Brent Hawkes
Encyclopedia
Brent Hawkes, is a Canadian
clergyman. Since 1977, he has served as senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
for LGBT
parishioners, and is one of Canada's leading gay rights activists.
Born into a Baptist
family, Hawkes has Bachelor of Science
(1972) and Bachelor of Education
(1973) degrees from Mount Allison University
, and Master of Divinity
(1986) and Doctor of Ministry
(2001) degrees from Trinity College
, an Anglican institution at the University of Toronto
. His church serves as a faith community for about 575 congregants at regular Sunday worship. Hawkes also presides over the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto Christmas Eve
Service, which is held at Roy Thomson Hall
.
He has served on the advisory committee of PrideVision TV, and served on the board of directors for "EGALE
". In addition to his advocacy work on LGBT issues, he has supported anti-racist initiatives, drawn attention to poverty and poor housing, and advocated the ordination of female priests. In addition to his pastoral work, Hawkes is a member of the UFMCC Strategic Growth Initiative.
Hawkes briefly entered political life in the mid-1990s. In the Ontario provincial election of 1995
, Hawkes ran as a candidate of the social-democratic New Democratic Party of Ontario in the riding
of St. George—St. David
, which has a large GLBT community
. He finished a strong third with 9,672 votes, less than one thousand votes behind the winner, Progressive Conservative
Al Leach. Hawkes's strong showing played a major role in defeating incumbent Liberal
Tim Murphy.
On January 14, 2001, Hawkes gained national attention by performing a wedding ceremony for two same-sex couples at the Metropolitan Community Church
. Although city clerks would not issue marriage license
s for same-sex marriage
s at this time, Hawkes employed the alternative provided in Ontario law for regular church attendees to publish official banns for three consecutive weeks, and thereby conducted a legal marriage without requiring prior government permission. In the spirit of the banns as a public opportunity for interested parties to raise legal objections, the church also issued a press release in late 2000 announcing its intentions. The government of Jean Chrétien
did not endorse the marriages, although Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson
sent a personal letter of support. The city clerk refused to register the record of marriage, leading to a court battle. On July 12, 2002, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
ruled that the marriages performed by Hawkes in January 2001 were legal, but stayed its decision pending a possible appeal, and on June 10, 2003, the Court of Appeal for Ontario declared the common law definition of marriage as "invalid to the extent that it refers to “one man and one woman” [Halpern et al. v. The Attorney General of Canada et al.], immediately striking down all barriers against same-sex marriage in the province
(Court of Appeal for Ontario)
Hawkes lives in Toronto with John Sproule, his partner of more than twenty years. They married on March 7, 2006.
In 2009, Hawkes was awarded an honorary doctorate from York University
.
Hawkes was the officiant at the state funeral of Jack Layton
, Leader of Canada's Official Opposition and head of the NDP, on August 27, 2011 at Roy Thomson Hall. A fellow New Democrat, he spoke highly of Layton who had touched millions of Canadians with his sudden death. In the end, he thanked Jack Layton for his work with the gay community and HIV/AIDs, issues the NDP Leader had championed when they were not popular.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
clergyman. Since 1977, he has served as senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto is a congregation of the worldwide Metropolitan Community Church movement located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is an welcoming congregation openly affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual and transgender people...
for LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
parishioners, and is one of Canada's leading gay rights activists.
Born into a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
family, Hawkes has Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
(1972) and Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Education
A Bachelor of Education is an undergraduate academic degree which qualifies the graduate as a teacher in schools.-North America:...
(1973) degrees from Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
, and Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
(1986) and Doctor of Ministry
Doctor of Ministry
The Doctor of Ministry degree is, according to The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada , a doctoral level degree oriented toward ministerial leadership often in an area of applied theology, such as missions, evangelism, church leadership, pastoral psychology or the...
(2001) degrees from Trinity College
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
, an Anglican institution at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. His church serves as a faith community for about 575 congregants at regular Sunday worship. Hawkes also presides over the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
Service, which is held at Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...
.
He has served on the advisory committee of PrideVision TV, and served on the board of directors for "EGALE
Egale Canada
Egale Canada is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families, across Canada....
