Today we celebrate International Women’s Day, to honour and recognize the continuous fight for gender equality.
This year’s theme is ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.’
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca0iGk1hZxJ/
For International Women’s Day, we honour women across the globe.
Today, I compiled a list of influential women from our home province of British Columbia.
Every day we are surrounded by unsung heroes, like mothers, activists and leaders. This list could seriously go on forever.
Margaret Anne Mitchell
No, not the Margaret Mitchell who wrote Gone with the Wind.
Canadian politician, Margaret Anne Mitchell was a social activist, feminist, and the NDP MP for Vancouver East from 1979 until 1993. She fought for women in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, establishing the Margaret Mitchell Fund for Women.
Margaret Mitchell (City of Vancouver)
During her time in parliament, Margaret demanded justice on the issue of violence against women. She was notably laughed at by male colleagues when she called for the government to take action against domestic violence.
Jamie Lee Hamilton
Jamie Lee Hamilton was the first transgender person ever to run for political office in Canada. Throughout her time in politics, she advocated for fellow residents of Vancouver’s downtown eastside, indigenous people, and sex-trade workers.
Today is the day dear Citizen to make democracy work. All candidates have done what we can. Its now up to you. Please vote carefully. pic.twitter.com/GT9bNQF3pS
— Jamie Lee Hamilton (@QueenoftheParks) October 20, 2018
She was the center of quite a few controversies during her time, however, that doesn’t take away from her influence on the DTES and her fight for equality.
Juju Milay
Juju is a content creator and social activist, who founded Colour the Trails, an inclusive community group that encourages BIPOC to enjoy BC’s outdoors.
She noticed a lack of representation in terms of who’s outdoors based on narrow stereotypes portrayed by advertisers and the media.
So she set out on a mission to create a safe space for BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ adventure seekers to enjoy sports like cycling, hiking, skiing and snowboarding.