Celebrating 2SLGBTQIA+ Grads

The origins of Lavender Graduations can be traced back to the University of Michigan where in 1995, Jewish lesbian Dr. Ronni Sanlo was denied entry at her children’s graduation ceremony due to her sexual orientation. After this experience, Dr. Sanlo was motivated to organize the first Lavender Graduation to ensure students of all sexual orientations would feel represented in the celebration of their academic achievements. Although this first Lavender Graduation was rooted in an experience of exclusion, the Ceremonies also become spaces to celebrates inclusion, resilience and joy.

Celebrating the Success of Queer and Trans Graduates

This year’s Lavender Graduation took place in Marshall McLuhan Hall at the Fort Garry Campus, and included students from the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg, Red River College Polytechnic, Brandon University and Université de Saint-Boniface. The ceremony highlighted 28 graduates from various disciplines as they received their diplomas, bachelor's, master's or Juris Doctor degrees. Concluding the 2026 ceremony, a total of 65 Lavender graduates have now participated since the program started in 2024.

The symbolic graduation not only honoured the incredible academic achievements of its attendees but also the resilience of past and present 2SLGBTQIA+ students. The theme of resilience was highlighted by speaker Jay Campagne, who emphasized the “systematic barriers, demanding coursework, and sacrifices” many students had to endure. In their celebratory Instagram post, Lavender graduate Victoria Romero acknowledged the profound “colonial structure and complex that is higher education.” Romero goes on to say that the resilience of queer and trans individuals “is something that should be uniquely celebrated.” The supportive atmosphere was evident; event organizer Kyra Campbell described the noticeable “sense of community” in the room.

Celebrating Inclusion in Difficult Times

Elder Albert McLeod opened Lavender Ceremony in a good way and offered words of wisdom to the attendees. While the ceremony was nothing short of celebratory, it carried an important message about current anti-2SLGBTQIA+ movements that intersect with white supremacist, xenophobic and far right movements across the world. As global legislative bodies roll back Equity, Diversity and Inclusion policies and reduce 2SLGBTQIA+ initiatives, unwavering and explicit support from educational institutes is needed now more than ever.

In the opening remarks Dr. Rob Lorway, professor in the College of Community and Global Health and the Institute for Global Public Health described current anti-queer movements thriving in online spheres as “globally coordinated,” citing the need for continued advocacy to support “a better queer future.” This hope was echoed by Jay Campagne, who in their opening speech describes how they wish for future Lavender Graduations to continue being an “unstoppable beacon of solidarity.”

Marking New Beginnings

Following the efforts of event organizer Mikayla Hunter and the Q&TGSG, the University of Manitoba’s 2026 Lavender graduation marks history as the first Canadian institution to be listed on the Lavender Graduation Ceremony Legacy Project Registry. The organization is a non-profit initiative founded by the creator of Lavender graduations, Dr. Ronni Sanlo, to support, document and advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+ students.

The event organizers will also be donating material from previously hosted Lavender Graduations at the University of Manitoba to the Lavender Graduation Ceremony Legacy Project Archives. The archival project aims to document and digitize aspects of the graduations to ensure that the historical developments of Lavender Graduations are preserved for future generations. The University of Manitoba's new feature in the Lavender Graduation Ceremony project offers inspiration to other Canadian academic institutions to host and register their own Lavender graduations in the future.

Unifying Community Support

Various University of Manitoba faculties and units contributed resources to ensure all graduates had the opportunity to celebrate their special day including founding supporter the Alan Klass Memorial Program in Health Equity, as well as the Centre for Human Rights Research, the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Science and the Office of Equity, Access & Participation.

To help reduce transportation barriers, the organizers offered travel awards to 2SLGBTQIA+ students seeking to attend the ceremony from rural areas. Accessibility concerns were addressed by the availability of attending the ceremony virtually. Graduates could choose to have their names and degrees announced in French or English. Event organizers also sought to support local queer-owned, BIPOC-owned and/or women-owned businesses including for flowers, photography and décor. Concluding the event, organizer Kyra Campbell spoke about the thoughtful planning involved, saying, “The time and care that went into making this event so meaningful was evident in every detail.”

Lavender Graduation is both an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of 2SLGBTQIA+ graduates and to assert that 2SLGBTQIA+ people belong in post-secondary education. Mikayla Hunter, Event Organizer and President of the Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group shared, “We have always been here, and we will continue to be. Through Lavender Graduation, we continue to forge the path that was begun by activists like Dr. Ronni Sanlo, so that future students can see themselves represented in the academy and beyond.”