". In addition to his advocacy work on LGBT issues, he has supported anti-racist initiatives, drawn attention to poverty and poor housing, and advocated the ordination of female priests. In addition to his pastoral work, Hawkes is a member of the UFMCC Strategic Growth Initiative.
Hawkes briefly entered political life in the mid-1990s. In the Ontario provincial election of 1995
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
, Hawkes ran as a candidate of the social-democratic New Democratic Party of Ontario in the riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of St. George—St. David
St. George—St. David
St. George—St. David was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that returned Members of Provincial Parliament to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario at Queen's Park....
, which has a large GLBT community
Church and Wellesley
Church and Wellesley is an LGBT-oriented community located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street to the east, with the core commercial strip located along Church Street from...
. He finished a strong third with 9,672 votes, less than one thousand votes behind the winner, Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
Al Leach. Hawkes's strong showing played a major role in defeating incumbent Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
Tim Murphy.
On January 14, 2001, Hawkes gained national attention by performing a wedding ceremony for two same-sex couples at the Metropolitan Community Church
Metropolitan Community Church
The Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...
. Although city clerks would not issue marriage license
Marriage license
A marriage license is a document issued, either by a church or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between countries and has changed over time...
s for same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
s at this time, Hawkes employed the alternative provided in Ontario law for regular church attendees to publish official banns for three consecutive weeks, and thereby conducted a legal marriage without requiring prior government permission. In the spirit of the banns as a public opportunity for interested parties to raise legal objections, the church also issued a press release in late 2000 announcing its intentions. The government of Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
did not endorse the marriages, although Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
sent a personal letter of support. The city clerk refused to register the record of marriage, leading to a court battle. On July 12, 2002, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice is the superior court of general jurisdiction for the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is the successor to the former Ontario Court of Justice , and was created on April 19, 1999...
ruled that the marriages performed by Hawkes in January 2001 were legal, but stayed its decision pending a possible appeal, and on June 10, 2003, the Court of Appeal for Ontario declared the common law definition of marriage as "invalid to the extent that it refers to “one man and one woman” [Halpern et al. v. The Attorney General of Canada et al.], immediately striking down all barriers against same-sex marriage in the province
Same-sex marriage in Ontario
The first legal same-sex marriages performed in Ontario were of Kevin Bourassa to Joe Varnell, and Elaine Vautour to Anne Vautour, by Rev. Brent Hawkes on January 14, 2001....
(Court of Appeal for Ontario)
Hawkes lives in Toronto with John Sproule, his partner of more than twenty years. They married on March 7, 2006.
In 2009, Hawkes was awarded an honorary doctorate from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
.
Hawkes was the officiant at the state funeral of Jack Layton
Death and state funeral of Jack Layton
On August 22, 2011, Canadian New Democratic Party leader and Leader of the Opposition Jack Layton died after a bout from an unspecified, newly diagnosed cancer. Prior to his recent diagnosis, Layton led his party to gain a historic rise in seats during the 2011 federal election...
, Leader of Canada's Official Opposition and head of the NDP, on August 27, 2011 at Roy Thomson Hall. A fellow New Democrat, he spoke highly of Layton who had touched millions of Canadians with his sudden death. In the end, he thanked Jack Layton for his work with the gay community and HIV/AIDs, issues the NDP Leader had championed when they were not popular.
Recognition
- 1994 - City of Toronto Award of Merit
- 1995 - Global Citizen Award from the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Toronto Association - Distinguished Service Award from the Metropolitan Community ChurchMetropolitan Community ChurchThe Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...
presented by the denomination's founder, Rev. Troy PerryTroy PerryTroy Deroy Perry Jr founded the Metropolitan Community Church, a Christian denomination with a special affirming ministry with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, in Los Angeles on October 6, 1968.-Early life:... - June 29, 2007 - appointed by Governor General Michaëlle JeanMichaëlle JeanMichaëlle Jean is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation, from 2005 to 2010....
as a member to the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit... - September 16, 2009 - New Brunswick Human Rights Commission's Pioneer of Human Rights Award.