The Queering Cancer origin story
What started in 2017 as a graduate student idea has grown steadily over the years. After bringing our website to life in 2020, we incorporated as a non-profit in 2025. Throughout this journey, our mission has been rooted in supporting and collaborating with 2SLGBTQI+ people affected by cancer.
The organization was founded by three students from cancer-related backgrounds, Meghan McInnis (psycho-social oncology), Amanda Bolderston (radiation therapy), and Evan Taylor (social work). The trio met at the launch of a 2017 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant competition “Hacking the knowledge gap”. The “gap” was the lack of tailored resources, information, and support for SGD people affected by cancer.
The healthcare communications company Bird Comm supported the initial design and implementation of QC’s website and social media platforms. Mary Morgan, a lesbian living with multiple myeloma in British Columbia became the founding community partner with QC and prominent guiding voice in its aims and ethos. We were soon joined by Kim Meeking and later by additional community partners and people with lived experience, Laura Imayoshi and Tristan Bilash.
We published a paper on the development and work of QC in 2023 in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences.
In early 2025 QC was incorporated as a non-profit organization with three inaugural directors. The team is currently comprised of Kim and Amanda as co-leads, and Tristan and Laura as our community partners.
You can read more about our work and how we make a difference in our CIHR funded impact evaluation, published in 2024.