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Community Support

exeQutive supports the LGBT community by donating a portion of its annual membership revenue to a local charity. 

In its first year of operation, exeQutive supported the Bill 7 Award Trust.  The Trust awards bursaries to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and 2-spirited students in financial need in any post-secondary institution in Ontario. More information about the Bill 7 Award Trust can be found at www.bill7award.ca.

In 2009, exeQutive supported PFLAG Canada (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).  PFLAG Canada is Canada's only national organization that helps all Canadians who are struggling with issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. PFLAG Canada supports, educates and provides resources to parents, families, friends and colleagues with questions or concerns, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Go to www.pflagcanada.ca for more information about PFLAG Canada.

In 2010, exeQutive supported the Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line (www.youthline.ca/), a toll-free Ontario-wide peer support phone line for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, 2-spirited, queer and questioning young people.

Supporting Our Youth (SOY) was the community group supported by exeQutive in 2011. SOY is a community development program designed to improve the lives of LGBT youth in Toronto through the active involvement of youth and adult communities. We work to create healthy arts, culture and recreational spaces for young people; to provide supportive housing and employment opportunities; and to increase youth access to adult mentoring and support. More information about SOY can be found at www.soytoronto.org.

In 2012, exeQutive supported Egale Canada.  Egale is Canada’s national lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) human rights organization: advancing equality, diversity, education and justice.  Since its founding in 1986,  Egale has intervened before Canadian courts and tribunals in some of the most important and ground-breaking cases involving LGBT rights and access to justice, including 11 before the Supreme Court of Canada.  Notably, Egale Canada was the driving force behind the Canadians for Equal Marriage campaign—widely regarded as the most influential public policy lobbying campaign in Canadian history—which ultimately resulted in Canada being one of the first countries in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.  Egale continues to fight for substantive legal rights for Canada’s LGBT community, particularly with respect to trans equality, blood and organ donation for gay and bisexual men, LGBT parental recognition, as well as hate crimes and hate propaganda.  More information about Egale can be found at www.egale.ca.

In 2013, exeQuitve supported the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.  The Archives was established to aid in the recovery and preservation of the histories of LGBT people. Its mandate is to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBT people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada. To support this function, the Archives also maintains significant non-archival collections, which include a research library, international subject files, and an international collection of queer periodicals. The Archives makes this information available to the public for education and research. Go to www.clga.ca for more information.

exeQutive members supported The Triangle Program - Canada's only LGBTQ high school - in 2014.  The Triangle Program is one of three programs that make up Oasis Alternative Secondary School. This full-time program of the Toronto District School Board offers structure, support and a community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight and transgender peers to obtain a high school education.  More information can be found at www.triangleprogram.ca.

Egale Canada Human Rights Trust (Egale) is Canada’s only national charity promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans human rights through research, education and community engagement.  Egale’s vision is of a Canada free of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and all other forms of discrimination so that every person can achieve their full potential, unencumbered by hatred and bias.  in 2015, exeQutive members are supporting Egale's Youth OUTreach Program, (now known as Friends of Ruby) which supports an LGBTQ youth housing and crisis intervention centre in downtown Toronto (https://egale.ca/?s=OUTreach).

In 2016, exeQutive supported the Rainbow Railroad a Toronto-based organization that helps LGBT individuals escape violence and persecution in their home countries. In the past, it has helped individuals from the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East relocate to safer countries in Europe and North America.  At any given time, Rainbow Railroad is working on 30-50 open cases, confirming their details, putting them in touch with local resources and helping them identify safe routes for escape.  As the situation worsens in many parts of the world, these numbers continue to grow.

The Spark: Trans Youth Sports program offered by The 519 Community Centre was the community group supported by exeQutive in 2017.   Spark is a free weekly drop-in program for trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary and two-spirit youth age 16-29. Spark explores a range of sport and recreation activities including; ultimate frisbee, soccer, swimming, ice sports, field sports, bike riding, hiking etc.  Go to www.the519.org/programs/trans-youth-sports for more information.

In 2018, exeQutive members heard about the important work of Human Rights Watch and the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya and Central Asia.  On behalf of members of exeQutive, a donation was made to Human Rights Watch Canada.  Information about the work done by Human Rights Watch to protect the rights of LGBT people is available at https://www.hrw.org/topic/lgbt-rights.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation and its programs in support to LGBTI people in Africa was chosen as the charity to support in 2019, although events and the donation were delayed because of covid-19.  Information about SLF’s Partners In Pride program is available at https://stephenlewisfoundation.org/partners-in-pride/.

exeQutive’s regular programming and events were disrupted in 2020 and 2021 because of covid-19 and restrictions on gathering.  Throughout the period, members met virtually and supported the work of several charities including ACT (Aids Committee of Toronto), the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Centre for Family Literacy Society of Alberta, and Friends of Ruby, formerly Egale Youth Services.