Gender equality advocate Farrah Khan
For her sexual health advocacy and sharing her cancer journey as a queer person
No matter the job, Farrah Khan does not back away from a fight. Over the past two decades, she has accumulated titles including award-winning human rights and gender equity advocate, frontline worker, trauma counsellor, educator and policy advisor. At Toronto Metropolitan University, she founded one of Canadas first on-campus sexual violence support and education offices. She co-chaired Ontarios first expert roundtable on violence against women. And at the And at the 2018 G7 Summit, Khan spoke to world leaders about the necessity of gender equality. Shortly after starting her dream role as the executive director of Action Canada, a sexual and reproductive health and rights advocacy organization, Khan learned she had a new challenge ahead. At the age of 44, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and neuroendocrine cervical cancer, which is rare and aggressive. LGBTQS+ patients like Khan are statistically more vulnerable to poorer health outcomes due to a lack of societal support and a health system that was not designed to provide inclusive care. A doctor once told Khan something patently untrue: Since she was no longer having sex with men, she didnt need a Pap smearthe very test that, years later, would lead to her cancer diagnosis. In an op-ed for the Globe and Mail, she shared her story to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health, particularly for queer, racialized people like me, who are disproportionately impacted.As Khan weathers multiple rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, she and her familyshe has a young son with Ontario MPP Kristyn Wong-Tamhave learned how to accept more help: Friends have signed up to accompany her to all her appointments. There are many days when its been hard to get out of bed knowing what lies before me in treatments. Having a care team has made going much less daunting and less lonely, says Khan. Cancer has strengthened my belief in community care. Ishani Nath(Related: This Is Why We Need to Talk More About Sex, and Our Intimate Body Parts, at Every Age)
