Updated

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is apologizing to members of the LGBTQ community for actions taken by the government against thousands of workers in the military and public service during the Cold War.

Trudeau said from the 1950s to the early 1990s, the federal government employed a campaign of oppression against members and suspected members of the LGBTQ communities. Trudeau said in a speech in Parliament on Tuesday that the thinking of the day was that all non-heterosexual Canadians would automatically be at an increased risk of blackmail by Canada's adversaries.

Trudeau expressed shame and apologized.

The government has also introduced legislation that would allow people to apply to have their criminal convictions for consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners erased.