Please join the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Toronto for a fireside chat with Rhodes Scholar Randy Boissonnault, MP and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ issues, and lawyer, writer, activist and Cantabrigian Josh Scheinert.

The discussion will be moderated by human-rights lawyer and Oxonian, Warda Shazadi Meighen.

Our panel will address: “A Path to Equality: Canada in a world of uneven LGBTQ rights”.

Date: Saturday 23rd June

Time: 4.30pm – 6.15pm

Location: The Wickson Social, 5 St Joseph Street, Toronto

The event will begin with a drinks reception and hors d’oeuvres at 4.30pm and the panel discussion will commence at around 5.15pm.

Background:

Over 70 countries criminalize LGBTQ intimacy. In many societies, discrimination and harassment of LGBTQ persons is considered the norm; beating and killing LGBTQ persons is frequently met with impunity. As countries like Canada became more vocal in speaking out against this state-sanctioned persecution, several states pushed back against what they saw as an attempt to impose western values where they did not belong. With a long and potentially uncertain path ahead to full LGBTQ equality, what role should Canada take? How can Canada best be an ally and advocate for the global LGBTQ rights movement? 

Panel Member Bios:

Randy Boissonnault was elected Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre in 2015. He serves as the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ issues, and in April 2016 participated in the first raising of a Pride flag on Parliament Hill. Randy is also a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Randy studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Josh Scheinert is an international lawyer, activist, and writer from Toronto. His first novel, The Order of Nature, is set in Gambia and explores a relationship between a Gambian and American man. He has previously worked as a lecturer in human rights and international law at universities in Gambia and India. He holds a masters in international law from the University of Cambridge.

Warda Shazadi Meighen is a human rights and refugee lawyer from Toronto. She is also an adjunct professor of refugee law at the University of Toronto and sits on the Human Rights Watch Canada Committee. Warda has worked with the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Warda studied human rights, refugee, and international law at the University of Oxford.

Organized by Josh Scheinert and Annemarie Pallister for the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Toronto

Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/randy-boissonault-rhodes-scholar-mp-and-special-advisor-to-the-prime-minister-tickets-46784240924