Gerry Rogers Explained

Gerry Rogers
Birth Place:Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada
Residence:St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Term Start:April 8, 2018
Term End:March 5, 2019
Predecessor:Lorraine Michael
Successor:Alison Coffin
Assembly1:Newfoundland and Labrador House of
Term Start1:October 27, 2011
Term End1:April 17, 2019
Predecessor1:Shawn Skinner
Successor1:Jim Dinn
Occupation:documentary filmmaker, social worker
Spouse:Peg Norman (m. 2017)

Gerry Rogers (born 1956) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and politician. She was leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party from 2018 until 2019. She served in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as NDP MHA for the electoral district of St. John’s Centre from 2011 to 2019.[1] She became the party's leader after winning the April 2018 leadership election.[2] She resigned as party leader prior to the 2019 provincial election and did not seek re-election.[3] [4]

Background

Rogers was born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, to Leo Rogers from St. John's and Philomena Coles from Port Saunders. Leo joined the army, and the family moved to Montreal, then to Toronto, Winnipeg and Germany. They eventually returned to St. John’s in 1979, where Rogers completed a bachelor of social work at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Rogers worked at the St. John’s Women’s Centre, where she helped establish the first transition house for battered women.

In 1982, she moved to Montreal to make documentary films at the National Film Board's Studio D, the only state funded women’s filmmaking unit in the world. Rogers made films with Studio D for 10 years.[5] In 1992, she returned to St. John’s and founded Augusta Productions, and directed several international award-winning films including My Left Breast, a documentary about her own battle with breast cancer.[6] [7] [8] Augusta Productions produces low-budget, POV, activist documentaries bringing viewers to the hearts and lives of people from every nook and cranny of society. The films work to uncover the joy and strength and resilience of people in difficult situations, celebrating and broadcasting their voices.[9]

Openly lesbian, Rogers is the partner of social worker and businessperson Peg Norman.[10] In honour of her role as a significant builder of LGBT culture and history in Canada, a portrait of Rogers by artist Claire Priddle was added to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives' National Portrait Collection in 2003.[11]

Rogers became a marriage commissioner in 2005 in response to the many marriage commissioners who resigned after being told that they must perform same-sex marriages or resign from their positions.[12]

Politics

Rogers was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2011 provincial election, representing the district of St. John’s Centre as a member of the New Democratic Party.[1] [13] [14] She was the first openly gay politician ever elected to the provincial legislature.[15] She was re-elected in the 2015 provincial election.[16] [17]

In 2017, Rogers announced her intentions to run for leader of the provincial NDP, following the resignation of Earle McCurdy.[18] [19] At the leadership convention on April 8, 2018, Rogers was elected leader with two-thirds of the vote.[2] Rogers is the first openly LGBT person to lead a political party in Newfoundland and Labrador.[20]

On February 12, 2019, Rogers announced she would be stepping down as leader and not seeking re-election in Newfoundland's upcoming election.[21] On March 5, 2019, Alison Coffin was acclaimed as NDP leader.[22] Rogers retired from the House of Assembly at its dissolution for the 2019 provincial election, which was held on May 16.[23]

Electoral record

|-|NDP|Gerry Rogers|align="right"|2,569|align="right"|54.44|align="right"||-|-|}

Films

Les enfants de la guerre

— Program Producer (Documentaries, NFB)

Themes

Breast Cancer, Feminism, LGBTQ+ Community, LGBTQ+ Activism, Violence Against Women.[24]

Frequent collaborators

Kathleen Shannon, Ginny Stikeman, Terre Nash, Nicole Hubert.

Awards and honours

Portrait in the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives’ national Portrait collection, Gemini Award for My Left Breast (2001), Gold at HotDocs for My Left Breast

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nlvotes2011/story/2011/10/11/nl-michael-reelected-101.html "NDP Leader Lorraine Michael re-elected"
  2. News: Gerry Rogers new provincial NDP leader. April 8, 2018. CBC News. April 8, 2018.
  3. Web site: CBC News. Nov 25, 2020. Exuberant NDP celebrates 'new era' as it holds St. John's seats, and wins back Labrador West. May 16, 2019 . Daniel. MacEachern.
  4. Web site: NTV. 'We have the balance of power,' Alison Coffin says as NDP wins three seats. May 17, 2019. Kelly-Anne. Roberts. December 29, 2022. May 24, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190524022102/http://ntv.ca/we-have-the-balance-of-power-alison-coffin-says-as-ndp-wins-three-seats/. dead.
  5. Web site: Augusta Productions » About ● Contact. 2019-03-26. 2019-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20190427131512/http://www.augustaproductions.com/about/. dead.
  6. Web site: Survivor appeals for legal standing at breast cancer inquiry. CBC News. September 20, 2007. 2018-05-14.
  7. News: Earlier retesting could have saved lives: cancer survivor . . October 29, 2008 . September 17, 2011.
  8. News: Three Dollar Bill: A whole lotta Rosie . . January 12, 2006 . September 17, 2011 . Richard Burnett . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230937/http://hour.ca/2006/01/12/a-whole-lotta-rosie-2/ . 3 March 2016 . dead.
  9. Web site: Augusta Productions. 2019-03-26.
  10. News: Newfoundland shows support for LGBTQ community in wake of controversial town vote The Star. The Toronto Star. 29 April 2018.
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20170321012048/http://clga.ca/npc/subject/78 Gerry Rogers
  12. News: Still-active human rights case speaks to lasting homophobia in Canada: activists National Post. Canada. P. M. N.. National Post. 2019-02-17. en-CA. 2019-03-26.
  13. Web site: NDP celebrates historic gains. CBC News. October 11, 2011. May 21, 2019.
  14. News: Skinner, Pottle lose but most PC ministers re-elected. 25 May 2018. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 October 2011.
  15. http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2011-10-11/article-2774286/Shawn-Skinner-loses-seat-to-NDP/1 "Shawn Skinner loses seat to NDP"
  16. Web site: NDP Leader Earle McCurdy loses to Siobhan Coady. CBC News. 30 November 2015. 2 December 2015.
  17. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/provincial-election-candidates-1.3343999 "Full list of winners in Newfoundland and Labrador election"
  18. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/earle-mccurdy-ndp-leader-future-1.4296301 Earle McCurdy stepping down as provincial NDP leader
  19. News: Maher . David . Coffin, Rogers duke it out for NDP leadership . The Southern Gazette . 26 March 2018 . 25 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180326192956/http://www.southerngazette.ca/news/local/coffin-rogers-duke-it-out-for-ndp-leadership-196528/ . 26 March 2018 . dead.
  20. Web site: Gerry Rogers wins NDP leadership race. The Telegram. April 8, 2018. 2018-05-14.
  21. Web site: Gerry Rogers stepping down as NDP leader, not seeking re-election CBC News. Feb 12. CBC News · Posted. February 12. 2019 11:08 AM NT Last Updated. CBC. en. 2019-02-12.
  22. News: Alison Coffin named new leader of provincial NDP . 5 March 2019 . NTV News . 5 March 2019 . 6 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043445/http://ntv.ca/alison-coffin-named-new-leader-of-provincial-ndp/ . dead .
  23. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/candidates-may-16-nl-election-1.5139722 "Here's the list of the winning candidates in the 2019 N.L. election"
  24. Web site: Search. Canada. National Film Board of. National Film Board of Canada. en. 2019-03-26.

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