In 2014, the Lambda Board of Directors renamed our award at Carleton University the Gary Sealey Friends of Lambda Award in honor of our former president and the many Friends of Lambda who helped establish and sustain the Lambda Foundation.
Gary David Sealey (April 3, 1942 – August 5, 2019) was the founding president of the Lambda Scholarship Foundation for Excellence and Club Moustache (Time Out). He also organized the highly successful literary festival, Wilde about Sappho, for many years. Additionally, Gary wrote the constitution for EGALE, supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Gary and his associates dedicated countless hours to converting Lambda from a 1980s gay business association into a scholarship foundation that established multiple university research awards, including a Lambda youth leadership award at a West Coast high school. During those years, Gary was ever-present with Lambda in one capacity or another, serving as president of the Foundation until he retired from the board in 2012.
A visionary with a great talent for making contacts and networking with individuals and human rights groups across the country – building bridges, as he liked to call it – Gary was particularly adept at persuading generous donors to establish or contribute to one or more of the Lambda Foundation awards. The Carleton University endowment disburses an annual award to a deserving graduate student engaged in excellent research on 2SLGBTQ+ rights and related issues, thanks to the foresight of Gary and Friends.
In line with Gary’s preferences for 2SLGBTQ+ scholarship and human rights activism, preference is given to research proposals concerning the fight for 2SLGBTQ+ rights and issues overseas. Projects that focus on Canada are always welcome. Academic excellence will always be the core of the winning research proposal.
Pictured above: Gary Sealey on the evening he received his Order of Ottawa Award in 2014.
Award terms: Awarded annually by the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs to graduate students entering or continuing in any graduate program at Carleton University who demonstrate excellence in research on the subject of Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, plus (2SLGBTQ+) people, including the policies and human rights issues that affect them, as well as other topics concerning their communities, their values, their achievements, their arts and their sports. Preference will be given to students whose research focus is on the origins and remediation of discrimination towards 2SLGBTQ+ peoples in Africa, Asia, Central Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and any other region abroad that has inscribed anti-2SLGBTQ+ discrimination into law, official policies or community practices. Eligible recipients will have demonstrated financial need, must be Canadian Citizens or permanent residents of Canada, and must meet OSAP’s Ontario Residency requirements. Recipients will be chosen by the awards committee of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs from a list of candidates recommended by each department. Endowed in 1999. Revised, 2014, 2023.