Bonham Centre Awards Gala (BCAG) 2014 Celebrates Sexual Diversity

The 2014 Bonham Centre Awards Gala celebrated the power of the word with a line-up of powerful award recipients who have made significant contributions to the education and public understanding of sexual diversity and the human rights issues surrounding sexual education.
During reception, guests enjoyed delectable hors hors d’oeuvres, Cave Spring wines and cocktails under the ornate timbered ceilings of Hart House’s great hall. The evening’s host, Liem Vu of The Morning Show and ET Canada Live then welcomed the three award recipients as we dined under the bronze chandeliers: Shyam Selvadu, a Shri Lankan Canadian novelist who won the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award with his first novel “Funny Boy”, and the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Male Novel; Patricia Nell-Warren, a poet, a novelist, and an activist who has been honoured with many prestigious awards. She writes about post 9/11 issues, AIDS politics, youth and elders, and has been involved in women’s rights and free-speech cases; Edmund White, an American author of several gay love novels, an influential literary and cultural critic, and a professor of creative writing at Princeton University.
In addition to the Bonham Centre Awards, an IBM Youth Award was presented to Waawaate Fobister, an actor and playwright whose production Agokwe won six Dora Awards.

U of T’s Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies (SDS) educates and connects faculty, students, and community members who are interested in sexual diversity and sexual practices. The Bonham Centre Awards have been recognizing the most outstanding contributors in the field since 2008. It was a great night and a real honour to dine with all these brave and influential people.

Liem Vu

(photos by Tanya)