10 GSRD Canadians Who Have Impacted History

While we believe in the importance of honouring, celebrating, and educating about pride year-round, June marks a special opportunity to do so! Let’s kick things off with a list of 10 notable queer Canadians who have made an impact on GSRD history: 

1. Delwin Vriend – A teacher in Alberta who successfully fought to have sexual orientation added to the province’s human rights legislation in 1998.
2. Svend Robinson – The first openly gay member of Parliament in Canada, who served for over two decades and helped push forward LGBTQ+ rights legislation.
3. Jim Egan – One of the first openly gay activists in Canada, who challenged the Canadian government’s definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman.
4. Michel Tremblay – A celebrated Quebecois playwright who has often explored queer themes in his work, including in the groundbreaking play “Les Belles-soeurs.”
5. Douglas Elliott – A lawyer who played a key role in the successful challenge of Canada’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2005.
6. Elaine MacDonald – A longtime activist who has fought for LGBTQ+ rights in Canada, including helping to organize the first gay rights march in Ottawa in 1971.
7. Makeda Silvera – A Jamaican-born author and activist who has written extensively about the experiences of Black queer women in Canada.
8. Brent Hawkes – A prominent United Church of Canada minister who has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, including officiating at the country’s first same-sex marriage in 2001.
9. Chelby Daigle – A transgender activist and writer who has worked to raise awareness about the experiences of trans people in Canada, including fighting for better healthcare access and legal protections.
10. Gerald Hannon – A writer, activist and journalist who has been a prominent voice in Canada’s GSRD community since the 1970s, and who has written extensively on queer culture and politics.