” I am proud to know you”
Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud
This article honours and appreciates the queer, disabled, and racialized activists of the past and present. Including figures such as Jazzie Collins, Chella Man, Mia Mingus, and Jen Deerinwater.
Jazzie Collins was a black, queer, trans, disabled woman and a recognized transgender activist. She died on July 11, 2013, and was honoured by the Legislative LGBT Caucus for her advocacy work which included serving as Vice-Chair of San Francisco’s LGBT Aging Policy Taskforce and of the LGBT Senior Disabled Housing Taskforce. She was also one of the founding members of QUEEN (Queers for Economic Equality Now).
Chella Man is a genderqueer, deaf, transgender artist, author, director and YouTuber of Chinese and Jewish descent. In his first book Continuum, Man shares his experiences within his deaf, transgender, genderqueer, Jewish and Chinese identities, and talks about his journey to self-acceptance.
Mia Mingus is a writer, educator, and trainer for transformative and disability justice. She is a queer, physically disabled Korean transracial and transnational adoptee raised in the Caribbean. You can read more about Mia and her work on her blog Leaving Evidence.
Jen Deerinwater is a two-spirit, bi, disabled journalist and founder of Crushing Colonialism. You can read some of Jen’s work at her website www.jdeerinwater.com/media.
Also check out these Canadian disabled queer activists doing incredible work for their communities:
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
We are so proud to know all of you, and so thankful for the work you’ve done and continue to do to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Thank you.
About the Writer
Jules Sherwood is a queer, nonbinary performer, writer, and artist. She will be sharing her thoughts and insights throughout Pride month 2021. She is so excited to be working as a writer/researcher for the QSummit Campaign! LGBTQ+ stories and history are very important to her as a member of the community and believes they should be more widely visible. When first entering the LGBTQ+ community (and even sometimes now) she felt overwhelmed by the amount of history and culture. She didn’t know where to start or where to look to find more information, even the basics. Jules’ goal, as a part of this campaign, is to make this kind of information more accessible AND more visible! You can follow her @jules.m.sherwood.
About the Artist
Jasmine Noseworthy Persaud is a chronically ill, nonbinary digital media artist of Guyanese and English descent living in Tkaronto. They create work around embodiment – part of an intentional practice to honour the magic and wisdom we hold in our bodies. They are particularly interested in drawing connections between micro and macro levels of intimacy, interdependence, and care. Chosen media includes: illustration, poetry, and film.
Website/Social Media:
Portfolio – https://jasminepersaud.portfoliobox.net/
Socials – https://instagram.com/jasminedrawing & https://twitter.com/jasminedrawing
Shop – https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/jasminedrawing/
This article was edited by Meagan Mabilangan
Article Sources
- https://www.queerevents.ca/canada/pride/history
- https://posabilities.ca/queer-and-disabled-artists-and-activists/
- https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2021/1/29/disabled-lgbtq-creatives-imagine-better-tomorrow
- https://cripplemedia.com/disability-pride-five-disabled-lgbtq-activists-who-connected-communities/
- https://youtu.be/L2KvWP5_Q9k
- https://youtu.be/0RR4Q09tDoI
- https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/media-issues/diversity-media/queer-representation/queer-representation-film-television
