10 GSRD Canadians Who Have Impacted History
- May 31, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 4
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:
Delwin Vriend – A teacher in Alberta who successfully fought to have sexual orientation added to the province’s human rights legislation in 1998.
Svend Robinson – The first openly gay member of Parliament in Canada, who served for over two decades and helped push forward LGBTQ+ rights legislation.
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.
Michel Tremblay – A celebrated Quebecois playwright who has often explored queer themes in his work, including in the groundbreaking play “Les Belles-soeurs.”
Douglas Elliott – A lawyer who played a key role in the successful challenge of Canada’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2005.
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.
Makeda Silvera – A Jamaican-born author and activist who has written extensively about the experiences of Black queer women in Canada.
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.
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.
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.
