Gemma Hickey

• Comment: See WP:PEA — this draft contains a lot of promotional language.  pythoncoder  (talk | contribs) 18:14, 22 October 2018 (UTC)

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Gemma Hickey
Born	(1976-10-01) October 1, 1976 St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

Gemma Hickey is an LGBT activist and author living in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. They became one of the first people in Canada to receive a gender-neutral birth certificate, as well as a gender-neutral passport. They also founded The Pathways Foundation, an organization for victims of abuse by clergy.

Background

Hickey was born October 1, 1976 in St. John’s and educated at Gonzaga High School and Memorial University of Newfoundland. They hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies. .

Hickey identifies as gender non-binary, using the pronoun "they."

Hickey’s transition from female to non-binary is the subject of the 2017 documentary film “Just Be Gemma” which aired on CBC TV as well as the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax .

Activism

Gemma Hickey has spent years campaigning for LGBTQ2 rights in Canada, through their involvement in EGALE Canada. Hickey was president of the organization in 2004, when same-sex marriage in Canada was legalized, an issue Hickey had spent years advocating for.

Hickey is also outspoken about the trauma of sexual abuse by clergy. After going public about being sexually abused as a child at the hands of a Roman Catholic priest, Hickey founded The Pathways Foundation in 2013, a non-profit organization that helps other people deal with the effects of such abuse. Hickey continues to raise the issue publicly, including attending the clergy abuse summit held by the Catholic Church in February of 2019.

On June 2, 2015 a private member's bill was tabled in Ottawa that Hickey had helped draft, to make June 1 the National Institutional Abuse Awareness Day.

In 2015, Hickey undertook a 938-kilometre walk across the island of Newfoundland to raise awareness and funds for survivors of clergy abuse. Hickey completed the month-long walk at the Mount Cashel Orphanage Memorial in St. John’s, the site of the largest sexual abuse scandal in Canadian history. .

Non-binary Birth Certificate

On December 14, 2017, Gemma Hickey became the first person in Newfoundland and Labrador, and one of the first in Canada to receive a non-binary birth certificate. Their application was initially rejected because The Vital Statistics Act, the applicable legislation in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, that limited gender designation on the application form to male and female only.  In response to the rejection, Hickey filed an application at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to challenge the constitutionality of the law. The province changed the legislation before the court proceedings concluded. The space for 'gender' on Hickey's birth certificate is marked with 'X' instead of a 'M' or 'F'.

Non-binary passport

Canada introduced non-binary passports in August 2017, becoming the first country in North and South America to allow its citizens to use 'X' in the gender category. Hickey applied and received one of the first issued, and used the passport to travel to Germany and visit a memorial to gay people persecuted by the Nazis. Hickey then travelled to Japan to speak about gender issues, a screening of her documentary, and a reading from her autobiography, Almost Feral.

Honours and Awards

In 2012, Hickey was recognized with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for their contribution to LBGTQ2 rights in Canada.

In 2016, Gemma was named a Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Champion for their longstanding commitment to human rights protection, particularly for LGBTQ2 people.