With its second annual Pink Awards, Pink Triangle Press hopes to turn a spotlight on Canadian queer excellence—while supporting a vital cause. The celebration will honour a number of LGBTQ2S+ advocates, actors, musicians and more as “champions,” who will in turn pay it forward and honour a group of “changemakers”—community organizations and people who are making a difference for queer and trans Canadians—with monetary awards. The selected changemakers will be announced next week.

This year’s champions will include actor Bilal Baig; lawyer and human rights advocate Douglas Elliot; actor, filmmaker and activist Devery Jacobs; musician Carole Pope and comedy writer Harper Steele. This year’s Changemakers are the Paprika Festival, the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, the Wabanaki Two-Spirit Alliance, and Friends of Ruby. Canadian singer-songwriter and actor Beverly Glenn-Copeland, who is also performing at the ceremony, will receive the 2025 Legacy Award, presented by Sam Smith. The Pink Awards will take place Nov. 6 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

“We know the importance of telling our own stories—that’s why our organization was created more than 50 years ago,” says David Walberg, executive director and CEO of Pink Triangle Press (Pink Triangle Press is the parent company of Xtra). “There is a real wave of emotion in the room at the Pink Awards; people get goosebumps, sometimes there are tears of joy. To me, the Pink Awards is such a moving experience because it allows us to focus on the stories of real people and everyday heroes who help our communities thrive.”

Honorees emphasized the importance of the celebration in a moment where the rights of LGBTQ2S+ people are under attack in Canada, across the border in the U.S. and beyond. “I’m furious that queer rights have become a central target of the right-wingers,” says Pope. “The Pink Awards reminds us that it’s time for us to all be united and vocal against these bigots.”

The event will be co-hosted by actor Emily Hampshire and Canada’s Drag Race choreographer Hollywood Jade, with radio host Shannon Burns hosting the pink carpet. A number of renowned advocates and stars will also be in attendance, including stylist and HIV activist Myles Sexton and filmmaker Patricia Rozema. The awards ceremony will be followed by an after-party at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

“The Pink Awards are an evening of celebrating this, in Queer Joy, but it is also a night of solidarity, especially in the current climate where LGBTQ2S+ voices are challenged or silenced,” says Walberg. “We are proud to stand together and honour those who are creating change and building a more inclusive future. Our champions embody that spirit by sharing their time, talent and platform to lift up charities whose work strengthens us all.”