91ÑÇÉ« U experts available to comment on Pride Month
June 1, 2026, TORONTO – Birthed from a 1969 uprising as a response to police violence at a New 91ÑÇÉ« City dive bar called the Stonewall Inn, Pride has grown into a global movement, with Toronto-area celebrations among the largest in the world. Drawing on years of community-engaged research and large-scale data sets, 91ÑÇÉ« researchers are available to talk to media about historical struggles and current issues facing those in 2SLGBTQIA+ communities today.
Antony Chum
(he/him, they/them) is the Canada Research Chair in Population Health Data Science and an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health. His research focuses on LGBTQ+ health disparities and the structural determinants of health among marginalized populations, such as low-income, racialized, and gender-diverse groups. By applying quasi-experimental approaches to large-scale population datasets drawn from Census, linked health administrative, and international sources, Chum generates population-level evidence on how structural barriers and public policies shape health and related social and economic outcomes.
°ä³ó³Ü³¾â€™s , "Beyond the Gender Binary: Wage Inequality and Occupational Segregation among Transgender and Nonbinary Workers," utilizes data from the 2021 Canadian Census, the first national census in the world to collect and identify data on transgender and nonbinary individuals. The study found significant employment and wage gaps, with transgender and nonbinary individuals being eight to 14 per cent less likely to be employed than cisgender men and earn 20 to 30 per cent lower hourly wages on average. Even after adjusting for demographic, occupational, and industrial factors, a substantial earnings gap remains, hitting nonbinary individuals assigned female at birth the hardest.
Chum is available to discuss other studies including:
- Upcoming research that demonstrates that progressive political environments act as crucial protective factors, actively mitigating the minority stress that drives elevated rates of suicidality and substance use in sexual minority populations
- Gender minorities facing drastically higher risks for physical, cognitive, and mental activity limitations
- Transgender and non-binary individuals facing significantly higher rates of housing instability than cisgender individuals
- Severe disparities in severe substance-related events, pinpointing bisexual women as facing the highest risk (more than double that of heterosexual women)
Jin Haritaworn
is an expert of gay imperialism, homonationalism and pinkwashing. They have studied the gentrification and securitization of the Church-Wellesley Village and look critically at the incorporation of Pride into the neoliberal city. They also explore queer of colour maps and counter-archives. Haritaworn is Associate Professor of Gender, Race and Environment in the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change. They locate their work in the tradition of activist scholarship, which attempts to be in the service of communities. Their research deals with landscapes that are shaped by racial and colonial capitalism, where celebration and incorporation exist alongside pathologization and criminalization. Their first two books, and , explore how certain mixed-race and LGBT subjects became desirable in a context of war on terror, neoliberal multiculturalism and the global city in London and Berlin.
Haritaworn is available to discuss:
- Gentrification and criminalization in the Village
- Queer of colour archives and activism
- Homonationalism and gay imperialism
Tom Hooper
(he/him) is a historian of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Canada and a professor with the department of equity studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS). His research includes exploring the 1981 bathhouse raids in Toronto where more than three hundred gay men were arrested and criminally charged for their sexuality, with a focus on the community resistance to these raids both on the streets and in the courts. Hooper critically examined the construction of dominant queer historical narratives, including the myth that legal changes in 1969 represented the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Hooper also investigated the use and misuse of heritage grants provided to 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations.
Hooper is available to comment on:
- 2SLGBTQIA+ protest movements
- Policing and pride
- 2SLGBTQIA+ history
Nick Mulé
(he/him) is a professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and the School of Social Work, LA&PS. He teaches sexual activism, and social justice. His research areas include advocacy, and the social inclusion — and exclusion — of gender and and sexually diverse populations (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, two-spirit, genderqueer, intersex, queer, questioning – 2SLGBTQIA+) in social policy and service provision and the degree of recognition of these populations as distinct communities in cultural, systemic and structural contexts. Mulé also engages in critical analysis of the 2SLGBTQIA+ movement and the development of queer liberation theory. Mulé is currently leading a national research project on poverty in 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, the first national study of its kind.
Mulé is available to comment on:
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, intersex and queer issues
- Queer liberation theory
- 2SLGBTQIA+ health and social service concerns, public and social policy regarding 2SLGBTQIA+ people and communities
- History and politics of the 2SLGBTQIA+ movement
- Diversity in society and 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights
For information on Pride celebrations at 91ÑÇÉ«, please see here.
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91ÑÇÉ« is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for meaningful life and career paths. 91ÑÇÉ«'s Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91ÑÇɫ’s campus in Costa Rica offers students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.
Media Contact: Emina Gamulin, 91ÑÇÉ« Media Relations, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca
