Luna Ferguson

Last updated
Luna M. Ferguson
LunaFerguson Wikipedia.png
Ferguson's portrait by Isadora Stigliano for Ilustratona 2024
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Activist, author, filmmaker.
Years active2017 - present
Notable workMe, Myself, They

Luna Ferguson is a Canadian filmmaker and LGBTQ activist. [1] Ferguson uses the pronouns they/them.

Ferguson is a graduate of Algonquin College, University of Western Ontario and the University of British Columbia. [2]

In May 2017, Ferguson applied to change their birth registration to non-binary. After extended delay, they filed a human rights complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in September 2017. The government of Ontario changed its policies in 2018 and issued Ferguson with a birth certificate showing their gender as non-binary. [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] As a consequence of Ferguson's case, in addition to having options to change gender to male, female or X, Ontario is the first Canadian province, or government administration in the world, to permit citizens to request birth certificates with no sexual designation. [7]

Ferguson's documentary about their life as a non-binary person and the fight for legal recognition is in post-production. [8] Their film Whispers of Life was winner of the audience award and jury award for Best GLBTTQ* Short Film in the 2014 Reel Pride Film Festival and won the audience award at the Reelout Queer Film Festival. [9] [10] Ferguson is the director and producer of Limina, released in 2016, featuring the experience of a gender-fluid child. Limina was the first film to be nominated in both male and female performance categories for the same actor by the Leo Awards. [11] [12]

Their non-fiction book Me, Myself, They was published in 2019.

In September 2019, Ferguson announced that they had legally changed their first name to Luna. [13]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Kappler, Maija (7 May 2018). "Ontario-born filmmaker receives non-binary birth certificate after legal battle with province". The Globe and Mail.
  2. "Luna Ferguson". UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  3. "Gender 'X': Ontario issues its first 'nonbinary' birth certificate". Nbcnews.com. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  4. Leyland Cecco in Toronto (2018-05-08). "Transgender rights: Ontario issues first non-binary birth certificate | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  5. "Filmmaker receives non-binary birth certificate 'that correctly display who I am' after legal battle with Ontario". National Post. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  6. "I'll Keep Fighting Until I'm Legally Recognized As A Non-Binary Canadian". Huffingtonpost.ca. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  7. "Changing your sex designation on your birth registration and birth certificate".
  8. "This Person Just Received Ontario's First Non-Binary Birth Certificate". VICE. 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  9. "2014 Reelout Audience Awards Announced". Reelout. 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  10. "Whispers of Life". 21 September 2013 via www.imdb.com.
  11. "Gender-Fluid Actor Judged Eligible in Both Male and Female Categories at Canadian Awards Show". Hollywood Reporter. 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  12. "Film Studies M.A. Alumnx Joshua M. Ferguson's Film Limina Makes History". Theatrefilm.ubc.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  13. Ferguson, Luna (2019-09-16). "I am Luna. I am my new beginning. Renaming myself is a creative awakening born from an energy hidden behind the fear of becoming whole. An imagining of myself and who I am now, who I can become.pic.twitter.com/rffUCIhsTU". @lunamferguson. Retrieved 2019-10-19.