Joanne Law

Joanne Law is a transgender woman and a community volunteer with several organizations. In 1993 she sat at the table of the Hate Crime Liaison Committee of the Ottawa–Carleton Police Service and she still sits at that table today. In 1994, she walked in her first Pride Parade in Ottawa. Since then, she and has volunteered several times on the Capital Pride Committee’s executive and in various coordinating positions.

In her over 25 years as a transgendered person, Joanne’s outreach to the trans community has opened many closets doors. She has worked to educate local and national unions, service providers, hospital personal, and crisis intervention personal just to mention a few. She has been documented on CTV, Global and Rogers and in the National Post for her many contributions. She also had her own weekly radio program “Joanne’s Closet” for the GLBT communities for five years.

Joanne has received three Life Time Achievement Awards: one from Capital Xtra, another from Pink Triangle Services and one from Gender Mosaic—Canada’s oldest transgender support group.

Along with these prestigious awards she has received two International Achievement Awards: the Trinity Award from International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) in 1999 in Louisville Kentucky and the Fantasia Fair’s Pioneers Award in 2005, in Provincetown Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

In October 2007, Joanne was elected to the position of Chair of Capital Pride Committee, being the first transgender woman to lead a festival of this kind in Canada. Currently, she sits on Capital Pride’s Board of Directors as the Past Chair.