Michael Hendricks, the Canadian gay rights advocate whose legacy spans HIV/AIDS-era remembrance and a landmark marriage equality fight in Quebec, has died aged 84.

Hendricks died via medical assistance on 18 July after living with a degenerative lung disease, and is survived by his husband, René Leboeuf, as reported by Fugues.

During the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, the couple fought for LGBTQ+ rights and worked with other activists and the City of Montreal to create a permanent memorial to the people of Quebec who had died of AIDS. Their efforts resulted in Parc de l’Espoir, built in Montreal’s Gay Village.

At around age 80, Hendricks helped organise community opposition to proposed changes to Parc de l’Espoir. The local authority later abandoned its proposed changes.

Quebec marriage equality milestone

Hendricks and Leboeuf also cemented themselves as part of Canada’s gay history as the first same-sex couple to be legally married in Quebec, marrying on 1 April, 2004 after being together for 30 years.

The couple sued the Quebec government in November 2001, arguing that the refusal to perform same-sex marriage violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In September 2002, the Quebec Superior Court ruled that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples went against the Charter, and confirmed those laws would end in Quebec in two years.

The couple appealed the decision in January 2004, noting that similar rulings in Ontario and British Columbia had seen the same-sex marriage ban ended immediately.

The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled in their favour on March 19 the same year, declaring same-sex marriage licenses must be issued immediately. 

Speaking after they legally got married, Hendricks, then 62, said: “It’s marvelous. We just had our big moment. Everything changes. We’re now recognised as a couple – socially and even to ourselves. It’s a commitment that’s unbreakable.”