Here is Richard Burnett’s 29th annual column of the past year’s heroes and zeros.
HEROES The Professional Women’s Hockey League which on New Year’s Day launched a new era in women’s hockey with a New York vs Toronto match with several LGBTQ people playing key roles on the ice, including the ceremonial puck drop by Billie Jean King who is also a PWHL board member. The six-team league includes the Montréal Victoire who drew a sold-out crowd of 21,105 to the Bell Centre in their April 20 match against Toronto, marking the largest attendance ever recorded for a women’s hockey game worldwide.
HEROES The 199 publicly out LGBTQ and nonbinary athletes who competed at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, including Canadians Laurie Genest (cycling), Alena Sharp (golf), Olivia Apps (rugby), Quinn (soccer), and Kailen Sheridan (soccer). Meanwhile, Pride House Paris was supported by the International Olympic Committee, as well as 2024 Olympics organizers in France. Then Italian trans track champion Valentina Petrillo became the first out trans athlete at the Paris Paralympics where 38 out LGBTQ athletes included Canadians Kate O’Brien (Para Cycling), Tara Llanes and Cindy Ouellet (both Wheelchair Basketball).
ZEROS The International Boxing Association which spread misinformation about Algerian cisgender female boxer Imane Khelif who beat Italy’s Angela Carini in the Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics on August 1. Anti-trans critics wrongly claimed Khelif is a “trans woman” and also attacked Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting. Both Khelif and Lin won gold medals in Paris. In response the IOC stated, “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations.”
HERO Gabriel Attal who on January 9 was named France’s youngest-ever prime minister, as President Emmanuel Macron sought a fresh start for the remainder of his term amid growing political pressure from the far right. Attal, 34, rose to prominence as government spokesman and education minister. He is also France’s first out gay prime minister.
ZERO The Aruban parliament which on June 21 voted 10-10 to reject same-sex marriage.
HERO The Dutch Supreme Court which on July 12 ruled Aruba and Curaçao must extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.
HERO The Caribbean island nation of Dominica whose High Court on April 22 overturned a ban on consensual same-sex relations.
HERO The parliament of Liechtenstein which on May 16 voted to legalize same-sex marriage, making it the 22nd European country to do so.
HERO Greece which on February 16 became the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalize same-sex marriage with a landmark parliamentary vote of 176 to 76 with 46 abstentions. On March 3, Dimitris Elefsiniotis and Stavros Gavriliadis became the first same-sex couple to marry in Greece. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis then called the newlyweds to offer his congratulations.
HERO Estonia which on January 1 became the first former Soviet-ruled country to legalize same-sex marriage.
HERO The Baltic nation of Latvia which on July 1 began registering same-sex civil unions.
HEROES The few hundred LGBTQ activists who on June 16 gathered in Kyiv for the Ukrainian capital’s first Pride march since the Russian invasion, the 15 LGBTQ activists arrested at Istanbul’s banned Pride rally on June 30, and the several hundred LGBTQ activists on September 7 who participated in the Belgrade Pride march in the Serbian capital under heavy police protection.
HERO & ZERO Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili who on October 2 refused to sign an anti-LGBTQ bill banning same-sex marriage and adoptions by same-sex couples. The following day, Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili signed the anti-LGBTQ bill into law.
ZERO Russia which, state media reported on March 22, has added the “LGBT movement” to a list of extremist and terrorist organizations .
ZEROS Moscow police who on the night of October 11-12 raided two gay clubs, Central Station and Three Monkeys, arresting some 50 patrons at Central Station which was hosting a National Coming Out Day event.
ZERO Russian authorities which Chechnya human rights group SK SOS on September 4 reported are “blackmailing” imprisoned gay Chechen men to become soldiers, to fight for Russia in the war against Ukraine.
HERO Sweden’s parliament which on April 17 passed a law lowering the age at which people can change their legal gender from 18 to 16.
