Shawn Syms
Encyclopedia
Shawn Syms is a Toronto
, Ontario
-based writer and activist on LGBT
issues and other aspects of progressive politics.
From 1988 until 1992, he was one of the editors and publishers of Rites
, an Canadian
monthly magazine of queer
history, politics and culture. Syms’s work for Rites included political and cultural analysis that was referenced in such books as The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
and Global Sports Sponsorship, and reprinted in the respected left-of-centre LGBT weekly Gay Community News (Boston)
. During that time, Syms was also active in the political organization AIDS Action NOW!, which fought for access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.
In 1997 and 1998, he was publisher, for Pink Triangle Press
, of Canadian Male, a short-lived gay men's sexual magazine characterized by very diverse contents and high production values. Syms co-wrote the sexual-advice column "Carnal Queeries" in Toronto's Xtra!
for several years. Syms was a copy editor at Fuse Magazine for over a decade and served on its board of directors for 13 years in the 1990s and early 2000s. He blogged on political affairs for This Magazine
from 2007 to 2008. From 2007 to 2010, he wrote a regular column on sexuality, sex work, drug use and harm reduction for xtra.ca called "Free Agent."
As a journalist, Syms has specialized in covering medical conditions transmitted through drug use and sexual practices, including hepatitis
, herpes, HPV and HIV/AIDS. His 2009 extensive examination of the legal and biocultural implications of criminalizing HIV transmission was described by criminalization expert Edwin J. Bernard as a "piece de resistance"
and was one of the few pieces by a non-lawyer included by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network’s resource kit for lawyers involved in cases related to HIV and the criminal law. In 2008, Syms was an invited speaker on the topic at the Health and Human Rights Conference at Queen’s University.
Other advocacy journalism by Syms regarding gay transgender
men has been lauded by writer and sex-worker advocate Sasha Von Bon Bon, and translated into French. His coverage of the forced sterilization of a Chilean HIV-positive woman has been cited in the Harvard Human Rights Journal.
Syms’s fiction writing was nominated for the 2009 Journey Prize
, and was twice short-listed for the short-fiction competition associated with the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival
. His essays have twice been published in books by Arsenal Pulp Press
. Also a widely published book critic, his writing has appeared in thirty periodicals and journals.
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...
, 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....
-based writer and activist on 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...
issues and other aspects of progressive politics.
From 1988 until 1992, he was one of the editors and publishers of Rites
Rites (magazine)
Rites was a Canadian magazine, published for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities in Canada from 1984 to 1992.-Founding:The magazine was published in Toronto, Ontario by Rites Publishing and was produced by a non-profit collective...
, an 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...
monthly magazine of queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
history, politics and culture. Syms’s work for Rites included political and cultural analysis that was referenced in such books as The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
and Global Sports Sponsorship, and reprinted in the respected left-of-centre LGBT weekly Gay Community News (Boston)
Gay Community News (Boston)
Gay Community News was a weekly journal published in Boston from 1973 to 1992 by the Bromfield Street Educational Foundation. It was an important resource for the LGBT community...
. During that time, Syms was also active in the political organization AIDS Action NOW!, which fought for access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.
In 1997 and 1998, he was publisher, for Pink Triangle Press
Pink Triangle Press
Pink Triangle Press is a Canadian non-profit organization which specializes in LGBT media including publishing, online interactive media, and television. PTP's main asset is the LGBT magazine, Xtra! and its spinoffs Xtra! West and Capital Xtra!...
, of Canadian Male, a short-lived gay men's sexual magazine characterized by very diverse contents and high production values. Syms co-wrote the sexual-advice column "Carnal Queeries" in Toronto's Xtra!
Xtra!
Xtra! is a gay magazine, on newsprint in tabloid format, published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-History and content :...
for several years. Syms was a copy editor at Fuse Magazine for over a decade and served on its board of directors for 13 years in the 1990s and early 2000s. He blogged on political affairs for This Magazine
This Magazine
This Magazine is an independent alternative Canadian political magazine. It was launched "by a gang of school activists" in 1966 as This Magazine is About Schools, a journal covering political issues in the education system...
from 2007 to 2008. From 2007 to 2010, he wrote a regular column on sexuality, sex work, drug use and harm reduction for xtra.ca called "Free Agent."
As a journalist, Syms has specialized in covering medical conditions transmitted through drug use and sexual practices, including hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
, herpes, HPV and HIV/AIDS. His 2009 extensive examination of the legal and biocultural implications of criminalizing HIV transmission was described by criminalization expert Edwin J. Bernard as a "piece de resistance"
and was one of the few pieces by a non-lawyer included by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network’s resource kit for lawyers involved in cases related to HIV and the criminal law. In 2008, Syms was an invited speaker on the topic at the Health and Human Rights Conference at Queen’s University.
Other advocacy journalism by Syms regarding gay transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
men has been lauded by writer and sex-worker advocate Sasha Von Bon Bon, and translated into French. His coverage of the forced sterilization of a Chilean HIV-positive woman has been cited in the Harvard Human Rights Journal.
Syms’s fiction writing was nominated for the 2009 Journey Prize
Journey Prize
The Journey Prize is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short story published by an emerging writer in a Canadian literary magazine. The award was endowed by James A...
, and was twice short-listed for the short-fiction competition associated with the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival
Saints and Sinners Literary Festival
Saints and Sinners is an alternative literary festival specializing in LGBT literature, held in various locations around the world-famous French Quarter neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana each May.-Overview:Founded by Paul J...
. His essays have twice been published in books by Arsenal Pulp Press
Arsenal Pulp Press
Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, and is noted for founding the annual Three-Day Novel Contest .Authors who have been published by Arsenal Pulp ...
. Also a widely published book critic, his writing has appeared in thirty periodicals and journals.