Honouring the Most Inspiring People, Youth, Businesses, and Organizations in the LGBTQ Community in the Greater Toronto Area.
INSPIRE Awards are presented by a collective of community partners:
Presented by PinkPlayMags & The Pink Pages Directory, AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), Ontario Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (OGLCC), Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP), Dudley’s Hardware Paint & Décor, and Toronto Trans Alliance. Supported by GLAAD.
Inspiration Is Defined As:
An abstract concept or idea that has spiritual connotations as well as practical connotations.
Inspiration may be a person, event, or thing that can inspire the mind, emotions, or the body to a higher level of feeling or activity.
Our Definition of Inspiration Is:
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, and a community that has brought beauty and art and creativity and literature and much more to the world around us.
Our LGBTQ community is filled with stories of inspiration, and of individuals, businesses and organizations that inspire all of us.
INSPIRE Awards is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of facilitating the annual awards and inspiring the community. The original founders of the INSPIRE Awards vouched to,
“Inspire the community and bring it together; we will celebrate our past and present heroes so we never forget the work it took and still takes to build a community, and the contributions many make for the betterment of our own community and the world around us at large, and we will encourage living an inspiring life by creating future programs to that effect.”
Each year the INSPIRE Awards with the help of the LGBTQ community choose the following categories to honour:
- 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 for the Arts
- Charles Roy Award for Activism in HIV/AIDS
- Accenture LGBTQ Innovator of the Year
The honourees of each category are chosen through community nominations and awarded by a jury panel formed of representatives of the Awards Board of Directors, Community Partners, and members of the LGBTQ community. Celebrations take place at an annual summer event.
Subscribe to INSPIRE Awards!
Get notified about how to watch this year’s live-streamed virtual event on May 14th, 2021. And get updates throughout the year about when nominations open for 2022, special events, and other news.