Gilles Marchildon is a Canadian

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...

 communications consultant and activist, who served as the executive director of Egale Canada

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....

 from 2003 to 2006.

A native of Penetanguishene, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Marchildon studied political science at the University of Ottawa

University of Ottawa

The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...

. He later lived in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 before moving to Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, where he established his own communications and marketing firm, People and Ideas, and served on the boards of several community organizations for both the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender

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...

 and Franco-Manitoban

Franco-Manitoban

Franco-Manitobans are a community of French Canadians and other French-speaking people living in Manitoba. Most Franco-Manitobans have roots in Quebec. However, many are of Métis and Belgian ancestry while others have ancestors that came directly from France, its former colonies and other...

 communities in Winnipeg, including the Reel Pride

Reel Pride

Reel Pride is an annual gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and two-spirit film and video festival produced by the Winnipeg Gay and Lesbian Film Society in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada....

 film festival and the Festival du Voyageur. He served as editor and publisher of Swerve

Swerve (magazine)

OutWords is a Canadian magazine, published in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. Launched in November 1994 as Swerve by a collective that included Carol Philipps, Stephen Lawson, Ian King, David McGunigal and Noreen Stevens, it published as funds...

, the city's LGBT magazine, for four years, and also wrote for Xtra!

Xtra!

Xtra! is a gay magazine, on newsprint in tabloid format, published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-History and content :...

and Icon magazines in Toronto.

Marchildon was succeeded as executive director at Egale, on an interim basis, by Kaj Hasselriis

Kaj Hasselriis

Kaj Hasselriis is a Canadian journalist, community activist and politician.Hasselriis is a life-long Winnipegger and earned a sociology degree from the University of Manitoba in 1995 as well as a journalism degree from Toronto's Ryerson University in 1997. From 1997 to 2002, Hasselriis worked as a...

. Marchildon is currently married and living in Toronto.