Tom Warner

He/him/his - Member of the Board of Directors

Tom Warner (he/him) has been an activist and advocate for 2SLGBTQI+ rights for over 50 years. In 1971, he helped found the Gay Students’ Alliance at the University of Saskatchewan and the Zodiac Friendship Society, the first gay community organization that later became the Gay Community Centre of Saskatoon. After moving to Toronto in 1973, he helped to found and was active for several years in the Gay Alliance Toward Equality, including serving as president.

He has also been active in a number of other 2SLGBTQI+ groups over the years, including The Body Politic Collective, the Right To Privacy Committee (founding member), the Committee to Defend John Damien, the Association of Gay Electors and the City of Toronto’s Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues. Tom is perhaps best known as a founding member of and leading spokesperson for the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (CLGRO) from 1975 to 2009.

He was a leader of political action campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s to have sexual orientation included as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code and during the 1990s to amend Ontario laws to extend legal recognition to same-sex spousal relationships. He has served as a Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, as a member of the Board of Canadian Blood Services, including serving as Vice Chair, as a member of the Board of Management (a director) of The 519 Church Street Community Centre in Toronto and as a director of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly in Toronto. Most recently, Tom has been active in and is the past Chair of The Senior Pride Network Toronto.

He is also the author of two books: Losing Control, Canada’s Social Conservatives in the Age of Rights (2010) and Never Going Back, A history of queer activism in Canada (2002). Professionally, Tom was employed with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario) from 1980 until his retirement in 2016. He held several regulatory and senior executive positions, including Vice President and Registrar and Vice President, Regulatory and Standards. In 2016, Tom was elected as the first Honorary Chartered Professional Accountant in Ontario.