Gerry Rogers (born 1956) is a

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documentary filmmaker and politician. She was leader of the

Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party The Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) is a social democratic political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in 1961 as the successor to the ...

from 2018 until 2019. She served in the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Building in St. Jo ...

as NDP MHA for the electoral district of St. John’s Centre from 2011 to 2019."NDP Leader Lorraine Michael re-elected"

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, October 11, 2011. She became the party's leader after winning the April 2018 leadership election. She resigned as party leader prior to the 2019 provincial election and did not seek re-election.

Background

Rogers was born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, to Leo Rogers from St. John's and Philomena Coles from

Port Saunders Port Saunders is a community of 674 located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port Saunders had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a ...

. Leo joined the army, and the family moved to

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, then to

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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 The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

's Studio D, the only state funded women’s filmmaking unit in the world. Rogers made films with Studio D for 10 years. 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 Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

. 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. Openly lesbian, Rogers is the partner of social worker and businessperson

Peg Norman Peg Norman (born 1964 in Gambo, Newfoundland) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, best known for her role in the film '' My Left Breast'', which documented her partner Gerry Rogers' battle with breast cancer. Background Previously a social w ...

. 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 The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives, formerly known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1973 as the Canadian Gay Liberation Movement Archives. The ArQuives acquires, preserves, and pro ...

' National Portrait Collection in 2003. 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.

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. She was the first openly gay politician ever elected to the provincial legislature. She was re-elected in the 2015 provincial election."Full list of winners in Newfoundland and Labrador election"

, November 30, 2015. In 2017, Rogers announced her intentions to run for leader of the provincial NDP, following the resignation of

Earle McCurdy Earle McCurdy (born 1950) is a former leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party and a former labour leader in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union from 1993 to 2014, succeeding fo ...

. At the leadership convention on April 8, 2018, Rogers was elected leader with two-thirds of the vote. Rogers is the first openly LGBT person to lead a political party in Newfoundland and Labrador. On February 12, 2019, Rogers announced she would be stepping down as leader and not seeking re-election in Newfoundland's upcoming election. On March 5, 2019,

Alison Coffin Alison Coffin (born 1970) is a Canadian politician, who was formerly the leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP). She is a former member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. In her professional life, ...

was acclaimed as NDP leader. Rogers retired from the House of Assembly at its dissolution for the 2019 provincial election, which was held on May 16."Here's the list of the winning candidates in the 2019 N.L. election"

Newfoundland and Labrador, May 17, 2019.

Electoral record

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NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

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Films

*''2009 Ferron: Girl on a Road'' *''2000 My Left Breast'' *''1997 Kathleen Shannon: On Film, Feminism and Other Dreams'' *''1994 The Vienna Tribunal'' *1991 ''Safer for Women, Safer for Everyone'' — Director (Documentary, Council of Ontario Universities) *''1990 After the Montreal Massacre'' *1988 ''Faithful Women Assistant'' — Director (7 x 1 hour doc series, NFB/VISION TV) *1987 ''To a Safer Place'' — Producer (Documentary Series, NFB) *1986-87 ''Children of War'' ''Double voix/First Take/Double Take'' ''Thin Dreams'' ''Beyond Memory/Nouvelle memoire'' ''Les enfants de la guerre'' — Program Producer (Documentaries, NFB) *1987 ''The Impossible Takes A Little Longer'' *1987 ''Le vent dans les voiles'' *1987 ''Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief'' *1987 ''L’Avenir entre nos mains'' — Program Producer (Documentaries, NFB) *1986 ''Sylvie’s Story'' *1986 ''A Safe Distance'' *1986 ''Si jamais tu pars'' *1986 ''J’Osais pas rien dire'' *1986 ''Fallait que ca change'' — Program Producer/(Documentaries, NFB) *1984 ''Head Start: Meeting the Computer Challenge'' *1984 ''L’Ordinateur en tete'' — Program Producer (Documentaries, NFB) *1983 ''Attention Women At Work'' *1983 ''Femmes au travail'' — Program Producer (Documentaries, NFB) *1983 ''Moving On'' — Program Producer/Producer (Documentaries NFB)

Themes

Breast Cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, LGBTQ+ Community, LGBTQ+ Activism, Violence Against Women.

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'' * ''2001, Won Gemini Award for 'Best History/Biography Documentary Program * ''2001, Won 'Audience Award' at Dallas OUT TAKES Lesbian and Gay Film Festival'' * ''2001, Won 'Best Documentary' at Dallas OUT TAKES Lesbian and Gay Film Festival'' * ''2001, Won 'Outstanding Direction' at Dallas OUT TAKES Lesbian and Gay Film Festival'' * ''2001, Won 'Best Canadian Film or Video' at

Inside Out Film and Video Festival Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

'' * ''2002, Won Audience Award for 'Best Documentary Film' at Boulder Gay and Lesbian Film Festival'' * ''Leadership for Women’s Health in Atlantic Canada'' * ''Rogers was a 1995 Recipient of the CTV Fellowship for Banff and a resident of the Canadian Film Centre, Writing and Producing for TV program.'' * ''1999, completed the Women In The Director’s Chair program in Banff.''

References

External links

Augusta Productions

Gerry Rogers
at Queer Media Database Canada-Quebec {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Gerry 1956 births Living people 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women film directors LGBT film directors LGBT producers Female Canadian political party leaders Lesbian politicians Canadian LGBT people in provincial and territorial legislatures Film directors from Newfoundland and Labrador Leaders of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP/CCF Newfoundland and Labrador political party leaders Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party MHAs Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Women MHAs in Newfoundland and Labrador People from Corner Brook National Film Board of Canada people Canadian Film Centre alumni Canadian expatriates in Germany Activists from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian women documentary filmmakers