A Gay Fruit Machine
Before any knicker's in a twist - Groover's, I don't like gambling / betting. Indeed, as an SEO I have declined EVERY SEO JOB interview for an online gambling site (even though a teeny-weeny bit tempted as they pay REALLY, REALLY, well + cool perks). This Fruit Machine was purely inspired by a blink-and-you'll-miss-it v sweet, motivating scene, during the iconic sapphic movie classic: Desert Hearts, when fab director Donna Deitch, cameoed by a fruit machine and slickly, turned to US, and encouragingly said ... "If you don't play - you can't win". For some of us, making the first move / responding to an enchanting eye-click is uber scary. It's a roll of a dice - some may strike it lucky while others may not. Coraggio, brava Sapphos - if you get a click in a bar, club or wherever - be brave and react!En passant: after uploading my lesbian fruit machine, I shockingly discovered The Gay Fruit Machine Test and The Fruit Machine documentary by Sarah Fodey. From circa 1960 - 1964, the Canadian government incredulously used a "gay test" aka the "fruit machine" to detect homosexuals (men and women) employees working in Public Service, to pre-screen homosexuals and prevent homosexuals from obtaining Public Service jobs - see below. Though I hope you will have fun playing my goofy fruit machine, I do hope you will read below and learn about a not well known part of but really salient, LGBT ... history: The Fruit Machine Homosexuality Test.
First let's play (FYI game instructions are below).
Go On, Click It!
How To Play This Lesbian Fruit Machine
- Start-off Credit:
- 500 star credits - to start you off, as you sapphically ROCK ;)
- Joker: of course it's Sappho
whose rooting for you and, earning you ...
- The Sappho "card" gains you 10 extra stars B.U.T, according to your matches
- Take a Chance!:
- Click on one of the "take a chance" numbers
- 500 (you're flash!), 50 (you got some dash), 5 (you're way too shy (I'm feeling you!))
- Repeat until you run out of credit / chances
- Scoring:
- Oops & Sorry - you'll have to work it out. I was just over-the-moon to get the JavaScript irresistibly spinning and, calculating ... something :)
- Oops & Sorry - you'll have to work it out. I was just over-the-moon to get the JavaScript irresistibly spinning and, calculating ... something :)
The Fruit Machine - A Clandestine Homosexuality Test!
My goofy gay fruit machine game was inspired by slick sapphic movie Desert Hearts but later I shockingly discovered The Fruit Machine which tested ... homosexuality, as revealed in the enlightening "The Fruit Machine" (2018) documentary directed and written by Sarah Fodey. I'll keep my lesbian fruit machine up, as, leftfield it may help publicise, The Canadian's Public Service "Gay Special Project" / "The Fruit Machine" (aka A Gay Purge!).
A Gay Purge During the Cold War
In 1947, at the beginning of the Cold War (an era of political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union), there was heightened concern about internal security in the US. Consequently, the US State Department began a campaign to rid the department of "disloyal" / "security risk" persons. "Disloyal" persons included communists, their associates, and those guilty of espionage, along with persons known for "habitual drunkenness, sexual perversion (homosexuality), moral turpitude, financial irresponsibility or criminal record". The US government was scared that LGB federal employees were susceptible to blackmail by Soviet spies. This became to be known as the "Lavender Scare".
In circa 1960, Dr. Frank Wake, a psychology professor with Carleton University (Canada), was commissioned by the Canadian government on a "Special Project" (aka "Gay Special Project"): to develop a psychological test to detect homosexuals (men and women). From circa 1960 -1964, this Homosexuality Test was used by the Canadian government to detect homosexual employees working in Public Service (i.e. the Civil Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)), to pre-screen homosexuals and prevent them from obtaining Public Service jobs. This "Gay Test" became known as "The Fruit Machine" - apparently coined by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant. In addition to the gay fruit machine (gay test), homosexual members of the Canadian military were subjected to systematic discrimination, harassement and often fired as a matter of policy and, sanctioned practice.
Image credit: Canadian War Museum & alavigne.net
The Fruit Machine Homosexuality Test
Canadain Public Service employees were unjustly led to believe a machine, used in the "Special Project", was to rate work stress but it was actually a homosexuality test! Apparently participants were asked to sit in a dentist-like chair which had a pulley with a camera focussed at the participants pupils. A black box located in front the chair displayed a series of photographs ranging from the unusual to sexually explicit photos of men and women. A monitor would measure
...
