The Lambda Foundation (french: Fondation lambda), officially the Lambda Scholarship Foundation Canada, is a registered Canadian charity with the mission of creating scholarships, awards, and bursaries in support of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

, and

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...

(

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 is a ...

) studies, and education and awareness, in advancement of equality and human rights. Lambda Foundation is governed by a national Board of Directors.

History

For many years, Lambda operated as a spin-off project from an unincorporated club, Lambda Business and Professional Group. The Lambda Business and Professional Group sought charitable status and eventually underwent a name change to Lambda Foundation for Excellence, and its fundraiser, Wilde About Sappho, was one of Canada's largest literary activities. After establishing five scholarships in partnership with five universities, Lambda incorporated under the name Lambda Literary and Scholarship Foundation - Lambda Foundation being the short version. Lambda Foundation received charitable status in 2003, its activities having grown into education and research. It has recently changed its name to Lambda Scholarship Foundation Canada but is still known in short form as Lambda Foundation/Fondation Lambda.

Scholarship Programme

Universities

Lambda Foundation's Scholarship Programme is the first Canadian series of national, annual university scholarships in LGBT research in all fields. To date, scholarships have been established on eight university campuses:

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

Guelph University , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

and Laurentian University. There is also a Doctor Gary Gibson Award at Saint's Paul's Hospital Foundation/UBC in Vancouver, and the Friends of Lambda scholarship at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, College of Law (Foster Prize in Human Rights). Each university selects candidates and projects, based on academic merit and relevance to the LGBT community. Students meeting these criteria are welcome to apply to the participating university, regardless of sexual orientation, gender or any other grounds.

Schools

Expanding beyond universities, Lambda worked with local community leaders in 2007 to establish awards for high school students at Gulf Islands Secondary School on

Salt Spring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled b ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Scholarship/award recipients

Lambda Foundation scholarships have been awarded to a wide range of students in arts, literature, social sciences and other sciences, professional schools and secondary schools. The awards highlight the value of gay and lesbian studies, to both the LGBT community and more broadly. A listing of recipients can be found at the Lambda website.

Other forms of support

With the assistance of the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

and Carleton University, Lambda sponsored a Writer-in-Residence,

Ivan Coyote Ivan E. Coyote (born August 11, 1969) is a Canadian spoken word performer, writer, and LGBT advocate. Coyote has won many accolades for their collections of short stories, novels, and films. They also visit schools to tell stories and give writin ...

, at Carleton University during 2007-2008. In December 2008 Lambda supported an education and research initiative with Queer Peace International to co-produce the publication ''Breaking Free: Sexual Diversity and Change in Emerging Nations'',Robert Mizzi, ed
Breaking Free: Sexual Diversity and Change in Emerging Nations
(Queer Peace International, October 2008) 106 pages, eBook 978-0-9810801-0-9. which examines ways in which sexual/gender minorities in developing countries empower themselves, educate their communities on gender and sexuality differences, and work collaboratively with international allies.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.lambdafoundation.org LGBT political advocacy groups in Canada Scholarships in Canada Organizations based in Ottawa LGBT culture in Ottawa