Gemma Hickey is a Canadian LGBT rights activist and author. They became one of the first Canadians to receive a gender-neutral birth certificate and passport. Hickey founded The Pathways Foundation, an organization for victims of abuse by clergy.
Gemma Hickey has spent years campaigning for LGBTQ2 rights in Canada, through their involvement in Egale Canada. In 2003, Hickey traveled to Halifax to present a brief on same-sex marriage to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Hickey was president of the organization in 2005, when same-sex marriage in Canada was legalized. Hickey is outspoken about the trauma of sexual abuse by clergy. After going public about being sexually abused at the hands of a Roman Catholic priest, Hickey founded The Pathways Foundation in 2013, a non-profit organization that helps people deal with the effects of such abuse. Hickey continues to raise the issue publicly, including attending the February 2019Vatican sexual abuse summit in Rome. On June 2, 2015 a private member's bill was tabled in the House of Commons in Ottawa that Hickey had helped draft, to make June 1 the National Institutional Abuse Awareness Day. In 2015, Hickey undertook a 938-kilometer 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 official documents
Canada introduced non-binary passports in August 2017, becoming the first country in the Americas 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 traveled to Japan to speak about LGBTQ2 issues, a screening of their documentary, and a reading from their autobiography, Almost Feral. On December 14, 2017, 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 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'.
Honours and awards
In 2012, Hickey was recognized with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for their contribution to LBGTQ2 rights in Canada. In 2016, Hickey was named a Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Champion for their longstanding commitment to human rights protection, particularly for LGBTQ2 people.
