Articles 2020

The 519 has been a beacon for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities for decades. Offering programs, space, and leadership, The 519 supports and cultivates our communities in myriad ways. Many of us have attended parties, workshops, planning sessions, and lectures at The 519. As Sebastian Commock (he/him), manager of legal initiatives at The 519, says, it’s a place that “feels like home – a place I belong.”

We’ve already made history; the Black community’s contribution to Canadian society is undeniable and indelible. The focus is on the future and ensuring that Black futures are bright. David S. Alli, Ontario’s first Black Queer legal partner, signals a new dawn, a new day, and a new light for Black students and lawyers aspiring to the upper echelons of the legal profession.

In 2018, as a newly minted executive director, Aidan Johnson’s first task was to facilitate the merger of two established legal clinics into one, larger, entity that would respond to the legal needs of poverty-affected Ontarians in the Niagara region. Johnson didn’t know it at the time, but the formal merger would happen only one year before COVID-19 – and the onset of a whole new set of challenges, tied to the pandemic.

It is often said that “the wolf does not walk alone; she always carries her pack.” Indeed, one is left to wonder whether Julie DeWolf, the SOGIC Executive’s outgoing Chair, derives her unwavering commitment to service to the legal and broader community as well as her democratic and affiliative leadership style from her surname!

In this article, the authors discuss the discriminatory impact of the Single Family Rule on the grounds of sexual orientation, the HRTO’s unsettled jurisdiction over the issue, and the broader implications for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

We note the tragic events in Buffalo, Orange County, Uvalde, and too many more around the world, and recognize the importance of focusing on the unique life experiences of those who live and practice in the far too often precarious space where sexual and racial identity intersect. We note the ongoing struggles of the trans community, particularly those facing oppressive exclusionary laws.

Allow me to reintroduce you to Samantha Peters (she/her/they/them) – no stranger to the spotlight. Samantha, who proudly identifies as a black queer femme, was called to the bars of Alberta and Ontario in 2020. In that short time, she has made a palpable impact on the legal profession because of her innovative and rebellious approach to the practice of law and the seemingly fearless way in which she navigates the margins that contemporary Canadian society imposes on her intersecting identities.