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Abstract
With regards to employment, certain working environments are accessible to sexual diversity, whereas others are still closed or hostile towards those who choose to live openly with their homosexuality. Amongst the latter, it is considered that with respect to employment, which traditionally requires male oriented skills wherein virility is valued, such as in the military or police corps, although differing on certain points, they do share common characteristics which are often cited as obstacles to the integration of homosexuals.
This thesis delves into the question of the homosexuality in the military as well as various police forces. The objective herein would be to acknowledge the fact that within the army and police forces in various countries where homosexuality is evident, it is imperative that we consider the thought pattern of gay soldiers, and gay police officers in Quebec, according to their own particular point of view.
Current listed research indicates that the armed forces as well as police forces of several western countries permit the individual recruitment and hiring of homosexuals, and that more recently, they are granting the same rights to these groups that they allocate to their heterosexual personnel. The experience of the gay military and police personnel of these countries however, is marked by episodes of homophobia, and although their presence does not harm the effectiveness of said services, they are still far from being completely accepted within these environments.
In Quebec, twenty-one interviews realized with homosexuals stemming from military and police circles has given us a greater understanding of their lives and the way they deal with their working environment. The qualitative analysis arrives at conclusions pertaining to their experiences: As the homosexuality aspect has been condemned for decades within these environments and as such, it being unthinkable to publicly display homosexuality, it would appear that the military and police institutions have since made considerable progress in the acceptance of homosexuality within their ranks.
The organizational culture, and more particularly the male chauvinism which reigns within the army, restricts the integration of gay servicemen and women. It is considered however, that their situation continues to improve and that it is believed that in future years, homosexuality within the Armed forces will be more generally accepted. Insofar as the gay policemen and women are concerned, those groups describe their experience in the forces as positive, while underlining the openness of their organization enabling them, although in a limited fashion, display their homosexuality in their work environment. Quite like gay military personnel, they believe that relations between the police and the gay community have greatly improved over recent years and that the Montreal police organization is striving for even closer relationships with the diverse communities it serves.
The difficulties faced by some gay policemen and women and specifically some gay servicemen and women, however, cannot be ignored. It is understood that their situation has largely improved and that irrespective of the pitfalls, it is now possible for homosexuals to have a careen in these working environments, wherein such a career choice would have been unavailable to them a short time ago.
