The INSPIRE Awards honors the most inspiring people, youth, allies, businesses, and organizations in the LGBTQ community in the Great Toronto Area.
The INSPIRE Awards defines inspiration as: "a word that sums up the LGBTQ community and our friends and allies... a community that has worked and continues to work very hard to change the perceptions and prejudices of the world; a community that has brought beauty and art and creativity and literature and much more to the world around us."
The original founders of the Awards aspire to "inspire the community and bring it together," to "celebrate our past and present heroes so we never forget the work it took and still takes to build a community" to celebrate "the contributions many make for the betterment" of the Greater Toronto community and the world at large, and to "encourage living an inspiring life by creating future programs to that effect."
Each year the community is encouraged to nominate honorees in the following categories:
- Lifetime Achievement Awards (two awarded annually)
- LGBTQ Person of the Year
- LGBTQ Youth of the Year
- LGBTQ Positive Business of the Year
- Inspiring Community Organization of the Year
- LUX Award
More information about these awards and prizes can be found here.
Winners are chosen by a judging panel comprised of representatives from the Awards board of directors, Presenting and Community Partners (including Pink Play Mags & The Pink Pages Directory, PFLAG Canada, Toronto Leather Pride, Pride Durham, Fife House, Duham Alliance Assocation Social Club, TransCommunity.ca, and more), and members of the LGBTQ community.
GLAAD is a supporter of the INSPIRE Awards.
The 2013 INSPIRE Awards will be held in the Hart House Great Hall at the University of Toronto on Saturday, June 1, 2013. Stay tuned for more details as they become available and learn more by visiting the INSPIRE Awards website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