HERO Germany’s Bundestag which on April 12 – by a vote of 374 to 251 with 11 abstentions – approved legislation that makes it easier for transgender, intersex and non-binary people to change their name and gender in official records. The“self-determination law” took effect on November 1.
HERO Sacramento City Council which on March 27 unanimously voted to make their city a sanctuary for transgender people. Then San Francisco supervisors (city councilors) unanimously voted 11-0 at its June 11 meeting to officially designate their city a sanctuary for transgender and other gender-nonconforming individuals. Meanwhile, in May 2019, Québec’s National Assembly recognized Montreal’s Gay Village as an official place of refuge and emancipation.
HERO The United Nations which on April 4 made a historic move to protect the human rights of intersex persons as their Human Rights Council adopted its first-ever resolution – brought by Finland, South Africa, Chile, and Australia – to address discrimination, violence and harmful practices against persons with innate variations in sex characteristics. A majority of States voted in favour of the resolution, with no states voting against it.
ZERO Catholic Pope Francis who on May 20 told Italian bishops he remains opposed to frociaggine – which translates as “faggotness” or “faggotry” – in the priesthood. ANSA news agency reported Francis repeated the slur on June 11 as he met Roman priests, saying “there is an air of faggotness in the Vatican.”
HERO The delegates at the United Methodist Church General Conference which on May 1 voted 692-51 to remove their Church’s ban on the ordination of gay clergy, a prohibition that dated to 1984.
HERO Catholic Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill who on July 18 in California Superior filed suit against gay hookup app Grindr after the company reportedly failed to protect his data, leading to his resignation as general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in July 2021.
HEROES The more than 650 claimants sueing dating app Grindr in London’s High Court, in a mass data protection lawsuit announced on April 22, accusing Grindr of allegedly sharing personal information such as people’s HIV status with third parties. The dating app is used by 13 million people every month. Grindr says it will “respond vigorously” to the claim.
ZEROS The thugs who attacked two gay men they met on Grindr, in two separate incidents on August 8, in Sherbrooke, Québec. Nathan Guyon (age 19), Lucas Picard (19), and Tristan Gilbert (18) were subsequently detained by police.
ZERO Canadian-American multinational brewing giant Molson Coors Beverage Co. which on September 3 announced it is backing away from diversity, equity and inclusion policies and will no longer sponsor Pride celebrations.
ZERO Ghana’s parliament which on February 28 passed legislation imposing a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone convicted of identifying as LGBTQ and a maximum five-year jail term for forming or funding LGBTQ groups.
ZERO The Constitutional Court of Uganda which on April 3 upheld the so-called Anti-Homosexuality Act.
HEROES The three judges in Namibia’s High Court who on June 21 overturned and declared unconstitutional a colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex between men.
ZERO The Iraqi parliament which on April 27 amended their country’s existing “Law on Combatting Prostitution” (No. 8 of 1988) to punish same-sex relations with a penalty of between 10 and 15 years in prison. The law also provides for 7 years in prison and a fine between 10 and 15 million Iraqi dinars for “promoting homosexuality,” which is undefined.
ZERO A Houthi court in Yemen which on January 23 sentenced 32 men, 9 of them to death, in a mass trial based on charges of “sodomy”. In addition to death sentences that include crucifixion and stoning, the Houthi court sentenced 23 men to prison for periods of up to 10 years. Three of them were also sentenced to public flogging.
HERO The unnamed Pakistani man who on May 9 was imprisoned in the Sarhad hospital for psychiatric disease in Peshawar after applying to set up Pakistan’s first gay club. Gay sex is illegal in Pakistan and can be punished by two years to life in prison.
HERO The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in India which on September 1 announced there will no longer be any restrictions for LGBTQ people to open a joint bank account, and that partners in a queer relationship are to be treated as a part of the same household for the purposes of ration card.
ZERO The Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau in China, which on October 22 banned famed Chinese trans icon and TV host Jin Xing from performing her stage adaptation of Cao Yu’s classic work Sunrise.
HERO The parliament in Thailand which on March 27 approved a marriage equality bill. The law comes into effect on January 22, 2025.
