Talbert Johnson's Government Guide
By Nicole Findlay
Upon being given creative free rein for a final course project, Talbert Johnson decided to put his lifelong passion for drawing cartoons to use.
His Government of Canada-issued Cartoon Guide to Persecuting Homosexuals is a tongue in cheek summary of the policies the Canadian government enacted between the 1950s -70s. He submitted the work as his final project for Historical Representations, a third-year history course.
Among the themes the course examined, was the little known outing of homosexuals in the public service. In the name of national security, gay civil servants were targeted as a potential spies because according to the reasoning of the times, they were more easily subject to blackmail by enemy nations.
“The Cold War was a golden age for government-published booklets and pamphlets – surely there had to be some literature on the protocols of routing out gays from the civil service!” said Johnson.
Johnson combined his new found knowledge with his love of cartoon illustration and set to work on his subversive guide. The six-page booklet presents a common public perception held at the time, that homosexuality represented a threat to Canadian culture and values. It then addresses the threat perceived to and by government and pokes fun at the policies and practices put in place to root out suspects.
Although Johnson takes a comical look at a grave subject, he says the project allowed him to think more seriously about historical studies.
“Thinking in terms of how a history is presented, instead of focusing on the history itself, took a little getting used to,” said Johnson. “In the end, it made me step back and appreciate a fuller view of the discipline.”