Featured Nation: Canada

David Walberg is the CEO of digital media at Pink Triangle Press, Canada's largest gay media group. The Press published The Body Politic, The Guide and Fab. Its flagship publications include DailyXtra.com and the Xtra chain of newsmagazines. The group co-produced two TV programs airing in the U.S.: "Bump" on Logo and “The Gayest Show Ever” on HereTV.

Bob Gallagher is a queer activist, a political strategist and an academic. He is the cofounder of the Campaign for Equal Families and Canadians for Equal Marriage. He also helped found the Gay Lesbian Bi Youth Line and was a director of Buddies In Bad Times theatre. Gallagher serves as director of communications and political action for the United Steelworkers union.

Helen Kennedy is the executive director of Egale, Canada’s LGBT advocacy organization. She is a founding member of Canadians for Equal Marriage, the lobbying campaign that led to the country's legalization of same-sex marriage. She serves on the board of directors of the International Gay, Lesbian, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) and is the co-chair of ILGA North America.

El-Farouk Khaki is a refugee and immigration lawyer who represents women, LGBTQI and HIV-positive people fleeing persecution. He founded Salaam: Queer Muslim Community and cofounded the el-Tawhid Juma Circle of mosques and the Canadian Muslim Union. He is also a co-owner of the Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest surviving LGBT bookshop.

Cynthia Petersen is a lawyer at Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP in Toronto. She has represented LGBT clients in cases involving same-sex spousal benefits, employment discrimination and transsexual rights. She has represented Egale Canada in nearly every LGBT equality case argued before the Supreme Court of Canada. She acted for Egale and for four same-sex couples in litigation that led Canada to become one of the first countries to legalize same-sex marriage.