Adrien Lewis, BKin, BEd

Adrien is a transmasculine 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights activist, he is a community organizer working in Nova Scotia to advocate for issues related to sex positivity, trans liberation and rights, and other anti-oppression issues. Growing up in a small town of Annapolis Royal, Adrien immersed himself in various leadership roles where he served on student council, yearbook committee, led all sports teams as captain, and was also a lifeguard and trained for basketball in his spare time. He began his journey of self-discovery and advocacy, initially identifying as a lesbian and coming out as the only queer person in his high school in 2015 during a diversity day key note address. As a result, he began discussion surrounding 2SLGBTQIA+ concerns in an effort to increase inclusion.

Upon graduating high school, Adrien attended Acadia University, where he played on the women’s field lacrosse team and came out as trans in his fourth year, beginning the process of medically transitioning in December 2019 and having top surgery the following year. He also founded and continues to co-ordinate the annual Acadia 5 km Pride Run! Having earned his Bachelor of Kinesiology in 2020, he entered the dream of secondary education where he would graduate once again in 2022 with a Bachelor of Education, and would be recognized for his two consecutive years on the Dean’s list and become a recipient of Acadia’s prestigious Golden ‘A’ Award. His advocacy efforts have extended outside of Acadia, moving to larger scopes, working to modify the provincial forms in Nova Scotia to remove the irrelevant gender identifiers on the child abuse registry check, where it has been previously male, female, transgender.

Adrien describes himself as an athletic person that loves spending time with his close friends, and an overall energetic guy that can’t sit still. He is a driven, enthusiastic and a curious professional, with an open mind who has relied on comedic relief to cope through the dark times he has repeatedly encountered. The work that he presents and is involved in, without a doubt, will hold your attention. Having completed an entire degree as an openly cisgender female identifying as lesbian, and completing another degree as an open transgender (though cis-passing) man, Adrien brings a unique flare to his stories of lived experiences. For example, through these lived experiences, he has personally felt the societal standards fluctuate for himself in several realms of life. From his voice not being heard in dire situations when he identified as female, to seeing the power his voice had as a cis-passing white man–he has a lot to say about his short 24 years of life thus far!