Michelle Douglas is a Canadian human rights activist who fought a landmark legal challenge around lesbian and gay rights to serve in the Canadian military. Michelle had been an officer with a distinguished career in the Canadian Armed Forces but she was dismissed from the military in 1989 as being "Not Advantageously Employable Due to Homosexuality".
Michelle launched a court challenge of her dismissal from the military and in October 1992, just before proceeding to trial, the Canadian military abandoned its discriminatory policy against gays and lesbians and settled the case. This ended Canada's policy of discrimination against gays and lesbians in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Douglas went on to be the founding president of the Foundation for Equal Families, an organization that intervened in court case involving equality issues for same-sex families. In this capacity, Michelle was a leading activist in many constitutional challenges to laws in Canada that unfairly treated gays and lesbians and their families. Since 2005, Douglas has served as the Chair of the Canadian Board of Directors of Free the Children, a not-for-profit organization that builds primary schools around the world. Currently, Michelle resides in Ottawa where she now works for the Canadian Justice Department.
Michelle is looking forward to speak at the World Outgames Conference in Copenhagen: "I can hardly wait to join the 'strong, the fit and the proud' in the beautiful city of Copenhagen. Beyond the feats of physical strength and endurance that we will witness at the Games, we'll also have a chance to share the feats of emotional strength and courage that our community has had to experience. The organizers have managed to plan an incredible event where we get to share a range of experiences together in one event. I can hardly wait to be part of this global celebration and I hope you will be there too. Voyez-vous à Copenhague en 2009!"