HERO The Tokyo High Court which on October 30 ruled that Japan’s ban on equal marriage is unconstitutional. Japan is the only G7 nation that doesn’t allow equal marriage.
HERO Health Canada which effective May 8 rescinded its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada. However, Health Canada continues to bar donations from all Canadians who have had new or multiple partners in the previous three months, based on screening questions regarding anal sex.
ZERO The HIV epidemic in Canada which, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research announced on February 7, rose with an ‘alarming increase’ of 24.9 % in reported cases across the country in 2022, according to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. The Public Health Agency of Canada reported 1,833 new cases of HIV in 2022. Men aged 30 to 39 are the category with the highest rates. Quebec slightly exceeds the national average of 4.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with a rate of 4.9. This rise in new cases has not been seen in over a decade.
HERO The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which on June 6 issued new clinical guidelines on the use of doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxy PEP) for STI prevention: “In three large randomized controlled trials, 200 mg of doxycycline taken within 72 hours after sex has been shown to reduce syphilis and chlamydia infections by >70% and gonococcal infections by approximately 50%.”
HERO The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention whose new study on mpox published in the October 10 edition of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportshows infection with the mpox virus is five times more likely among gay and bisexual men who engage in unprotected anal sex as the receptive partner.
HERO Switzerland whose national health insurance on July 1 began reimbursing PrEP prescriptions at 100%.
HEROES Two male humpback whales photographed having sex, photographed for a study published February 27 in the journal Marine Mammal Science which produced the first photographs of this species having penetrative sex, in waters west of the Hawaiian island of Maui in January 2022.
HERO Pornhub which on March 14 suspended service to Texans after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2023 state law that requires porn websites to institute age-verification measures and display health warnings on its pages. In Canada, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre on February 21 said a future Conservative government would change Canadian law to require porn websites verify the age of users.
ZEROS The 12% of LGBTQ Americans who voted for Donald Trump on November 5, down from 27% last time, reports NBC News.
ZEROS Florida and that state’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for enforcing many anti-LGBTQ measures in 2024, including an LGBTQ book ban in public libraries, the removal of all LGBTQ-friendly travel destinations from the official state tourism website VisitFlorida.com, and banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.
ZERO El Salvador whose Education Minister José Mauricio Pineda on February 7 posted on X that “we have removed every use or trace of gender ideology from public schools.”
ZEROS The thugs who on June 22 viciously beat up lesbian couple Emma MacLean and Tori Hogan in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
ZERO Anderson Lee Aldrich, the shooter who killed five people and injured 19 others at LGBTQ nightclub Club Q in Colorodo Springs in November 2022, plead guilty on June 16 to hate crimes and was sentenced to 55 life terms in prison.
ZERO Convicted killer Luka Rocco Magnotta who, CTV News reported on March 4, has been transferred from maximum-security prison Port-Cartier Institution on Quebec’s north shore to La Macaza, a medium-security institution. Magnotta, 41, is serving a life sentence for killing and dismembering Chinese student Jun Lin in Montreal in 2012. The Correctional Service of Canada states Magnotta will be eligible for day parole on June 4, 2034, and for full parole on June 4, 2037. The Toronto Sun reports Magnotta is transgender and now goes by the name Violette. “Gay is a choice,” Magnotta is quoted in a 2022 assessment. “Trans is who I am.” According to a transfer warrant signed in August 2022 and obtained by The Sun, Magnotta told a psychiatric team that their husband, whom they married in 2017, would be transferred with them.
ZERO Tennis champion and “gay icon” Rafael Nadal whom Saudi Arabia on January 15 announced will serve as ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation. As the cheerleading ATP Tour and WTA expand into Saudi Arabia, Nadal’s new role includes promoting tennis and building a Rafa Nadal Academy there, part of “sportswashing” efforts by the Saudi state where women face systematic discrimination and are left exposed to domestic violence under the male guardianship system, and where same-sex relations are punishable by lashes, prison or death. In response, Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves skewered Nadal on its cover.
