Two Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) students are being recognized for demonstrating exceptional youth pride leadership.
Destiny Lang and Liam Ruel were named Emerging Youth Leaders in Sher Vancouver’s 2024 January Award, which highlights youth who exhibit outstanding commitment, leadership and advocacy for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Destiny Lang
Lang is a Pride Peer Leader at KPU and a third-year Bachelor of Design in Fashion and Technology student at the Wilson School of Design. They previously served as the Queer Students Representative for the Kwantlen Student Association, where they successfully advocated to add gender-affirming care coverage to its health and dental plan. Lang has previously been recognized for their advocacy efforts with KPU’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award and Pride Advocacy Student Award.
"While I am incredibly honoured to be recognized for my 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy by Sher Vancouver, knowing that I can make tangible, life-changing improvements to the lives of individuals and the community as a whole is rewarding in itself,” says Lang. “In light of our current socio-political climate, it is essential that we keep us safe — we amplify our queer elders, we protect our queer youth and we take care of each other as we fight for a better future."
Liam Ruel
Ruel’s advocacy began at KPU, where he co-founded the university’s Pride Society and worked as a Pride Peer Leader. As a researcher, he is involved in a study at KPU that is exploring how to improve the educational experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ post-secondary students. Ruel, who is a two-time recipient of KPU’s Pride Advocacy Student Award, recently graduated from the university’s Bachelor of Arts in Psychology program with a minor in counselling psychology.
“In what's been a very uncertain time for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, and trans rights in particular, it brought me a lot of joy to read about all the incredible work the other award winners are doing in their communities,” says Ruel. “While there's still a tremendous of work to be done, I'm very proud of the progress we've made at KPU, and I hope it's laid a foundation for future advocacy and community building.”