Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Veldhoven, Gerard
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1940-
History
Gerard Veldhoven is a longtime LGBTQ activist; he and Norman Carter were the first same-sex couple to be legally married in Atlantic Canada. Born in the Netherlands in 1940, he immigrated to Canada as a teenager and has largely lived in Halifax, Amherst and Pictou, Nova Scotia. For many years he wrote a weekly column on LGBTQ issues that appeared in regional newspapers. He has spearheaded Pride events and other LGBTQ awareness campaigns across Cumberland County and in 2011 was nominated to the Order of Nova Scotia. He has served as both president and vice president of the board of directors for the Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health (PCCSH), and was the 2016 recipient of Sexual Health Nova Scotia’s Sexcellence Award. His memoir, A Passion for Equality, My Personal Journey, was published in 2020.