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Enza Anderson (born 1964) is a Canadian journalist, media personality, Ontario politician, and
transgender rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...
activist.


Early life and education

Anderson was born in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.
Assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
, she grew up in Toronto, living near
Jane and Finch Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood located in the northwest end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of North York. Centred at the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, the area is roughly bounded by Highway 400 to the west, ...
with an Italian-Catholic father. She initially attended
York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
to study
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
but left due to a combination of lack of interest in the subject and her mother becoming sick. After a one-year hiatus, she attended
Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate and ...
where she studied civil engineering and technologies.


Early career

After graduation she worked as the quality control supervisor of a concrete pipe-manufacturing plant, but was laid off after five years. She then worked part-time as a bartender at Woody's. In 1995 she got a job at a hair salon on
Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial Hi ...
, which called for her to hand out flyers for the salon to pedestrians in drag. It was during that job that a photo of her kissing then-mayor
Mel Lastman Melvin Douglas Lastman (March 9, 1933 – December 11, 2021) was a Canadian businessman and politician who served as the third mayor of North York from 1973 to 1997 and 62nd mayor of Toronto from 1998 to 2003. He was the first person to serve ...
ended up on the front cover of the ''
Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'', marking the start of her career in the public eye. Anderson wrote a social column, "The Hot Ticket", for Canada’s highest circulated free daily newspaper, ''
Metro Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which ...
''. She also divides her work schedule at the
Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
assisting clients as a financial services manager.


Politics

In 2000, Anderson ran for
mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...
. Although the eventual winner of that campaign, Mel Lastman, won over 80% of the vote, Anderson garnered 13,585 votes, placing third behind Lastman and
Tooker Gomberg Tooker Gomberg (August 12, 1955 – March 4, 2004) was a Canadian politician and environmental activist. A native of Montreal, Quebec, a graduate of Herzliah High School and a liberal-arts graduate of Hampshire College (1980), Gomberg founded one ...
. She was one of the few candidates besides Lastman, Gomberg and
Ben Kerr Ben Kerr (1930 – June 17, 2005) was a Canadians, Canadian author, broadcaster, musician and perennial candidate, who was most famous as one of Toronto, Ontario's quirky street performers. Background Kerr was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and ...
to gain widespread name recognition in the race, even though her campaign largely consisted of standing on downtown street corners with a handmade placard bearing the slogan "A Super City Deserves a Super Model!". In 2002, Anderson ran for the leadership of the
Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
. She was unable to raise the $25,000 required by the party to register as a candidate, and dropped out of the race before the convention which ultimately chose
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
. In the 2003 municipal election in Toronto, Anderson ran for a city council seat against incumbent
Kyle Rae Kyle Rae (born January 23, 1954) is a Canadian consultant and former politician. Rae was a member of Toronto City Council from 1991 to 2010, representing Ward 6 in the old city from 1991 to 1997 and Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale following the ...
and placed second, though she was not considered to be a serious threat against him. She ran and lost in the same ward in the 2010 municipal election.


Media

Anderson has a column in the Toronto newspaper ''
Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
'', covering local entertainment and party gossip since 2004, after she pitched the idea of her doing a column to the editor-in-chief, bringing a mocked-up version of one of her articles complete with ''Metro'' banner. She was also a fully clothed guest interviewer in the male version of ''
Naked News ''Naked News'' is a Canadian news and entertainment program owned by Naked Broadcasting Network. It features nude female news presenters reading news bulletins derived from news wires. The show's production studio is located in Toronto. There a ...
''. She was the subject of a 2003 documentary by Carlos Valencia named ''A Man in a Dress'', and was also interviewed speaking about her
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
on
Vision TV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a company ...
's ''Credo''. In 2015 Enza was the feature of her second documentary "...When The Bullying Ends" which was selected to screen at the 2016 Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival in India. Directed by queer filmmaker Raymond Helkio tells the story her work as an anti-bullying and queer rights activist. Anderson was chosen as grand marshal of Toronto's 2008
Pride Parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
.


Community activism

Anderson served as a board member of the Church and Wellesley Neighbourhood Police Liaison Committee. Her two years as Pride Committee Co-chair of Fundraising helped raise record amounts needed to cover festival costs. She put in many fundraising hours for the AIDS Committee of Toronto and its signature fundraising event Fashion Cares. Anderson helped bring awareness of support groups like the People With AIDS Foundation and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered Youth Support Line.Enza "Supermodel" Anderson
, Halton Pride
She also served on the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations. She also serves on the LGBT Consultative Committee-Toronto Police Service.


References


External links

*
Enza Anderson - Field Reporter
for NakedNewsDailyMale {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Enza 1964 births Living people Canadian columnists Canadian LGBT people in municipal politics Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian women journalists Journalists from Toronto LGBT journalists from Canada LGBT rights activists from Canada Ontario municipal politicians Politicians from Toronto Seneca College alumni LGBT media personalities Transgender politicians Transgender women Canadian transgender writers Canadian women columnists Writers from Toronto Canadian media personalities Canadian women non-fiction writers