Celebrating Pride Month 2025: Acknowledging Local Activists and Advocates in Our Community

Every year in June, the world celebrates Pride Month, in the hopes of recognizing the heroes of yesterday, the advocates of today, and the leaders of tomorrow. Pride Month is an opportunity to come together, and to celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ folks who make our communities a better, happier, and more welcoming place. Pride Month is also a time of deep reflection as to how we, as allies or 2SLGBTQIA+ members, can do our part to work towards fostering acceptance and substantive equality both in our conversations and through our actions.

As of 2024,  approximately 1.3 million Canadians identified as members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. While constituting nearly 5% of the Canadian population, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, particularly those of people identifying as trans and Gender Diverse, continue to be under attack.

Recent years in Canada have seen the proposal of policies and bills preventing trans and gender diverse students from using their chosen names and pronouns in schools. Since 2020, the rate of hate crimes towards the 2SLGBTQIA+ community have steadily been on the rise. Mental health is a greater concern than ever for queer folks and queer youth.

This trend is particularly concerning given the events unfolding abroad, most notably in the United States of America. In 2025, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community continues to have to justify its existence, and to fight for its survival.

As advocates for the betterment of all people, and as proud allies of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Black & Associates believes that equality is an active action. Through Pride Month, we wish to highlight and celebrate those who demonstrate courage and strength in their tireless efforts for the fight towards equality for 2SLGBTQIA+ people.

In light of recent events, please join us in recognizing local trailblazing trans and non-binary advocates, who make the Ottawa community a brighter, and safer place. 

1. Joanne Law

Born in 1944, Joanne Law is a Trans Rights Activist who, for over 35 years, has advocated for the inclusion of Trans folks in Ottawa. Joanne was a founding member of Gender Mosaic, an

Ottawa trans social support group. Joanne was the first trans woman in Canada to chair the Capital Pride Festival in 2009 and the first trans woman on the executive of The Association of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Ottawa.

Joanne has won 8 lifetime awards for her advocacy for the Trans Community. She was the first Canadian to receive the International Foundation for Gender Education’s Trinity Award (1999), for services to the Trans Community. Joanne’s advocacy transcends borders. In 2014, she was the guest speaker at the international symposium of the UN Human Rights Commission in New York.  

As an older Trans woman, Joanne has inspired generations of queer, trans and non-binary Ottawa folks.

2. Rupert Raj

Born in Ottawa in 1952, Rupert Raj is a pillar of the Ontarian trans community. As an Eurasian pansexual trans man, Rupert spent who has spent the better part of the last 50 years

advocating for the trans community in Ottawa and across Canada. Rupert founded several trans organizations, such as the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals (FACT), the Metamorphosis Medical Research Foundation (MMRF) or Gender Worker (now Gender Consultants).

Rupert also founded Gender Review: the FACTual Journal, Metamorphosis Newsletter/Metamorphosis Magazine and Gender NetWorker, all of which were publications directed towards trans folks, trans care professionals and trans resource providers.

In 2022, Rupert received an honorary doctorate from the Simon Fraser University to acknowledge 50 years of contributions to trans rights, literature, and services.

3. Jaisie Walker

Originally from the Scottish Highlands, Jaisie now resides in Ottawa, where they serve as the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood (Ottawa). Jaisie has spent the last decade advocating for gender-based violence prevention, reproductive justice, access to

reproductive care, and harm reduction.

In 2019, Jaisie was awarded the 2019 Parkland Institute Graduate Research Award for their project, Unsettling Lateral Violence: Queer Genealogies of Non/Monogamy in Southern Alberta, touching on the failures of current interpersonal policies to address violence in the context of non-monogamous or queer relationships.

In 2024, Jaisie published their debut poetry collection, titled Mud Pie. Jaisie writes about their relationship with their body, queerness, memories, wounds and trauma, as well as gender liberation.

4. Catherine McKenney

Catherine McKenney is a trans non-binary Canadian politician. Catherine was the first non-male openly  2SLGBTQIA+ person to be elected to the Ottawa city council. In 2025, Catherine was elected  to be the member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre in the 2025 Ontario general election.

Catherine has been a constant advocate for the betterment of the Ottawa community. In

2023, Catherine co-founded CitySHAPES, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to fight climate change, provide access to transportation and affordable housing, and to combat homelessness.

In 2019, Catherine came out for a second time, introducing themselves as a proud trans non-binary person. As a politician, Catherine hoped to show Canadians that trans folks can exist and thrive in positions of power.

5. Joshua M. Ferguson

Born and raised in Napanee, Joshua M. Ferguson is a trans non-binary filmmaker, writer, advocate and alchemist.

In 2018, Joshua became the first Canadian person to receive a non-binary birth certificate.  Since then, Joshua has been an advocate for queer rights and has continuously fought to change gender designations on government-issued identification to become more inclusive.

Joshua’s trans-inclusive filmmaking has been featured in festivals around the world, and their written work has been featured across the globe in publications such as the Toronto Star, the Guardian, NBC News, HuffPost, VICE, BuzzFeed, Teen Vogue, and OUT Magazine.

6. Noah Inniss-Parchment

Born and raised in Ottawa, Noah Inniss-Parchment is a Black trans advocate for the

2SLGBTQIA+ community in Ottawa and Toronto. As a social work graduate, Noah aspires to be a contact point for Black 2SLGBTQIA+ people, allowing them to create and find safer and empowering spaces.

For close to a decade, Noah has worked with local and grassroot queer, trans, and community-led organizations in the Ottawa area, including Kindspace, LGBT Youthline, Rexdale Pride, and The Centretown Community Health Centre Trans Health Clinic. Noah sits on various boards, including the Regional Table for trans health care in the Champlain region.

Happy Pride Month 2025

The Ottawa community is home to a rich, profound and hard-hitting history of queer advocacy. Black & Associates is lucky to exist next to, and to learn from our 2SLGBTQIA+ friends, family members, peers, and from the general 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Black & Associates is proud to celebrate and stand by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. We encourage you to find your own unique way to contribute to the movement and make a difference.

The Black & Associates Team wishes Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community a happy Pride Month!