Data Source

Archives

Part Of

Anthony Mohamed fonds

Description Level

Fonds

Material Type

Moving image (electronic)

Graphic material (electronic)

Electronic records (textual records)

Date Range

1990- 2019

Fonds Number

F0184

Physical Description

49.13GB

History / Biographical

AIDS activist, equity worker, and Indo-Carribean LGBTQ leader Anthony Mohamed was born on September 24, 1967 in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. In March 1969, Mohamed and his family relocated to Toronto. From an early age, faith played a central role in Mohamed’s life and has heavily informed his activism. He was involved in the church youth group, helped with the kids in the congregation and operated the sound system. At the age of 13, Mohamed was asked to leave the church when the pastor found out that he was gay. As a result of this, he came out to his parents. He soon found out that the church deacons had asked the pastor to leave upon hearing what had happened to him. Mohamed’s lifelong LGBTQ activism and work in equity began at an early age. While enrolled in high school, Mohamed was selected based on his leadership qualities to attend Camp Kandalore, an anti-racist and equity camp. At Camp Kandalore, he met counsellors and gay activists Tim McCaskell and Richard Fung. Mohamed was also approached by Olivia Chow, then School Board Trustee, to speak to the Toronto District School Board as a LGBTQ student representative. This was organized in attempts to get sexual orientation listed as protected grounds in the school board’s rights and responsibilities handbook. At the age of 16 or 17 Mohamed was attacked by two skinheads on Yonge Street. The two men were arrested and tried. Mohamed eventually joined the Pink Patrol. In search of young LGBTQ peers, Mohamed joined the Lesbian and Gay Youth of Toronto at the 519. He eventually took on a role with the LGYT steering committee and facilitated the coming out group. While involved with the LGYT, Mohamed volunteered at the Gay Community Dance Committee events. Soon after, Mohamed joined ZAMI, the lesbian and gay Black and West Indian group and Khush: South Asian Gay Men of Toronto. As the AIDS crisis emerged, Mohamed started volunteering with the AIDS Committee of Toronto. He also began volunteering through the Toronto Public Health’s HIV/AIDS peer education program. In 1989, Mohamed was hired on as the South Asian AIDS Coalition, later known as the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention’s first full time coordinator. At the time, he had been involved in South Asian LGBTQ organizing through Khush and had some experience around HIV/AIDS education. The following year, he became ASAAP’s first Executive Director, a role he stayed in until 1993. In 1995, Mohamed began working at St. Michael’s Hospital in Equity and Community Engagement. He has been in this role for over 25 years.

Scope and Content

The fonds contains records pertaining to the personal life and work of AIDS activist, equity worker and Indo-Carribean LGBTQ leader Anthony Mohamed. It includes records collected by Mohamed relating to Khush and the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention. It also includes an 2019 interview with Mohamed conducted by The ArQuives’ Community Outreach Coordinator, Jennifer Aja Fernandes. The fonds contains ASAAP brochures, press clippings relating to ASAAP and Mohamed’s work, programmes, the Khush Khayal newsletter and audio and video files from the interview with Mohamed.

Conservation

Many of the physical records were digitized and returned to Anthony Mohamed.

Less detail