The below message is sent on behalf of Mikayla Hunter, Founding President, Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group, PhD Candidate, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba

Good morning,

Lavender Graduationhttps://lavendergraduationlegacyproject.org/about-us/ is an annual ceremony conducted on numerous campuses to honor queer and trans students to acknowledge their achievements and contributions as they graduate their degrees. The Lavender Graduation Ceremony was created by Dr. Ronni Sanlo, a lesbian who was denied the opportunity to attend the graduations of her children because of her sexual orientation. In response, she organized the first Lavender Graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan in 1995.

Since 1995, Lavender Graduation ceremonies have happened across North America, most predominantly in the United States. In 2018, McGill University made history when it became the first post-secondary institution outside of the United States to host a Lavender Graduation. Since 2024, the Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group has hosted a Lavender Graduation ceremony at the University of Manitoba. At this ceremony, grads from all post-secondary institutions in Manitoba who are 2SLGBTQIA+ are welcome to attend and be celebrated for their accomplishments. Students who have graduated in the Fall 2025/Spring 2026 or will be graduating in Summer 2026/Fall 2026 are welcome to be a graduate this ceremony. This ceremony is symbolic in nature and no parchments are conferred.

I would greatly appreciate if you could share this information with students in your faculty. Grads can register using the QR code in the attached image of via this link: https://forms.gle/qNwm8KKxyDGrKn89A

We also invite faculty and staff to attend the ceremony to join in celebrating these students. Faculty and staff members who would like to attend are asked to e-mail me so I can add them to the count so that we can order the appropriate amount of food.

Thank you!

Mikayla Hunter, MSc Pronouns: She/They (learn why this is importanthttps://umanitoba.ca/health-sciences/community-and-partners#section-14) Fellow, SPECTRUMhttps://www.spectrum-mb.ca/ Research Assistant, MEGAN-CAN Founding President, Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group PhD Candidate, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba

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Recent publications:

Smith, Emily; Hunter, Mikayla; Thacker, Chelsea. (November 2025). What We Heard: Patient and Provider Perspectives on the 2020 Health Care for Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Nonconforming People: Guidelines for the Northwest Territorieshttps://static1.squarespace.com/static/61ddfdd7c9b8ee39bdb30b57/t/695d802001e94d2b485b492e/1767735328964/What+We+Heard_November+2025_Web+Version.pdf. Northern Mosaic Network. Stirling, M., Bourque, M. A., Hunter, M., Queenan, J., Ludwig, C., Ristock, J., Harrison, L., Ross‐White, A., Nickel, N. C., Schultz, A., Banerji, V., Gahagan, J., & Mahar, A. (2025). A scoping review mapping trans* and gender diverse people’s representation in cancer research. Cancer Medicine, 14(15). https://doi-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/cam4.70774.

Hunter, Mikayla; Tennent, Pauline; Ciceron, Angela. 2025. “Pride in Health 2024 Art Cataloguehttps://chrr.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Pride-in-Health-2024-Art-Catalogue_Final.pdf.” Centre for Human Rights Research. July 22, 2025.

Hunter, Mikayla. 2025. “Bill 43 – the Human Rights Code Amendment Act, Adding Gender Expression as a Protected Characteristichttps://chrr.info/blog/reflection/bill-43-the-human-rights-code-amendment-act-adding-gender-expression-as-a-protected-characteristic/.” Centre for Human Rights Research. June 6, 2025.

Osei-Yeboah, E., Hinds, A., Grift, J., Isaak, C., Hunter, M., Bonnycastle, M., Mignone, J. & Sherred, R. E. (2024). Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Homelessness: A Mixed Methods Study in Winnipeghttps://endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca/wp-content/uploads/SHSISR-Report-digital.pdf. End Homelessness Winnipeg.

Hunter, M., Lea, G. W., Hasan, S. M., Archibald, M., Rieger, K., West, C., & Kreindler, S. A. (2024). “Enough reality that you took it seriously, enough humour that you kept watching”: a qualitative analysis of student reception of Larry Saves the Canadian healthcare system. Arts & Health, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2024.2442910

Courtney, K. L., Davison, K. S., Hunter, M., Watson, A., & Crawford, J. (2024). Gender harmony: A case for nursing informaticshttps://ebooks.iospress.nl/doi/10.3233/SHTI240190. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. https://doi.org/10.3233/shti240190

I respectfully acknowledge that the University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininew, Anisininew, Dakota Oyate and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. I respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, I acknowledge the harms of the past that continue into the present, and I dedicate myself to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of Reconciliation and collaboration