About Fae Johnstone  

Fae Johnstone is either a national treasure or an international disgrace, depending on who you ask. She is the executive director and founder of Queer Momentum, Canada's only national organization fully focused on 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy and movement-building. She is a movement girl, shaped in grassroots organizing and committed to building a more free, equal and just future for queer people and all marginalized communities.

Fae has dedicated her life and career to upholding the freedom, rights and safety of queer and trans people in an era of resurgent hate, polarization and rising authoritarianism. She is a political organizer, movement spokesperson and coalition builder using queer common sense to speak truth to power and change hearts and minds across the nation.

She is one of Canada's most prominent queer advocates, and has paid a steep price for it. She has been targeted time and time again by anti-trans and anti-rights groups seeking to discredit her, cancel her, and malign her character. Fae's work has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades. She has been published or featured in major media across North America, graced conference stages in every corner of Canada, and, she was once on a chocolate bar.

Outside of her paid work, Fae serves on the boards of directors for YWCA Canada and Oxfam Canada, where she contributes her wisdom and expertise to Canada's feminist movement and the struggle for justice and human rights around the world. 

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Fae grew up in small towns across Canada, moving frequently as the child of two members of the Canadian military before settling in Ottawa, which she has called home ever since. Despite a supportive and caring family, Fae internalized a lot of shame and stigma at a young age because she was different. At 15, Fae came out as bisexual. A few years later, she came out as a transgender woman.

After coming out as trans, her world changed. Suddenly, she was met with a degree of hostility nothing could have prepared her for. As a visibly gender non-conforming transgender person, she was confronted by people’s assumptions and stigmas daily. Fae quickly learned that living as her authentic self came at a cost to her safety, well-being and livelihood.

Her experiences as a teen and young adult, alongside the stories she hears from her queer and trans peers, have fueled her advocacy ever since. She is driven by her core beliefs - that no one should be mistreated simply because of who they are, that no one should be held back by systemic discrimination, and that we are better, as people, when we create a society that lifts everyone up, instead of holding some of us down.

The Advocacy Journey Begins

Fueled by her belief that a more free, equal and socially just future isn’t just possible, but is in fact a moral necessity, Fae has dedicated her life and career to queer and trans advocacy.

She rose to became a recurring voice in Canadian media and political circles on queer and trans issues, first through her work with the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, and later as an independent advocate and community organizer. Early in her career, she served on the board of directors of LGBT Youth Line and Kind Space, supporting their community programs and advocacy efforts. 

In 2018, Fae joined Wisdom2Action consulting LTD. (W2A), a progressive consulting firm focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), community engagement and project management. She quickly grew her role with W2A, becoming a co-owner in 2020, and soon after taking over as executive director when then executive director Lisa Lachance was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Nova Scotia. With W2A, Fae supported dozens of organizations across Canada to advance 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, among other consulting efforts. As part of the firm's commitment to social impact, Fae provided pro-bono advocacy and campaigns support to 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations in Canada.

Entering a New Era: Surviving the Anti-Trans Onslaught

Due to her visibility, tireless advocacy and profile in the media, Fae has been a frequent target of far right and anti-2SLGBTQIA+ groups. As her profile and impact grew, so too did attempts by anti-2SLGBTQIA+ groups to disparage her character and silence her voice. She has had her privacy violated and her safety jeopardized by far right media and figureheads on multiple occasions. In 2023, she was subjected to an international cancel campaign for her role in a Hershey Canada initiative for International Women’s Day. Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro and other figureheads of the far right unleashed a tsunami of hate against her. The volume of threats and hatemail was such that she was accompanied by security everywhere she went for a week.

Despite the best efforts of the far right, Fae has continued to speak up for her community, to defend freedom, reject hate, and inspire people from all walks of life to come together in a shared vision of a more free, equal and socially just future - for everyone.

The Founding of Queer Momentum

In May 2023, Fae and her co-owners at Wisdom2Action founded the Society of Queer Momentum. Queer Momentum fills a critical gap in Canada - supporting grassroots 2SLGBTQIA+ advocates, holding politicians and governments accountable on queer issues, and building a national movement for equality, freedom and human rights. 

Feeling the urgency of the moment, Fae stepped down as executive director of W2A in July 2024 to dedicate more of her time to Queer Momentum as the organization’s executive director. Her co-owner Dennis Stuebing has taken the helm as W2A’s executive director in her stead, though she remains involved with W2A on a part-time basis as a special advisor on critical initiatives.

Now, alongside her team at Queer Momentum, Fae plays a vital role as a political organizer, movement-builder and spokesperson. Alongside community members and allies, she works to resist hate and advance a more free, equal and socially just future for 2SLGBTQIA+ people.

Some of Fae’s achievements include: 

• Selected as Grand Marshal of the 2023 Capital Pride Parade in Ottawa, and Saskatoon Pride in 2024, and Trans Ambasssador with Pride Toronto in 2025. 
• Recipient of the Young 2SLGBTQIA+ Entrepreneur of the Year award from Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ Chamber of Commerce. 
• Featured as "One of Incredible 8 Canadian Women who have broken the glass cieling, paving the way for those behind them" by Elle Magazine  
• Named as an “Emerging Social Impact Leader” by The Peak, a “Top 30 Social Purpose Newsmaker'' by Future of Good, “One of Ten Spectacular Canadian Women to Watch” by Notable Life
• 2016 recipient of LGBT Youth Line’s Trans Activist Award.
• First trans woman to serve on the Board of Directors of YWCA Canada and Oxfam Canada. 
• Featured alongside 4 other young women in Hershey Canada’s 2023 International Women’s Day campaign