Our whole world is full of possibilities!

Friends, looking back at 2023’s headlines you can see it’s been a difficult year. The support our community has come to count on from corporations is waning. Coordinated and resourced actors are advancing their efforts to segregate us from society. Sometimes it feels like our movement has lost ground that it will be impossible to win back.

But those are the headlines. The milestones celebrated by my 2SLGBTQIA+ colleagues this year tell different stories. One became married to her longtime partner, something that was impossible in Canada as recently as 2005. One became an adoptive parent with his husband, which was impossible for same-sex couples to do in Canada before 1999.

Also this year, Barbados, along with four other countries, decriminalized same-sex relations. Whether by judicial ruling, referendum, or legislative activity, four other countries have legalized same-sex marriage. Spain made it easier for its citizens to have their genders legally recognized. Taiwan made it easier for same-sex couples to adopt. Our whole world is full of possibilities, even if they don’t always make the front page.

But it’s important to not rest on our successes. At the age of 73, after five decades on Broadway, queer icon Andre De Shields accepted his first Tony Award for his role as Hermes in HADESTOWN. In his acceptance speech, he said:

“The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing.”

Andres De Shields performing in the musical HADESTOWN, where a song can change your fate.

As this year comes to a close, take a moment to reflect on what we’ve achieved. Then imagine what we’ll do in 2024. If it seems impossible, it might just be the goal for us. Because even in our toughest moments, that is what our community has done: make the impossible possible. So keep climbing.

In Solidarity,

Colin Druhan (he/him)
Executive Director
Pride at Work Canada

Colin Druhan at the Toronto ProPride 2023.