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barbara findlay

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barbara findlay
KC
NationalityCanadian
Education
OccupationLawyer
Known forLGBT rights activism
Websitewww.barbarafindlay.com

Canadian lawyer barbara findlay[a] KC is a longtime LGBT rights activist. She is the subject of the documentary In particular, barbara findlay.

Early life

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Findlay has a BA from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She later studied at the University of British Columbia, obtaining both a Master of Arts in sociology and an LLB.[2][3]

In the 1960s, findlay was admitted to a psychiatric ward against her will during her first year of university for admitting she was attracted to women.[4][5]

Career

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Findlay was called to the bar in 1977.[3] She began practicing law soon after Canada's decriminalization of homosexuality.[6]

Findlay is a founding member of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference (SOGIC), a queer lawyer group that is part of the Canadian Bar Association, and the December 9 Coalition. She is also a member of Alliance of Women Against Racism Etc. (AWARE).[7]

Findlay has a law practice in British Columbia specializing in family law for LGBT and child custody cases.[2] She has been involved in many cases centring around trans rights, including Kimberley Nixon v. Vancouver Rape Relief Society.[7][8]

Findlay's life and career are chronicled in the documentary In particular, barbara findlay.[2][4] The film was directed by Becca Plucer.[9]

Findlay has also led workshops at Room Magazine's literary festival, Growing Room.[10] She is featured in Making Room: Forty Years of Room Magazine in the photo essay "The Cancer Year" (with Dorothy Elias).[11]

Personal life

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Findlay lives with her partner, Sheila Gilhooly, in British Columbia.[4] She describes herself as "a white, cisgender, lesbian, activist lawyer with physical disabilities".[12][13]

Awards

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In 2001, findlay was appointed to the Queen's Counsel.[14] In 2005, she was given an award of merit from the Sexual Diversity Studies Department at the University of Toronto.[15] In 2013, findlay was awarded a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.[7]

Notes

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  1. ^ Her name is stylized without capitals.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "About Me". barbara findlay Q.C. Retrieved 2020-07-12. My name is spelled without capital letters. People make many assumptions about why that is. Here is the story. I have always signed my name without capital letters.
  2. ^ a b c "Lawyer barbara findlay shares the personal roots of her advocacy". CBC. 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  3. ^ a b "barbara findlay". www.uvic.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  4. ^ a b c Takeuchi, Craig (2016-04-25). "Documentary about Vancouver's LGBT rights pioneer barbara findlay retells Canadian queer history". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  5. ^ Martinson, Donna (2016). "On the Front Cover: barbara findlay, Q. C." (PDF). The Advocate. Vol. 74. p. 177. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  6. ^ Martinson, Donna (2016). "On the Front Cover: barbara findlay, Q. C." (PDF). The Advocate. Vol. 74. p. 179. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Shauna (2013-01-30). "Trailblazing lesbian lawyer awarded Queen's Medal". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  8. ^ "LSTW and LGBT Film Series: "In Particular, barbara findlay"". Never Apart. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  9. ^ Siemens, Liam (2016-08-23). "Review: In Particular, barbara findlay at VQFF". SAD Mag. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  10. ^ Hirose, Alyssa (2018-02-26). "This Feminist Literary Festival is for Everyone". Vancouver Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  11. ^ Reeve, Phyllis (2017-08-09). "The making of Making Room". bcbooklook.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  12. ^ "CASHRA - ACCCDP National Human Rights Conference - Speaker's biographies | CDPDJ". www.cdpdj.qc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  13. ^ "Contributors". Making Room: Forty Years of Room Magazine. Caitlin Press Inc. 2017. p. 407. ISBN 978-1-987915-40-2. barbara findlay QC is a fat old white cisgender feminist lawyer with disabilities, raised working class and Christian who has been fighting for queer legal rights, organizing unlearning oppression workshops, and writing, for forty-plus years.
  14. ^ Ministry of Attorney General (2001-12-20). "26 B.C. LAWYERS NAMED QUEEN'S COUNSEL". archive.news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  15. ^ Rundle, Lisa (2005-03-15). "Trudeau Foundation Names Mentors: Authors Irshad Manji and Ken Wiwa will promote public discussion of human rights". University of Toronto Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
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