Photo of Prachi Khanna – 2017 Winner

“Congratulations to all the winners . . . may the legacy of January Marie Lapuz shine on all the applicants” stated Sher Vancouver President and January’s best friend Ash Brar.

 

“The strength and quality and diversity of all the applicants was very impressive and it was very difficult for the selection committee to decide on an overall winner” stated Sher Vancouver Founder Alex Sangha.

 

WINNER

Prachi Khanna

18 years old from Surrey, B.C.

$500 cash prize donated by Sher Vancouver

 Biography

After initiating the formation of my school’s Queer Straight Alliance in September 2016, I served as the driving force— and advocate— facilitating consultations in my school’s community—with students, staff, parents, and administration, to reach an agreement for the school’s first “All-student washroom”. Having witnessed first-hand, the struggles of LGBTQI++ students, who felt incommoded and unwelcomed by the system they found themselves in, I, as an ally, felt a strong need to publicly acknowledge and address the fundamental issues at hand, to provide real solutions. Fueled by my determination and persistence, I set a strong foundation to assure that the school was inclusive and welcoming for all students. Through my work, I became strongly aware of my passion to drive change for making classrooms inclusive spaces to all students. This was bolstered by my involvement in the making of SOGI 123 videos for educators across our province. Although, I have graduated from high school, I know I have just begun to advocate for the LGBTQI++ community. Currently, I do so in my work with the President’s Diversity and Equity Council at my university and local organizations like QMUNITY. I will continue to advocate for better practices geared toward inclusion, and awareness of SOGI issues in our society. Ultimately, I intend to address issues regarding the inclusion of LGBTQI++ people in scientific research, especially in the biomedical sciences.

 

Some details from the Personal Statement of Prachi Khanna

Seaquam Queer Straight Alliance

• Initiated the formation of the QSA and established it in the school community: designed and prepared promotional materials (posters, buttons etc.), made PA announcements
• Facilitating weekly meetings (and sometimes multiple meetings a week)
• Facilitating consultations for the school’s first gender-neutral washroom while serving as a communication link between administration and students to reach an agreement
• Speaking at staff meetings and Parent Advisory Council meetings regarding concerns of LGQBTI++ students, especially the gender-neutral washroom
• Organising events that took place at the school (like assemblies, lunch trivia etc.) throughout the School District’s first Pride Week

SOGI 123

• Organizing SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) awareness campaigns
• SOGI 123: Interviewed for videos for BC’s educators in which I discussed the work I did with the QSA and also spoke about the change that needs to take place to create inclusive classrooms in our province.

President’s Diversity and Equity Council (PDEC) at Kwantlen Polytechnic University

• Contributing in my capacity as a student in discussions about university matters (for e.g.: best practices for inclusion in classrooms, accessibility of campus facilities, student surveys)
• Advisory Committee for Vancouver Food Summit 2017
• Advising on forum structure and format to make the event accessible and inclusive to high school and post-secondary students
• Advising on effective youth-engagement practices which were integrated to engage local youth in the conversation about Food Systems in the lower mainland

QMUNITY

• Volunteering at the annual QMUNITY Pride Parade fundraising brunch
• Attending Queer Competency and Inclusion workshops

PeerNetBC

• Attending Anti-oppression training, facilitation and youth-engagement workshops

  

RUNNER UP

Erjon Tela

27 year old from Surrey, B.C.

(Gay activist recently moved from Albania)

$250 cash prize donated by Sher Vancouver

Biography

I have started my activism in 2010 in Albania. I started with some graffiti’s in the streets of Tirana saying “I am a boy, I love a boy” and “I am a girl, I love a girl”. I took pictures during the action and shared that with the local media.  In 2012 I have been one of the organizers of the first Gay Pride in Albania. During the Pride, we were attacked with homemade tube bombs.  That didn’t stop us from holding the Pride every year after that.  From 2014 to 2016 I have been an organizer and trainer about LGBT issues in all the Police Stations in Albania and trained the elite group the “Special Forces Shqiponja.”  In 2017 I trained the students of the Police Academy. In 2014 I was an Assistant Producer of the first documentary made for the LGBT movement in Albania. In 2014 I was one of the founders of the first Residential Shelter for the LGBT community in Albania. In 2016 I started working for the first online helpline for LGBT people that was launched in December 2017.

 

RUNNER UP

Serene Carter

18 years old from Burnaby, B.C.

$250 cash prize donated by Sher Vancouver

Biography

 Serene is a student and a youth educator who commits herself to anti-oppression work on Coast Salish Territories through involvement, education, and organization.  She is the youngest youth educator with Out in Schools, a student organizer with the Douglas College Student Union, a board member of the Burnaby SOGI committee, President of her high school’s GSA, Student Trustee in 2016, and she organized charity events that fundraised over $5000 for Queer Youth in Burnaby.

  

RUNNER-UP

Grace McDonell

25 years old from North Vancouver, B.C.

