to design LGBTQ2+ monument in Ottawa". Ottawa Citizen, February 26, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Matt Hickman, "Canada’s LGBTQ2+ National Monument is moving ahead, and here are the shortlisted proposals". The Architect's Newspaper, November 16, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Thunderhead design chosen for LGBTQ2+ National Monument in Ottawa". CBC News Ottawa, March 24, 2022.
  6. ↑ "A New National LGBTQ2S+ Monument In Ottawa Is Set For 2025". IN Magazine, April 12, 2022.

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