Celebrating Queer Joy & Resistance: A Human Rights Day Symposium

Event Description

Join us this Human Rights Day for a transformative and healing experience rooted in resilience, advocacy, and radical joy.Hosted by Hope for Refugees International, the symposium centers the lived experiences, expertise, and leadership of LGBTQI+ refugees and newcomers in Canada.

Across storytelling, panel discussions, artistic expression, and collaborative dialogue, we will explore how to build a more inclusive, affirming, and equitable LGBTQI+ movement—where queer refugees and newcomers are not only safe but celebrated.

This event is designed to challenge tokenism, amplify underrepresented voices, and co-create a future where queer joy is resistance, and refugee voices lead.

• LGBTQI+ refugees, asylum seekers, and newcomers
• LGBTQI+ advocates and Pride organizers
• Community workers, policymakers, service providers, and allies
• Artists, storytellers, and leaders in queer and migrant justice spaces

✅ Plenary Sessions with refugee and newcomer speakers

✅ Breakout Workshops for skill-sharing, storytelling, and strategy

✅ Healing and Creative Spaces featuring art, music, and poetry

✅ Networking Opportunities to connect and build solidarity

✅ Free Admission – Includes refreshments and lunch

• Pride Beyond Borders: Reclaiming Belonging in LGBTQI+ Movements
• Joy as Resistance: Healing and Leading Through Lived Experience
• Tokenized or Recognized? Reimagining Inclusion in Pride and Advocacy
• Breaking Barriers: Enhancing Queer Refugee Participation in Leadership

• Celebrate queer refugee joy, survival, and cultural power
• Create an inclusive space for community, healing, and dialogue
• Build a national training toolkit to support inclusive Pride and LGBTQI+ organizing
• Strengthen partnerships across queer advocacy, Pride networks, and newcomer-serving organizations

Visit the event webpage here to learn more: https://hopeforrefugees.org/celebrating-queer-joy-resistance-a-human-rights-day-symposium-for-lgbtqi-refugees-and-newcomers/

🌈 Hope for Refugees International

In collaboration with: Fierté Canada Pride, Enchanté Network, Momentum, Rainbow Railroad, Pride Toronto, and Pride organizers across Canada.

Info: Plenary Session 1. "Pride Beyond Borders: Reclaiming Belonging in LGBTQI+ Movements"

Explores the intersections of migration, queerness, and activism. Panelists will reflect on how Pride can become a space of true inclusion and safety for queer newcomers.

Info: Session 1. "Tokenized or Recognized? Reimagining Inclusion in Pride and Advocacy"

Participants will examine power dynamics in mainstream LGBTQI+ organizing and offer solutions to move beyond performative inclusion. This session will inform the Training Toolkit.

Session 2. "Breaking Barriers: Enhancing Participation of Queer Refugees in Community Leadership"

Focuses on identifying systemic barriers (financial, cultural, institutional) to newcomer participation and how to dismantle them through practical strategies and community accountability.

Info: Plenary Session 2. "Joy as Resistance: Healing and Leading Through Lived Experience"

A storytelling circle and keynote conversation featuring LGBTQI+ refugees sharing how joy has been a radical act of survival and resilience.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

163 Queen St E, 163 Queen Street East, Toronto, Canada