$250 cash prize donated by Sher Vancouver

 Biography

 I am a 25-year-old, openly gay, proudly feminist, law student, currently studying at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. I serve as the President of the school’s LGBTQ advocacy group, sit on the equity committee, and as an executive on the Women & Law Society. Most recently, I was part of a coalition that intervened at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Trinity Western case – a case that continues the fight for LGBTQ rights. I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at the University of Toronto. I also completed a summer program at the University of Chicago in Academic & Professional Writing and Ethics. I received the Gordon Cressy Leadership Award and was voted as the member of the graduating class who contributed the most to the school and was considered to best represent the Class at Convocation during my undergrad.

 

RUNNER UP

Ran Ya Chib

27 years old from Surrey, B.C.

$250 cash prize donated by Sher Vancouver

Biography

Ran Ya Chib was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. He is first generation Cambodian Canadian. He is a student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and taking up a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. As a business student, he has trained to perform highly in different fields such as communications, accounting, operations management, and business entrepreneurship. His dedication is what sets him apart from anybody else.  With a passion for people, he understands the importance of building strong relationships with his peers and the community, based on honesty, integrity, and mutual respect. Ranya is passionate about his community involvement and has volunteered at various organizations, such as Health Initiative for Men and the Kids Help Phone. In May of 2017, He completed Totally Outright a leadership workshop for young gay, bisexual, trans, and queer guys interested in being healthy, sex-savvy change makers. He is a well-rounded individual who lives with passion, dedication, and grace.

 

Sukhdeep Singh 

Sukhdeep Singh is the founder and editor-in-chief of Gaylaxy Magazine, India’s No. 1 LGBTQ+ Magazine.

He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) (IIT-ISM) Dhanbad, India.

Sukhdeep started the magazine in the final semester of his Bachelor of Technology Programme in 2010 to provide a platform to the LGBTQ+ community to express themselves and highlight their stories and issues.

He works in a multinational corporation as a software professional and today the magazine consists of a team of 10 people, with over 150 contributors and 1500 posts, with an exclusive section in Hindi that remains the only one of its kind online LGBTQ+ resource in Hindi.

His writings have appeared in Huffington Post India, Trikone Magazine (USA), Varta, and Germany based travel portal Ebab.

His articles on Sikhism and homosexuality have challenged the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Akal Takht’s stand that Sikhism is against homosexuality and forbids it.

Sukhdeep received a $500 cash prize in Canadian funds from Sher Vancouver founder, Alex Sangha.

Sukhdeep was selected to receive the award in 2016 “because of the significant influence and impact he is having on advancing LGBTQ+ rights in India and South Asia and abroad, not to mention his innovative use of technology on various platforms to create more awareness of LGBTQ+ issues.  The selection committee was also very much aware of the fact that it takes considerable courage to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in India where homosexuality is still very much a taboo in society.”

Personal Statement of Sukhdeep Singh

• I launched Gaylaxy (www.gaylaxymag.com) as an online magazine at the age of 21 in Jan 2010, while still studying my Engineering. India back then lacked a magazine that catered to the needs and demands of the LGBTQ+ community. The first issue itself had over 1000 readers. In these 7 years, Gaylaxy has grown as a platform that connects the LGBTQ+ community and provides them information as well as entertainment. Gaylaxy as a medium has published many personal, powerful and heart touching stories of LGBTQ+ individuals, including coming out stories, stories of gay men trapped in straight marriages. Gaylaxy is also an important LGBTQ+ news source, extensively covering and documenting not just pride marches happening in various cities and towns across India, but also any news of violence faced by LGBTQ+ individuals as well as Govt. policies that benefit/affect the community. It has also provided a platform to many budding writers and poets, whose short stories and poems have been published. Gaylaxy is also emerging as a strong LGBTQ+ voice in South Asia, with a number of Pakistani LGBTQ+ activists and writers joining the magazine and writing about the happenings in their country as well.

• With the aim to reach out to more people, a Hindi edition of Gaylaxy was started in 2014, with Sachin Jain as its editor. A majority of Indians do not speak English. 41.1% of Indians, or more than a million Indian, speak/understand Hindi. However, most of the resources or websites related to LGBTQ+ are in English, meaning that a vast majority of Indians do not have access to LGBTQ+ literature/information. Gaylaxy Hindi was launched with the aim to fill this void and in these 3 years, has published many articles in Hindi and acts as a resource guide for many Hindi speaking Indians.

• Gaylaxy has also been conducting on-ground events and engaging with college students to bring in more awareness about LGBTQ+ issues among the youth, as well as conduct events to provide a social space to the community. We held a workshop in Presidency University, Kolkata on Gender, Sexuality, and Power; LGBTQ+ movies were screened too at the same university and was followed by panel discussion. I was the speaker at a march organised by IIT Delhi and other Delhi University students in October 2016, where I spoke on Coming Out. We also went to IIT Delhi during their cultural fest Rendezevous and interacted with students from different colleges who had come there and raised awareness on LGBTQ+ issues through situational games etc. Apart from that, Gaylaxy organized an Open Mic session in Oct 2016 on Coming Out where issues related to coming out were discussed. A Queer Carnival was held in November 2016 which provided a platform for various LGBTQ+ people to showcase their talent.