HEROES Tennis icons Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert who publicly opposed a WTA event in Saudi Arabia, citing LGBTQ and women’s rights. On January 16, Sports Illustrated published a letter the two tennis icons wrote to the WTA: “Not only is this a country where women are not seen as equal, it is a country which criminalizes the LGBTQ community. A country whose long term record on human rights and basic freedoms has been a matter of international concern for decades. Taking the WTA finals to Saudi Arabia would represent taking a significant step backwards, to the detriment of the WTA.”
HERO British soccer star Jordan Henderson who on January 19 apologized to the LGBTQ community a day after he cancelled his lucrative contract with Al-Ettifaq of the Saudi Pro League in Saudi Arabia. Henderson now plays for AFC Ajax in Amsterdam.
ZERO The Mexican soccer federation which on February 15 took its decade-long battle with FIFA – over multiple fines for fans chanting anti-gay slurs at games – to the sport’s highest court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland. The latest appeal by Mexico challenged financial penalties totaling 100,000 Swiss francs ($114,000) imposed by FIFA for incidents at two games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. CAS has not indicated when it could rule on the latest Mexico vs. FIFA case.
HEROES Fenix FC, a soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men, which on September 19 made its debut in a regional league in Spain, becoming the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe. Named after the mythical bird symbolizing rebirth, Fenix FC competes in the fifth tier in the northwestern region of Catalonia. They lost their first game 19-0, but won the hearts of fans and spectators.
HEROES & ZEROS The pro-Palestine protesters who disrupted Pride celebrations across North America, notably hostile clashes with police in Boston on June 8, and forcing Toronto Pride to terminate their parade mid-route on June 30. In Montreal, protestors delayed Fierté’s parade by 30 minutes on August 12. Meanwhile, Stonewall veteran and Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal in his July 9 PGN editorial headlined “Shame on you! You won’t stop Pride!” wrote about pro-Palestinian LGBTQ protesters disrupting Pride parades: “Those who tried to stop Pride want to take us back to the 1950s. They want us to go back to being silent. You can feel strongly about the situation in Gaza, but not at the expense of erasing our visibility. It’s because of Pride that the LGBTQ community can publicly exist — with all the differing opinions of any other group. It’s because of Pride that pro-Palestinian LGBTQ people can be as public as they want. And now they’ve tried to stop the very thing that allows them to exist in the first place.”
HERO Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organizers who on February 28 agreed to relax their recent ban on police marching in their parade with a compromise condition that officers not wear uniforms.
HERO The Australian state of New South Wales which on March 22 officially banned conversion therapy.
HERO Jody Bouffard who on October 5 closed her Denver, Colorodo, lesbian bar Blush & Blu after 28 years. There are now fewer than 20 lesbian bars left in America and, the CBC reported on August 10, there are none left in Canada.
ZERO Quebec which on May 1 banned new co-ed toilets and dressing rooms in public schools, even though a government-appointed committee of experts on gender identity has yet to make its recommendations. The directive announcing the ban reads: “No mixed toilet or dressing room will be part of the construction or renovation of school buildings.” Only schools where construction had already advanced past 30 % were allowed to maintain unisex toilets. CAQ Health Minister Bernard Drainville said, “It’s a question of well-being, intimacy and respect for privacy.” Meanwhile, the committee formed to address the issue of co-ed toilets in schools will announce its recommendations by the winter of 2025.
ZERO Anti-trans Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who on February 21 said “biological males” should be banned from women’s sports, change rooms and bathrooms. “Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males,” Poilievre said.
ZEROS Alberta’s ruling United Conservative Party and Alberta premier Premier Danielle Smith who on October 31 introduced sweeping legislation targeting transgender people and students using preferred pronouns. The Education Amendment Act, 2024, requires children under 16 get parental consent if they want to change their names or pronouns at school. The second bill, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024, prohibits doctors from treating those under 16 seeking such transgender treatments as puberty blockers and hormone therapies. The third bill, the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, bans trans athletes from competing in leagues not designated co-ed.
ZEROS The anti-LGBTQ “Hands Off Our Kids” protesters who on September 20 in the Old Port of Montreal were dispersed by police with tear gas, pepper spray and batons after they were blocked by pro-LGBTQ counter-protesters.
HERO Non-binary Montrealer Arwyn Jordan Regimbal who in an out-of-court agreement with the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec on January 17 obtained the X gender marker on their Québec driver’s licence — a first in Québec.
HERO The New York state Legislature which on June 5 approved a bill directing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to change the name of the Christopher Street-Sheridan Square subway station in Greenwich Village to the Christopher Street-Stonewall National Monument Station, to commemorate the Stonewall Riots.
HERO The “Thunderhead” LGBTQ national monument which on May 1 broke ground in Ottawa. The $14 million monument – funded by the non-profit LGBT Purge Fund, and designed by Winnipeg-based Public City Architecture, Elder Albert McLeod and artists Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan – will mark historic discrimination against the LGBTQ community at the hands of the federal government, as well as societal injustices against the community, and will open in summer 2025.
ZERO The City of Montreal Ville-Marie borough inspector who on August 8 during Fierté Montréal, warned bars and restaurants along the Saint Catherine Street pedestrian mall that their terrasse potted plants are too tall, surpassing the city’s 1,07 m height restriction.
ZERO The Ville-Marie borough of the City of Montreal which continues to inadequately deal with the wave of crime, drugs and homelessness in the Gay Village which has become one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Canada.
HEROES The Montrealers who on June 15 founded the Association citoyenne du Village de Montréal “to be a strong voice defending the interest of the Village’s residents and users, and is independent of all political parties, the City, and the Arrondissement.”
HERO The Association citoyenne du Village de Montréal whose survey released on October 28 shows most people don’t feel safe in Montreal’s Village. The results show 68.2 % believe the Village to be not very safe or not at all safe, while more than 66 % said the quality of life was poor or very poor. People surveyed say the areas they avoid include Beaudry Metro station (72.89 %). Other unsafe places identified include Place Émilie-Gamelin (65.6 %), Place du Village (50.1 %), Place Emmett-Johns (48.7 %), Charles-S. Campbell (41.5 %), and des Faubourgs (20.5 %). The stretch of Sainte-Catherine between Berri and Atateken streets is where the greatest number of people (77.2 %) said they feel the most unsafe.
HERO The West Island LGBTQ2+ Centre which on September 14 hosted the first-ever West Island Pride celebration, in Edgewater Park in Pointe-Claire.
HERO The newly-opened La Maison des RebElles which, CTV Montreal reported on November 2, is Montreal’s first senior home for lesbians age 55 and over. Almost a decade in the making, the co-op has 22 units available at their home in the city’s St-Henri neighbourhood.
HERO Scottish singer-songwriter and queer icon Jimmy Somerville whose iconic Bronski Beat queer anthem Smalltown Boy – released in May 1984 – was honoured in the Smalltown Boy exhibition in Glasgow from August 23 to September 20.
HERO Swiss artist Nemo who on May 12 became the first non-binary artist to win Eurovision. Out UK pop singer Olly Alexander placed 18th.
HEROES Actors Colman Domingo (Rustin) and Jodie Foster (Nyad) who on January 23 made Oscar history as the first two out LGBTQ actors nominated for playing LGBTQ characters.
HERO Film icon Al Pacino who wrote in his memoir Sonny Boy, published on October 15, that he donated his paycheck from the 1980 movie Cruising because he felt the film was “exploitative” of the LGBTQ community. While the Academy Award winner said he did not view Cruising as exploitative while he was making the movie, he realized it had problems after seeing the completed film and “remained quiet” after its release in 1980 rather than promote the movie.
HERO British singer Sade who on November 22 released the single “Young Lion” as part of the Transa benefit album assembled by non-profit Red Hot which spotlights trans and non-binary artists to support transgender awareness. “Young Lion” is dedicated to Sade’s son Izaak, who identifies as a trans man.
