A group of people lined up outdoors using ceremonial shovels to break ground together during an official ceremony.

the origins of the 2sLGBTQI+ national monument

Thunderhead was developed by Canada’s queer communities for Canada’s queer communities. It was made possible through tenacity and great generosity and funded entirely by Canada’s queer communities through a class action lawsuit. This historic monument is the world’s only national monument to wider discrimination faced by 2SLGBTQI+ people. It is a welcoming place for everyone to learn about the experiences of queer and trans folks — past and present — and to celebrate what we have achieved together.

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Conception

This Monument is a gift from LGBT Purge Survivors to 2SLGBTQI+ communities.

The funds specifically came from a successful class action lawsuit launched by survivors of the LGBT Purge against the Government of Canada. The Purge was a government campaign that systematically hunted, harassed and fired 2SLGBTQI+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the federal public service between the 1950s and mid-1990s. These funds would have gone to LGBT Purge victims had they lived long enough to make a claim in the class action. Their legacy lives here.

In their 2018 lawsuit win, survivors generously agreed that the Monument would memorialize more than the LGBT Purge. As a result, though Thunderhead is funded by the lawsuit, it more recognizes broad 2SLGBTQI+ experience and wider patterns of discrimination faced by queer and trans people.

Thunderhead's vision was guided by engagement with diverse communities.

Engagement

Thunderhead has been shaped by countless hearts and minds.

Diverse communities shaped this monument from its inception to its realization. The vision for the monument was guided by the monument’s Advisory Committee and Indigenous Circle. Together they identified the objectives to educate, memorialize, celebrate and inspire and principles of inclusion, Indigeneity, visibility and timelessness. They also selected the Monument site.

The interpretive content on the community journey’s wall drew on centuries of community stories, diverse experience and collaboration with the monument’s Education and Interpretation Committee.

The monument’s Indigenous design elements were guided by Indigenous expertise, and the thirteen stones around Thunderhead Healing Circle were chosen by Two-Spirit Elders and Indigiqueer people from each province and territory in Canada. Thunderhead also benefited from the input of and engagement with the local First Nations and Two-Spirit organizations from across Turtle Island.

Thirteen large natural stones arranged in a ring on a gravel surface next to concrete landscaping steps.

Members of the monument design team standing outdoors together holding shovels on dirt ground.

Development

Thunderhead was designed by an all-Canadian team.

The design team is based in Winnipeg and led by Public City Architecture, with Elder Albert McLeod and artists Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. The team’s concept was chosen following an international design competition. Thunderhead rose in both the eyes of our expert jury and those who shared their preference in a national e-survey. From the glass tiles in the central sculpture, to the fruit orchard, to the community journeys wall, the design is 110% queer.

In May 2024, the monument broke ground following a moving ceremony with community members, partners and allies. Despite some delays, the collaboration with and commitment of our partners helped realize this historic project.