Grad student Jeremy Dias was a keynote speaker at the 10th Annual Freedom Day event on Sept. 24. The event is held to inspire more than 2,000 students to create a better tomorrow by standing up for freedom, tolerance and human rights.
The annual event is presented by Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC). It was originally created 10 years ago to commemorate the life and legacy of Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal and to carry on his legacy of tolerance, justice, and human rights.
Dias’ speech shared his story of growing up in northern Ontario, and becoming socially- and politically-minded. Today, he is a Master’s student in the Public Policy and Administration program at Carleton.
(From the FSWC website) “Jeremy Dias did not intend to make national headlines for winning the second largest human rights settlement from Canada’s Human Rights Tribunal; he simply was looking to be treated equally. At his high school in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Jeremy faced extreme racial and homophobic discrimination from both students and school officials, and at age 17, he pursued legal action in order to defend himself and his peers from this treatment. At age 21, he won his case and used the money for found the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, the International Day of Pink, and the Jeremy Dias Scholarship. Jeremy continues to be an advocate for equality across school campuses, and has worked with community leaders, federal minister, police officers, and the media to create a safer world for all Canadians young and old.”
Emily Barsante-Innes from the FSWC said: “We selected Jeremy for this event because of his incredible passion for human rights that has shaped the direction of his life since he was a young man in Sault Ste. Marie. The intersectionality of Jeremy’s fight for equality is representative of so many of the challenges faced by young people across Canada and beyond, and we felt as though his story was one to which many could relate. His passion for activism, especially for LGBTQ+ youth, is especially poignant in 2019, which marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in our country. We felt that we could give an elevated platform to a powerful story of strength in adversity where a young person brought his fight to the highest court of the land, and won. His career since then in battling homophobia and racism in Canadian schools gives students a meaningful example of how the fight for equality is never really over, and that there is always a new frontier for the next generation of human rights activists to break ground.”
Other guest speakers included mental health and diversity advocate Anthony McLean and Max Eisen, a Holocaust survivor, author and winner of the 2019 CBC Canada Reads award.
“This year’s Freedom Day was all about remembering the past, confronting the present and protecting the future – the perfect combination to ensure a better world for future generations,” said FSWC president and CEO Avi Benlolo. “As hate crimes remain a serious concern in Canada and around the world, it’s extremely important to take whatever steps necessary to empower today’s youth to be human rights advocates and make a positive difference in their communities.”
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Wednesday, September 25, 2019 in News
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