HERO Two-Spirit song carrier, composer, activist, and ethnomusicologist Jeremy Dutcher of the Tobique First Nation in Eastern Canada, who on September 17 won the 2024 Polaris Music Prize for his album, Motewolonuwok. The Montreal-based vocalist is the first artist in Polaris history to win the prize twice.
HERO Trans Montreal singer-songwriter and vogue ball organizer Elle Barbara who was invited to join Madonna onstage as Vogue guest judge on the ballroom runway at Madonna’s January 18 concert at the Bell Centre.
HERO Legendary Montreal drag king Nat King Pole who performed his final show at the long-running Candyass Cabaret at Café Cléopatre on January 19.
HERO Pop icon kd lang who was inducted in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame on September 14. Kd once told me, “I think being queer was an asset. Being very alternative was my secret weapon prior to coming out.”
HERO Canadian pop superstar Shawn Mendes, 26, who on October 28 said onstage during a concert at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, “The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes, and I know other times. It feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that, and I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. And that’s all I really want to say about that for now.”
HERO Montreal author and literary events producer Christopher DiRaddo who on November 12 was awarded the 2024 Judy Mappin Community Award by the Québec Writers’ Federation.
HERO Out Canadian puppeteer, playwright, designer and performer Ronnie Burkett who on June 8 received a 2024 Governor General Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
HERO Art for Healing Foundation founders Earl Pinchuk and Gary Blair of Montreal who on May 8 received a Governor General Award for Meritorious Service. The award recognizes Canadians for their remarkable contributions in improving the lives of people in their communities.
HEROES Montrealers Line Chamberland (elle a dirigé la Chaire de recherche sur la diversité sexuelle et la pluralité des genres de l’Université du Québec à Montréal de 2011 à 2020) and Luc Provost (better known as drag icon Mado Lamotte) who on May 16 were recipients of the title of Officière and Officier of l’Ordre de Montréal.
HERO Former BBC News LGBTQ correspondent Ben Hunte whom CNN announced on October 14 was hired as an anchor and correspondent covering social justice and LGBTQ issues.
HERO Pink Triangle Press (PTP) which on February 27 announced it laid off 16 staffers – three tied to content positions at Xtra Magazine, while the rest were technical staff working across PTP’s dating product and back-end infrastructure teams. PTP Executive Director David Walberg stated they “made the difficult, but necessary, decision to pull back on structural costs … It was our responsibility to align our cost structure with current market realities to protect the continued health of the organization overall.”
HEROES The 28 % of Gen Z adults (ages 18 to 25) who in a Public Religion Research Institute survey published on January 22 identify as LGBTQ. That compares with 10% of all adults, 16% of millennials, 7% of Generation X, 4% of baby boomers and 4% of the Silent Generation, the survey found. In its LGBTQ identity breakdown, the report found 72% of Gen Z adults identified as straight, 15% as bisexual, 5% as gay or lesbian and 8% as something else. The findings are in line with those of other major surveys, including Gallup’s, that show Gen Z is the queerest adult generation to date.
HEROES Fugues magazine was celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024 and the team had prepared not one but two exhibitions for the occasion to mark the event. A first exhibition was held in the premises of the Archives Gaies du Québec during the summer. It made us rediscover the history of Fugues through some emblematic covers, interviews and milestones. In addition, an impressive LGBT historical tour through the eyes of Fugues’s Editorial team was offered on the Esplanade Tranquille and on the Esplanade of the Olympic Stadium, as part of the Montreal Pride Festival.
