Brent Hawkes, (born June 2, 1950) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and gay rights activist.

Early life and education

Hawkes was born in Bath,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

to a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

family."Gay rights leader cherishes his New Brunswick roots". ''

The Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' ...

'', June 28, 2014. Hawkes earned

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

(1972) and

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order fo ...

(1973) degrees from Mount Allison University, before working as a teacher in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Annapolis Valley The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. Stat ...

in the later 1970s. He then earned Master of Divinity (1986) and

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advance ...

(2001) degrees from Trinity College, an Anglican institution at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

Religious career and activism

Hawkes was appointed as senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, a church openly affirming for

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

parishioners, in 1978 to succeed Bob Wolfe. Hawkes has served on the advisory committee of PrideVision TV and served on the board of directors for advocacy group

Egale Canada Egale Canada (formerly Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere) is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 by Les McAfee to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, across Canada. ...

. In addition to his advocacy work on LGBT issues, he has supported anti-racist initiatives, drawn attention to poverty and poor housing, and advocated the ordination of female priests. Reverend Brent Hawkes

On January 14, 2001, Hawkes gained national attention by performing a wedding ceremony for two same-sex couples at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto. Although city clerks would not issue

marriage license A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdictio ...

s for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

s at this time, Hawkes employed the alternative provided in Ontario law for regular church attendees to publish official

banns The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" (from a Middle English word meaning "proclamation", rooted in Frankish and thence in Old French), are the public announcement in a Christian parish church, or in the town co ...

for three consecutive weeks, and thereby conducted a legal marriage without requiring prior government permission. In the spirit of the banns as a public opportunity for interested parties to raise legal objections, the church also issued a press release in late 2000 announcing its intentions. The government of Jean Chrétien did not endorse the marriages, although Governor-General

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation. Clarkson arrived in Canada with her family in 19 ...

sent a personal letter of support. The city clerk refused to register the record of marriage, leading to a court battle. The church sued the city, the province, and the federal government. On July 12, 2002, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the marriages performed by Hawkes in January 2001 were legal, but stayed its decision pending a possible appeal, and on June 10, 2003, the Court of Appeal for Ontario declared the common law definition of marriage as "invalid to the extent that it refers to "one man and one woman" in the ruling of '' Halpern v. Canada'', immediately striking down all barriers against same-sex marriage in the province. Hawkes officiated the state funeral of Jack Layton on August 27, 2011, at Roy Thomson Hall. A fellow New Democrat, he spoke highly of Layton, who had touched millions of Canadians with his sudden death. In the end, he thanked Jack Layton for his work with the gay community and HIV/AIDS, issues the NDP leader had championed when they were not popular. He retired as pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in fall 2017, and was succeeded by Jeff Rock."Rev. Jeff Rock to lead Toronto LGBTQ congregation"
. ''RDNews Now'', July 13, 2017.

Political career

Hawkes briefly entered political life in the mid-1990s. In the Ontario provincial election of 1995, Hawkes ran as a candidate of the social-democratic New Democratic Party in the riding of St. George—St. David, which has a large LGBT community. Running in protest against the Bob Rae government's handling of the failed

Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act The ''Equality Rights Statute Amendment Act'', (formally ''An Act to Amend Ontario Statutes to Provide for the Equal Treatment of Persons in Spousal Relationships''), commonly known as Bill 167, was a proposed law in the Canadian province of Ont ...

of 1994, he finished a strong third with 9,672 votes – fewer than one thousand votes behind the winner, Progressive Conservative

Al Leach Allan F. Leach (born December 9, 1935) is a former transportation executive and politician in Ontario, Canada. In the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, he was the head of GO Transit and later the Toronto Transit Commission. He was a Progressive C ...

. Hawkes's strong showing played a major role in defeating incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Tim Murphy Timothy Murphy may refer to: Politics * Tim Murphy (American politician) (born 1952), American Republican Party politician from Pennsylvania * Tim Murphy (Canadian politician) (born 1959), Canadian politician * Timothy J. Murphy (1893–1949), I ...

Personal life

Hawkes lives in Toronto with John Sproule, his partner of more than forty years. They married on March 7, 2006.

Sexual assault allegations

On February 1, 2016, Hawkes was charged in the

Provincial Court of Nova Scotia The Provincial Court of Nova Scotia is the court of criminal jurisdiction for the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. There are twenty-three Justices and one Chief Justice on the bench, who sit in one of 33 locations over the province. The Justices ...

with

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

and gross indecency for an alleged sexual assault against a minor between 1974 and 1975 when Hawkes was a teacher in

. Hawkes pleaded not guilty, and was acquitted of all charges on January 31, 2017, with the judge ruling there were "significant inconsistencies in the testimony of the witnesses".

Honours and awards

In 2009, Hawkes received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree for his continuing work in activism and human rights in Canada from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. In 2010, Hawkes was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Mount Allison University, and in 2011 received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Trinity College, Toronto. Hawkes was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

by Governor General

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...

in 2007 for his achievements as "a champion of human rights and social justice for decades" and was formally invested into the Order in a ceremony on February 22, 2008. In 2012, Hawkes was named one of the "500 most influential gay men in the world" by the European gay magazine ''Mate''; and in 2013 he was inducted into the Q Hall of Fame, as an individual who made significant contributions to LGBT human rights. Hawkes has been the recipient of the following awards: *1994 – City of Toronto Award of Merit *1995 – United Nations Association in Canada Global Citizen Award *2002 – Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal *2003 – City of Toronto Pride Award for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Two-Spirited Issues *2009 – New Brunswick Human Rights Commission Pioneer of Human Rights Award *2009 –

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

Clarity Award *2012 –

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

*2014 – 2014 Inspire Lifetime Achievement Award, for his life's work on LGBT rights *2014 – Grand Marshal of the 2014 World Pride Parade *2014 – Achievement Award from Toronto City Hall for his contributions to World Pride *2015 –

Order of New Brunswick The Order of New Brunswick (french: Ordre du Nouveau Brunswick) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Instituted in 2000 by Lieutenant Governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, on the advice of the Cabinet under ...

(ONB)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkes, Brent Canadian Protestant ministers and clergy Gay politicians Canadian LGBT politicians LGBT Protestant clergy Canadian LGBT rights activists Living people Metropolitan Community Church clergy Ontario New Democratic Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections People acquitted of sex crimes People from Carleton County, New Brunswick Politicians from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Trinity College (Canada) alumni Members of the Order of Canada 1950 births 21st-century LGBT people