Egale Canada’s work would not be possible without the incredible individuals who believe in our vision and invest in a more inclusive future for 2SLGBTQI communities. Our Donor Spotlight Q & A series shines a light on the generous supporters who help bring our research, education, awareness, and legal advocacy efforts to life. Through these conversations, we’re proud to share the stories and motivations of the people standing with us every step of the way.
Q: Tell us a little about you!
I’m a disputes lawyer and a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Vancouver is my hometown, but I’ve lived in Toronto since 2014. I love my day job, which involves litigating commercial, regulatory, and constitutional cases across Canada.
For almost as long as I’ve been a lawyer, I’ve proudly represented Egale — as well as other 2SLGBTQI organizations and members of our communities — in litigation seeking to advance and defend our rights across the country. Since 2023, that has primarily meant challenging anti-trans laws in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
Q: How did you first learn about Egale?
When Egale was leading the fight for marriage equality in the early 2000s, I was a (mostly) closeted high school kid, watching from afar with both wonder and terror. A fearless, fabulous generation of queer advocates and allies — my heroes, then and now — changed minds and laws across the country, and Egale played an indispensable part. Now that I’m a queer lawyer myself, supporting Egale’s work in the courtroom is a dream come true.
Q: What motivates you to give to Egale?
This is a perilous time for our communities. We need advocates who are thoughtful, strategic, and creative. The professionals at Egale are all of those things. I donate to Egale to support essential advocacy in support of 2SLGBTQI rights, not only in the courtroom but also — and more importantly — in the classroom and in workplaces across Canada.
Q: Have there been any moments in your journey as a supporter and member of Canada’s 2SLGBTQI communities when your perspective shifted or deepened?
One of the things that I have come to appreciate most about Egale is that it advances our communities’ shared interests without denying any of us the dignity of recognition: of seeing and affirming what makes each of us different — not only from our cis, straight friends and neighbours, but also from one another. That is difficult, but it is also essential.
My work on trans rights cases has brought this home to me. As a gay man, I’ve been able to draw on my experience as a sexual minority in advocating for gender diverse kids. But I’ve also had to reckon with the limits of that experience; I’m not trans, and I’m not the parent of a gender diverse child, and yet it’s been my responsibility — and my privilege — to be a voice in the courtroom for these remarkable, resilient, and courageous families. The duty to do right by them, amid a hurricane of mainstream transphobia, is perhaps the most important burden I’ve had to carry in my career. It’s certainly the heaviest.
Q: You’ve been especially involved in Egale’s legal advocacy through your generous pro bono support. Can you tell us a bit about that work?
I’ve represented Egale in a number of appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada. One of these was Hansman v. Neufeld, in which the Court accepted our submission that there is a weighty public interest in protecting “counter-speech” in defence of a vulnerable minority. The Court also recognized, for the first time, that trans folks are a vulnerable and disadvantaged minority in Canadian society.
Hansman has been an important precedent in litigation involving 2SLGBTQI individuals. When I represented drag performers in northwestern Ontario who had been smeared online as “groomers”, the Ontario Superior Court relied on Hansman and ruled that our clients could sue the person who had spewed that invective for defamation.
More recently, I have been counsel — alongside Egale’s Bennett Jensen and Eric Freeman and a team from my law firm, McCarthy Tétrault LLP — for 2SLGBTQI organizations, as well as gender diverse young people and their families, challenging anti-trans laws in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Among other things, these laws restrict the use of young people’s chosen names and pronouns in school and, in Alberta, their access to gender affirming health care, even with their parents’ consent.
These restrictions are repugnant, both constitutionally and morally. But I am confident that we have the evidence and the law on our side — and that, if conservative politicians refuse to leave trans kids alone and we have to defeat these laws in court, we will.
Q: What does a world without hate look like to you? How do you feel our work helps us get there?
A world without hate is one in which we’ve learned to recognize the humanity in imperfect strangers. It’s a world in which those with diverse identities, backgrounds, and beliefs are not reduced to abstractions that are caricatured, distorted, and feared.
The data tell us that, if someone knows a trans person, they’re far less likely to support anti-trans laws like the ones that Egale is challenging in Saskatchewan and Alberta. That’s why education is our communities’ most important form of advocacy — and why it’s such a critical component of Egale’s work. We can strike down laws in the courtroom, but we can only build a world without hate one truthful conversation at a time.
Q: What would you say to others who are considering supporting Egale?
Now’s the time! Even a modest contribution will help make essential work possible. And we can’t afford to wait.