Ivan Coyote is a writer and storyteller. Born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, they are the author of thirteen books, the creator of four films, six stage shows, and three albums that combine storytelling with music. Coyote’s books have won the ReLit Award, been named a Stonewall Honour Book, been longlisted for Canada Reads, and been shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Prize for non-fiction and the Governor General's award for non-fiction twice. In 2017 Ivan was given an honorary Doctor of Laws from Simon Fraser University, and in 2023 they received the first Honorary Doctor of Arts ever bestowed on anyone by Yukon University. They have toured public schools solo around the world for 19 years now, using the power of a personal story to fight bullying and make schools safer for students, staff and parents. In 2024 Ivan will mark 30 years on the road as an international touring storyteller and musician. Coyote’s stories grapple with the complex and intensely personal topics of gender identity, family, class, and queer liberation, but always with a generous heart, and a quick wit. Ivan's stories manage to handle both the hilarious and the heartbreaking with reverence and compassion, and remind us all of our own fallible and imperfect humanity, while at the same time inspiring us to change the world. Ivan's 13th book, Care Of, was released in June 2021 by McClelland and Stewart.

As an intersex male, DeMarco T. Lord has dedicated his life to championing the rights and well-being of marginalized communities. He is the passionate Founder and Executive Director of Advocates of the South Inc., where his leadership and unwavering commitment to activism shine.

DeMarco is an activist first and an advocate second, prioritizing impactful change over recognition. Formerly a chapter leader for Black Lives Matter in San Francisco, he has tirelessly worked on the front lines of social justice. Additionally, he has been a coordinator for Transforming Organization in Atlanta—one of the oldest Transmasculine groups around—demonstrating his dedication to intersectional advocacy.

Anthony (he/him) is a 48-year old transman who lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife of 15 years and their 8-year old son. He has been part of the Queer community since the 90s. After questioning his gender identity for many years, he decided to begin his medical transition in 2013. Anthony is most proud of being a father and a husband and he enjoys cooking, horror movies and being a mentor to other transmen.

Dave is a 50 year old gay trans man who started identifying as openly queer in 1994 and as a trans man in 2001. He started his medical transition in early 2002 in Portland, OR with a few other “litter mates” but, after moving multiple times, lost that sense of connection and community with other trans men. In 2018 he joined Instagram hoping to find connections with other older trans men, and found inspiration, albeit virtually, to seek out more for himself. After being on HRT for 17 years, he finally had top surgery in 2019. Even so, he still suffered from crippling depression and alcoholism. After hitting the proverbial “rock bottom”, Dave made the choice to live in 2020. Sober ever since, Dave is now happily married and lives in his native NE Ohio. Dave works as an artist and gig worker, and is unapologetically codependent with their dog, Ruby.

Instagram pages:

   @davenorthcoast 

   @davesmurals     

Website:

     davesmurals.com

Shawn Demmons is a queer African American trans man committed to social and racial justice. Shawn has 10+ years of experience providing community health education training, capacity building, and technical assistance to increase provider knowledge and awareness about trans people and the best practices to engage transgender communities in health care. Shawn has developed training curricula, webinars, and interactive presentations for the staff and leadership of numerous health care organizations across the U.S. In addition, he coordinated the past three convenings of the National Transgender Health Summit and led the development of a Trans 101 eLearning course for the UCSF Center of Excellence for Transgender Health website. Currently, Shawn directs an HIV capacity-building program where he works to expand the number and ability of health care professionals to provide high quality HIV care and decrease inequities that includes programming on gender-affirming care. Shawn has an undergraduate degree in Black Studies and Masters in Public Health from San Francisco State University, and is the proud papa of a 10-year old chihuahua named Cooper.