The Fruit Machine: How Canada Built a Real-Life Gaydar

What if the government built a gaydar machine. They claimed it could tell if you were gay just by looking into your eyes?During the Cold War, Canada did exactly that. They built a device that measured your pupils, your sweat, your heartbeat to tell if you were gay.So did it work? And does it even matter? Because what came with it was far worse.A decades-long campaign to hunt down, interrogate, and erase LGBTQ Canadians from public life. People were strapped to electrodes. Lied to. Pressured into confessions. Some lost their careers. Some lost their homes. A campaign that drove people into silence, into poverty and in some cases, to their deaths.This episode traces that story from beginning to end. From Cold War paranoia… to interrogation rooms… to the people who finally fought back and exposed it.This is the true story of the Fruit Machine. Send us your questions or stories: [email protected] rate , review and follow us on spotify, apple podacats, iheart radio or where ever you listen to podcast.while you at it, follow us on our social media:Instagram: instagram.com/psychunhingedpodcastFacebook: facebook.com/psychunhingedpodcastTiktok: tiktok.com/@psychunhingedpodcastThis is a We All Say Media Production