• With mobile penetration increasing in India, a Gaylaxy app was also launched on android platform in 2014 so that all the information could be easily accessed by people.

 

Sher Vancouver is pleased to announce that Jaspreet Chahal is the winner of the January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award for 2016.  This award recognizes a youth between 16 and 30 years of age who has demonstrated leadership, commitment, and volunteer work within the LGBTQ community whether locally, nationally, or internationally.

Jaspreet receives a Certificate and a $250.00 cash prize which was graciously donated by New West Pride.  January, as many people know, lived in New Westminster and a grassroots “Justice for January” march took place in New Westminster shortly after her death.

Below is a brief listing of some of Jaspreet’s volunteer work in the LGBTQ and the broader community, as well as his coming out story:

• Volunteered at the Pride Dance Party in the year 2010 through Vancouver Pride Society.
• Lounge Care Volunteer at Simon Fraser University specifically Out on Campus from September 2014 to August 2015 which is a place where queer people can socialize and hang out.
• Volunteered at events held by Out on Campus such as Transgender Remembrance Day, Clubs Days, Queer Awareness Week, Weekly Socials, and Student Orientations.
• Guest Speaker to a Sociology class to talk about all forms of Diversity at Douglas College.
• Member of Sher Vancouver.
• Participated in the Sher Vancouver Pride of Bollywood Float in 2013 to promote diversity and inclusion especially in the South Asian community.
• Featured in the Sher Vancouver Out and Proud Project.
• Volunteer at Out on Campus at Simon Fraser University.
• Volunteer at the Sikh Temple to give out food and drink to people.
• Personally met and was a known friend of January Marie Lapuz.

Jaspreet’s comment’s upon receiving the award was “I am so honoured and thrilled to receive this award and to carry on January’s legacy.  Thank you to January and to Sher Vancouver and to New West Pride.”

COMING OUT STORY

Jaspreet Chahal

What was it like growing up?

I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines to a Sikh family. Growing up, I often asked myself  What is love? What is sex? What is abuse? I did not fit in into a societal norm that media tries to convey. I always knew I was gay, but I had to suppress it because it is not accepted in the hetero-mainstream society. Overcoming bullying as a child, sexually abused by a family member, introduced to sex in my childhood years, and confusion on the concept of religion, at home (Sikhism) and at school (Catholic) was also part of my growing up.  I had to define religion myself along the way in that everybody is treated with respect and equality,

How did you come out? What does that mean to you?

I came out to my parents who were visiting me in Canada at that time and my parents tried to push the marriage thing on me in order to get permanent residence as fast and efficient as possible. After I came out, statements from my parent’s were  like “This is abnormal, you need a psychiatrist,” ” why are you choosing this path?”, “That’s a sin in the eyes of Guru Nanak,” “Medicine will cure you,”  Until today, I’m 24. They are still silent on this topic and don’t want to discuss it. That’s fine with me, I have to live my life without regrets.  Coming out to me means freedom from the lies of media, coming out means to be proud as a person and create my own path by loving myself and fully understand the depth of life and my existence in this world.

What has been your inspiration in life?

My inspiration in life is the pain, struggle, and growth that I endured in my life. I am a spiritual person and always connected to God and the universe whether its sadness or happiness. I am inspired by myself and the experiences of other queer South Asians. The fight for existence, the fight for immigrant status in Canada, fight for being queer South Asian, and fight for independence is very inspiring for me and for others. Our life is not limited to one thought or one view what media tells us to believe. We just expect that we have to accept and love ourselves in order to attain full happiness and be able to love and appreciate others.

What have been some of your greatest achievements?

The greatest achievement is to love me and to love God, the universe, and higher power. To achieve permanent resident status in Canada despite being taken advantage of in the workplace. The perseverance and patience that I have achieved through conflicts and struggles in life. The love and support that I achieved from friends and acquaintances.

What is your message to the world? 

I would like to share to the world that always do what you love most and appreciate your life as a wonderful journey. There will be obstacles, but we just have to deal with it along the way and challenge ourselves so that we can strive and succeed in this world.

Everyone should identify what they are good at, not just blindly following others. Be unique and awesome and try to make a difference in the world.  Hard work will pay off in the end.

You’ve got one life and mind as well … make the most of it and bring Change and Empowerment to the world.

Jaspreet Singh Chahal is a gay activist and Sikh immigrant based in Surrey, B.C. He is proud to officially become a permanent resident after seven and a half years of living in Canada.  Jaspreet is currently employed as a sales representative.  Jaspreet will be moving to New Zealand shortly to spend some time with his family.