"the pupillary response" to each image. In the theory, a person's pupils will involuntary dilate in relation to the amount of interest they have regarding a visual stimuli.
The Canadian "Fruit Machine" aka "Gay Test" Was Totally Flawed
Hindsight is 20/20! It is now accepted that this "gay test" measuring "pupillary responses" was totally flawed. The researchers had not considered, for example:
--- No eye is the same: participants' pupils would have varied in size and the distance between their eyes would be different.
--- Measuring tiny dilations: sometimes the dilation of the pupils was so small (less than a millimetre) that the variation was too difficult to measure.
--- Light variations in the series of photographs: light variations between the next photograph caused the participants' pupils to naturally change, independently to their "interest" in the photograph.
--- Angled camera: as the camera recording the participant's eyes could not be located directly in front of the participant, as it would have blocked the viewing of the series of photos, the camera was mounted at angle which would distort dilation measurements.
--- The Kinsey Scale - it didn't take in to consideration The Kinsey Scale (1948), which showed that people did not fit into exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories and thus devised a 6 point scale. Moreover, their research showed that sexual behaviour, thoughts, and feelings towards the same or opposite sex were not always consistent across time.
Aftermath of Canada's Gay Fruit Machine
Canada's "Special Project" and the Canadian Public Service "gay purge" was not eliminated until the early 1990s and led to an estimated 9,000 LGB Canadians working in Public Service being fired or having to resign. Moreover, it led to "Poverty, homelessness, having to go back in the closet, substance abuse, gay aversion therapy, sexual assaults, and for some — suicide." Source: cbc.ca.
Epilogue
--- 2016: survivors of the LGB Purge launched a nation-wide class action lawsuit against the Canadian government represented by three plaintiffs: Todd Ross, Martine Roy and Alida Satalic.
--- 2017: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered an official apology in the Canadian House of Commons to those caught in the 1950 to 1992 "gay purge". He apologised to LGBTQ+ men and women of the Canadian military and civil service who were fired from their jobs and had their lives ruined because of their sexual orientation.
--- June 2018: a historic settlement was reached that included a global settlement amount of $145 million of which, up to $110 million was set aside for the payment of damages to LGBT Purge victims. Check out lgbtpurgefund.com
The Fruit Machine Documentary
I don't know for how long but, for free and thanks to SandBay Entertainment, you can watch The Fruit Machine documentary on Youtube. Also, discover more insightful LGBTQ+ documentaries including "The Lavender Scare" (2019, US) by Josh Howard
+ More Reading @:
--- arquives.ca
--- jstor.org
--- nationalpost.com
My Lesbian Fruit Machine / One Armed Bandit
As indicated above, I don't support nor encourage financial betting - this is just a goofy fun (slick) javascript one armed bandit game to encourage you to take a chance on ... L.O.V.E. and learn some salient forgotten LGBTQ+ history.
* The "fruits" reflect some symbols associated with lesbianism in the past e.g. in the uK, ragged rascals ran around their rugged playgrounds, bizarrely shouting at some poor girls ... "You're a Lemon!" a euphemism for "Lesbian"! Discover more past lesbian derogatory terms.
* Caveat: Terminology / acronym - hands-up! With our ever evolving acronym, plus the Canadian Fruit Machine Homosexuality Test was implemented in the 1960s - herein I have used the Canadian government's term "homosexual" to cover both men and women and their spectrum as, quite frankly, I was confusing myself! Fair play on me - am I perpetuating an urban myth? During the early years of the gay rights movement, throughout the 1960s and 70s, the acronym was originally GLB / GLBT (i.e. boys first - but hugest respect as same sex between men was illegal). In the 1990s, the acronym changed to LGB / LGBT to honour the awesome and brave lesbians who so sweetly helped gay men suffering from AIDS (often their parents and relatives wouldn't support them / or didn't know) - a time that must not be forgotten when initially medical staff wore quasi radiation / infectious diseases protective clothing to care for HIV/AIDS patients and, there was so much truly nasty prejudice in the media/ in the streets. (HIV/AIDS is now medically recognised as not confined to any specific sexual orientation nor gender identity). Check out my Lesbian Terms, Code & Signalling Through Sapphic History.
* AAMOF: I ... despise dungarees and, dogs rock over cats :)