HEROES who came out in 2024:
Irish cabinet minister Jack Chambers came out as gay;
Spanish matador Mario Alcalde as pansexual, the first-ever torero to come out as queer;
Law & Order actor Zoe Lister-Jones came out as queer;
American track star Trey Cunningham, former U.S. professional figure skater Colin Grafton, and former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher came out as gay;
country singer Maren Morris came out as bisexual;
Brenda Biya, daughter of Paul Biya, president of Cameroon where same-sex relationships are criminalized, revealed she is in a relationship with Brazilian model Layyons Valença;
Ecuadorian pop star Johann Vera came out with his song Closet;
two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and Doctor Who star Jinkx Monsoon came out as trans-femme and now uses she/her pronouns;
and Saturday Night Live veteran Sasheer Zamata came out as lesbian.
LOCAL HEROES who passed away in 2024:
Trailblazing Montreal drag legend Twilight—a.k.a. Philip Griffith—chose medically-assisted death after valiantly fighting longterm health issues after suffering a stroke in 2022. Known as the Diana Ross of Montreal, Twilight headlined venues from Vancouver, BC, to Wildwood, New Jersey, where she performed with her great friend, drag legend Vicky Lane in Vicky’s spectacular international travelling show The Follies.
Former Director of the McGill AIDS Centre and Chair of Health Canada’s National Advisory Committee on AIDS from 1983 to 1989, Dr. Norbert (Nobby) Gilmore, who had 150 publications as author, co-author or editor in pharmacology, allergy, immunology, issues related to drug use, prisons, immigration, and especially the clinical, ethical, legal, and policy aspects of HIV infection and AIDS.
LGBTQ activist Bruce Garside, founder of Gay McGill (now Queer McGill) in 1972, who organized McGill’s first gay dance in the Students Union which was attended by 2,000 people, co-founder (with Will Aitken and John Southin) of L’Androgyne bookstore (at 1217 Crescent Street) in 1973, and co-founded (with Bill Ryan, Diane Reichertz and Shirley Steele) the first professional counseling service for LGBTQ Montrealers, Affirmative Counseling Affirmatif, in 1989.
Montreal legend John Banks who was Marlene Dietrich’s longtime personal secretary and a longtime collaborator with the Archives gaies du Québec. John may be best remembered for organizing Montreal’s very first Pride march in June 1979. Forty years later, in 2019, Fierté Montréal established the Prix John-Banks to honour those who have contributed to the advancement and rights of the LGTBQ communities. Fittingly, John was the first recipient.
Singer Serge Laprade who co-hosted the Télévision Quatre-Saisons show Garden Party with Michèle Richard in the 1980s; out LGBTQ immigration and human rights lawyer Noël Saint-Pierre; legendary trans activist Chloé Viau; film, stage and television actor Jacques Lussier; Québec TV chef Daniel Pinard; and GRIS-Montréal past-president David E. Platts.
HEROES who passed away in 2024:
Broadway and gay icon Chita Rivera, at age 91; Steve Ostrow, New York City Opera singer and founder of The Continental Baths in NYC in 1968; David Mixner, advisor to U.S. president Bill Clinton who famously broke with Clinton over the introduction of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military; Atlanta drag icon Mr. Charlie Brown (a.k.a. Charles Dillard) andToronto drag legend Nicole Batista (a.k.a. Paul Mena); Lesbian News (founded in 1975) publisher and Editor-in-Chief Ella Matthes; original Cockettes member Rumi Missabu who changed his name from James Bartlett in the late 1960s; legendary Chicago house vocalist Chuck Roberts, of cancer at age 66; chip design pioneer and transgender-rights advocate Lynn Conway; fitness guru and pop icon Richard Simmons; former out Major League Baseball player Billy Bean, of acute myeloid leukemia, after reshaping MLB’s relationship with the LGBTQ community and serving as the league’s VP for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Liberace’s lover Scott Thorson; Tony-winning Broadway actor Gavin Creel, of sarcoma at age 48; Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone, of cancer at age 63; Finnish hockey player and onetime Saguenéens de Chicoutimi leftwinger Janne Puhakka, 29, who was murdered by his ex-boyfriend Rolf Nordmo; Village Voice art critic and novelist Gary Indiana; Warhol superstar and New York underground cinema icon Paul Morrissey; and trailblazing Bastard Out of Carolina author Dorothy Allison.
