Kristopher Wells | |
---|---|
Senator of Canada from Alberta | |
Assumed office August 31, 2024 | |
Nominated by | Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau |
Appointed by | Governor General of Canada Mary Simon |
Personal details | |
Born | October 7,1971 |
Political party | Non-affiliated |
Alma mater | University of Alberta |
Profession | Academic |
Kristopher Wells (born October 7,1971) [1] [2] is a Canadian politician and academic serving as a senator from Alberta since 2024. He is also an associate professor at MacEwan University and the editor-in-chief of the international Journal of LGBT Youth .
Wells is the first openly gay man to serve as a senator from Alberta and the sixth openly LGBT person to serve in the Senate.
Wells has earned three degrees from the University of Alberta:a Bachelor of Education,a Master of Education,and a Doctor of Philosophy. [3] [4]
Wells was a public school teacher in St. Albert,Alberta. He then worked as a diversity consultant for Edmonton Public Schools,where he helped develop the first sexual and gender identity school board policy in Western Canada. [5]
From 2012 to 2018,he worked at the University of Alberta as an assistant professor and as the faculty director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services. [3] In 2018,he was appointed MacEwan University's first Canada Research Chair and was the founding director of the MacEwan Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. [5] [6] Wells has served on various committees in Alberta,including the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities,REACH Edmonton,the Alberta Hate Crimes Committee,the Edmonton Police Chief's Community Advisory Council,and the LGBTQ2+ National Monument Committee. [7] He has been a critic of the Alberta government's plan to require parental consent before children under 16 can change their names or preferred gender pronouns in schools. [7]
Wells is the co-creator of Pride Tape,a campaign that encouraged NHL hockey players to use rainbow-patterned hockey tape on their sticks as a way of showing support for LGBTQ rights. [8]
As of 2024 [update] ,Wells is an associate professor in the Department of Child and Youth Care,part of the Faculty of Health and Community Studies at MacEwan University. He holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) for the Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth and serves as the founding director for the MacEwan Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. [9] [5] His academic work specializes in sexual- and gender-minority youth,education,and culture. He is the editor-in-chief of the international Journal of LGBT Youth . [10]
Wells was appointed to the Senate of Canada on August 31,2024. He was recommended by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments and appointed by Governor General of Canada Mary Simon on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. [5]
The appointments of Wells and Daryl Fridhandler as senators from Alberta were criticized by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for ignoring the results of the province's unofficial Senate nominee election. [8]
Wells is a recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal,the Alberta Award for Study of Canadian Human Rights and Multiculturalism,the Alberta Teachers' Association's Public Education Award,and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. [11] [5] In 2015,Wells received the University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award. [12] [13]
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary,Alberta,Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta,founded in 1908,prior to being instituted into a separate,autonomous university in 1966. It is composed of 14 faculties and over 85 research institutes and centres. The main campus is located in the northwest quadrant of the city near the Bow River and a smaller south campus is located in the city centre. The main campus houses most of the research facilities and works with provincial and federal research and regulatory agencies,several of which are housed next to the campus such as the Geological Survey of Canada. The main campus covers approximately 200 hectares.
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Same-sex marriage has been legal in Alberta since July 20,2005 upon the granting of royal assent to the federal Civil Marriage Act. Alberta was one of the four Canadian provinces and territories where same-sex marriage had not been legalised before the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act,along with Prince Edward Island,the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
The 2004 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 3rd Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on November 22,2004,to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with the 2004 Alberta general election.
The 1989 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 1st Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on October 16,1989,to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with Alberta municipal elections under the Local Authorities Election Act,and resulted in the first Canadian Senator appointed following a popular election.
John Walter Grant MacEwan was a Canadian farmer,professor at the University of Saskatchewan,Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba,the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta,Canada. MacEwan University in Edmonton,Alberta,and the MacEwan Student Centre at the University of Calgary as well as the neighbourhoods of MacEwan Glen in Calgary and MacEwan in Edmonton are named after him.
The 1998 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 2nd Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on October 19,1998,to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with Alberta municipal elections under the Local Authorities Election Act.
Canadian lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) rights are some of the most extensive in the world. Same-sex sexual activity,in private between consenting adults,was decriminalized in Canada on June 27,1969,when the Criminal Law Amendment Act,1968–69 was brought into force upon royal assent. In a landmark decision in 1995,Egan v Canada,the Supreme Court of Canada held that sexual orientation is constitutionally protected under the equality clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 2005,Canada became the fourth country in the world,and the first in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2022,Canada was the third country in the world,and the first in North America,to fully ban conversion therapy nationwide for both minors and adults.
The Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival(formerly the Fairy Tales International Gay &Lesbian Film Festival) is an annual event held in Calgary,Alberta,Canada. Since its founding in 1999,the festival has attracted over 35,000 attendees. It is currently the longest running LGBT film festival in Alberta.
The 2012 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 4th Senate nominee election of Alberta,was held to elect three nominees for appointment to the Senate of Canada to represent the province of Alberta. It was to be held in the fall of 2010 but was delayed by then-Premier Ed Stelmach. His successor,Alison Redford,announced that it would,be held in conjunction with the 2012 provincial election before June 1 2012. On March 26 it was announced that it would be held on April 23 2012. The results followed the provincial election closely,with the Progressive Conservatives winning all three positions and the Wildrose Party a close second.
Although same-sex sexual activity was illegal in Canada up to 1969,gay and lesbian themes appear in Canadian literature throughout the 20th century. Canada is now regarded as one of the most advanced countries in legal recognition of lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights.
Harry Edwin Strom was the ninth premier of Alberta,from 1968 to 1971. His two-and-a-half years as Premier were the last of the thirty-six-year Social Credit dynasty,as his defeat by Peter Lougheed saw its replacement by a new era Progressive Conservative government. He is remembered as an honest,decent man who lacked the political skills of his predecessor,Ernest Manning,or of Lougheed.
Gordon Edwin Dirks is a Canadian educator and politician,who has held political office in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The Journal of LGBT Youth is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering gender studies especially as pertaining to LGBT youth. It was established in 2003 as the Journal of Gay &Lesbian Issues in Education,obtaining its current title in 2008,and is published by Routledge. The founding editor-in-chief was James T. Sears,who was succeeded by Kristopher Wells.
Irfan Chaudhry is a hate crime researcher who has served as director of Edmonton,Alberta's MacEwan University's Office of Human Rights,Diversity,and Equity (OHRDE) since February 2018. Chaudry has frequently been consulted by the media for his expert opinion on hate crimes. He taught sociology and criminology at McEwan University for eight years.
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