Reverend Dr. Cheri DiNovo, C.M. is an ordained United Church minister who performed Canada’s first legalized same sex marriage. She is currently the minister at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre for Faith, Justice, and the Arts. Cheri is a Member of the Order of Canada, recognized for her contributions to provincial politics and for her lifelong advocacy of social justice. As the former Member of Provincial Parliament for Parkdale–High Park in Ontario, Cheri passed into law more pro-LGBTQ2+ legislation than anyone in Canadian history.

 

• Only woman to sign on to “We Demand” in 1971, the first “gay rights” demo on Parliament Hill

 

• Performed the first legalized same sex marriage in Canada in 2001

 

• MPP for Parkdale-High Park from 2006–2017

 

• Passed into law more pro-LGBTQ2+ legislation than anyone in Canadian history, including Toby’s Act which added trans rights to the Ontario Human Rights Code in 2012, the Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Act which banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ2+ youth in 2015, Cy and Ruby’s Act which established parent equality for LGBTQ2+ parents in 2015, and the Trans Day of Remembrance Act in 2017

• Passed more Private Members Bills into law than anyone in Ontario’s history

 

• Now the Minister at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre for Faith, Justice, and the Arts