Human Rights Commission Announce Recipient of the 2024 Human Rights Award

December 10, 2024

The following is being distributed at the request of the Human Rights Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador:

During a ceremony at Government House in St. John’s today, the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission presented the 2024 Human Rights Award to Charlie Murphy, a community advocate and leader. A biography of the recipient can be found in the backgrounder below.

The Human Rights Award is presented annually in celebration of International Human Rights Day. It recognizes an individual who has made and/or continues to make a meaningful contribution to advancing and furthering human rights in Newfoundland and Labrador. This year’s recipient received an original photograph by Grenfell Visual Arts student, Ernest Boateng.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission recognizes all those who nominated individuals for the 2024 Human Rights Award.

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Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission

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Media contact
Hilary P. Hennessey
Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission
709-729-5644
hilaryhennessey@gov.nl.ca

BACKGROUNDER

2024 Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Award Recipient
Charlie Murphy (he/him/they/them) is a community leader, advocate, and creative professional originally from what is colonially known as Nova Scotia, but has called St. John’s home for the past 15 years. He’s dedicated himself to building a more inclusive, supportive, and sustainable community through his work in the nonprofit and social impact sectors. As a graphic designer, he utilized his skills to raise the profile of local organizations, helping secure funding and amplify voices within underserved communities. He believes that collaboration, empathy, and openness are key to building a sustainable future where everyone can thrive. They’ve worked with local and national organizations in supporting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians gaining access to resources with a focus around 2SLGBTQIA+ and sexual health.

He is currently serving as the provincial board rep for the Enchante Network and has been a part of PFLAG St. John’s for nearly 13 years as a peer support co-facilitator. He has worked with sexual health organizations like CBRC and served as the executive director of Quadrangle NL, the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial 2SLGBTQIA+ community centre. Charlie has supported initiatives that have had a lasting impact, such as helping to secure $10,000 scholarships for four youth pursuing post-secondary education through PFLAG Canada. As a co-founder of Raise Up Fundraising, he helped raise and distribute nearly $40,000 to nonprofits and charities working with underserved communities across the province. Some of the groups supported include the REAL Program, Trans Youth NL (formerly known as Parents Trans and Gender Diverse Kids NL), Western Pride, Safe Alliance, the AIDS Committee of NL, and the NL Stuttering Association. He’s also been influential in bringing inclusive events such as Drag Storytime to the province, with the first one happening in St. John’s in September 2017, with Raise Up Fundraising. While also co-creating the former organizations main fundraiser known as Drag Bingo in 2016, which has since been passed onto Quadrangle as their major fundraising event. As a co-founder of Quadrangle NL, he’s played a pivotal role in transforming a long-held community dream of a dedicated 2SLGBTQIA+ space into a thriving reality. What began as a conversation among their friends in 2012 evolved into a steadfast push for the Newfoundland and Labrador government to recognize the critical need for dedicated 2SLGBTQIA+ programs and services through a provincial hub.

In 2015, through Charlie’s ability to bring people together, the organization gained charitable status in late 2019, making history as Quadrangle NL is the first 2SLGBTQIA+ solely mandated charity of the province. Through his leadership, the organization gained its first funding around COVID relief in 2020, followed by federal funding in 2021 through the Government of Canada’s LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund. Since then, the organization has flourished, opening its first physical location and establishing a range of core programs, including counselling, chosen family dinners, peer support, the distribution of visibility items and providing a much-needed space for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Before the end of 2023 they were a leader in securing core-funding of $890,000 over four years from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. Charlie’s work is a testament to the power of persistence and community-driven change.

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