Meet Jim Egan

Summary: "Meet Jim Egan, the activist who fought for equality and human rights for gay Canadians at a time where it was often dangerous for LGBTQ2S+ people to speak up. Born in 1921, Jim had an ordinary childhood. But as he grew up, he knew he was a little different from his friends. He didn't like girls the same way they did. As a young man, Jim joined the war effort and travelled the world. He discovered there were other people like himself -- he was gay. Jim hadn't even known there was a word for it when he was growing up. That's because at the time, being identified as a member of the LGBTQ2S+ community wasn't safe. People lost their jobs and their families, got put in jail -- or worse -- so they hid who they were. But not Jim. He picked up his pen and started to fight for his rights. At first, he wrote letter after letter, in an attempt to get the media to stop portraying gay people in a negative way. Soon he was given a column to write about his community. Jim used his platform to talk about the need for tolerance and for the decriminalization of homosexuality. It was a fight that culminated in the 1995 Supreme Court ruling Egan v. Canada, a case that began in 1987 when Jim wanted his partner Jack to receive the same Old Age Security payment that a married person could get. Jim didn't win, but the case led to sexual orientation becoming a protected ground against discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which opened the door to other equal rights including same-sex marriage."-- Provided by publisher.