Through her tireless efforts to distribute condoms and mixed blessings in bars and cafés, Sister C has become a fixture of Vancouver's gay community. She is the best proof there is that we are all sisters under the skin, and that safer sex can be habit-forming.

Garry has been invaluable in helping us recruit participants for the Vanguard Project. Many of the people Sister C has succeeded in recruiting for this study are from such hard-to-reach populations as ethnocultural communities, street-involved youth and sex trade workers. Without their inclusion, our findings would not be as representative of the diversity within the gay community.

Young gay and bisexual men are the primary focus of Sister C's outreach efforts, but through her work in the community she also reaches lesbians, straight men and women, street youth, sex trade workers and the transgendered.

She offers information and support regarding HIV transmission and testing, and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS (particularly the newly diagnosed who may not yet be accessing services).

In the course of her outreach, Sister C encounters not only people who have concerns about their sexual health, but also people with relationship problems, mood disorders and mental illness. As a mental health counsellor by day, Garry has the training and experience to offer street-level counselling and referrals for such people, including crisis intervention and suicide prevention.

Outreach Efforts:

At least twice a week Sister C visits most of Vancouver's gay bars, nightclubs and coffee shops, where she distributes condoms, water-based lubricant and resource referral information.

Her regular route includes the Odyssey, Numbers, Celebrities, the Dufferin, the Royal, the Edge and Hamburger Mary's, and sometimes includes the Denman Station and Chuck's Pub. She also makes a point of doing outreach at community events and fundraisers.

Sister C also has a weekly queer comedy show at the Dufferin, into which she incorporated supportive messages and safer sex demonstrations on stage. Other drag queens regularly invite her to appear as a guest in their shows at the Odyssey, Celebrities and Doll & Penny's.

Workshops and Fundraisers:

Local community-based agencies often invite Sister C to speak. She has conducted workshops with Pride UBC (formerly GLB-UBC), the GLC youth group ("Gab"), the East-Side Youth Drop-in at the Brittania Community Centre ("Queerlings"), Prime Timers, and Garry's own employer, Greater Vancouver Mental Health Services (GVMHS).

Sister C is also frequently invited to host fundraising events and to facilitate community forums, such as the "(We Are) Family Feud" Community Forum presented by AIDS Vancouver's Man to Man Program; the "ManSex" Community Forum presented by AIDS Vancouver Island; the "Bad Habits" fundraiser for the Rainbow Band and International Women's Day; and the volunteer appreciation event for The Centre (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Centre). She also hosted AIDS Vancouver's appreciation dinner for the International Community Forum at the XI International Conference on AIDS.

When not doing outreach, Sister C can often be found volunteering for events such as Gay Pride Day and the BC AIDS Conference.

Community Partnerships:

While she sees herself as an independent advocate of sexual health and safety, Sister C works in partnership with a number of community-based and commercial agencies, including the local bar owners, the Vanguard Project, AIDS Vancouver's Man to Man Program, and the Ministry of Health's Bute Street Clinic ("Safe Company").

Since June of 1995, Sister C has been recruiting participants for the Vanguard Project. Her image has been featured on two condom packages produced by the Vanguard Project in cooperation with the Loop - for which she wrote a monthly column called "Sister C's Section" - and Bad Boys (VPI of Canada) - for which she offers a safer sex telephone information resource. This is a service which people can access from the privacy of their own homes, which is particularly useful for accessing hard-to-reach populations such as sexual minority youth, ethnocultural communities, bisexuals, closeted men and suburbanites.

Media coverage:

In the summer of 1996, Sister C was the subject of a CBC television documentary which aired on The National, and was featured in television and print media for Reuters International. She has also been featured on OutLook (formerly Prism TV) on Roger's Cable, and the Coming Out Show on Co-op Radio.

Unsung Hero: THIS SISTER'S PAVING OUR ROAD WITH CONDOMS!

This article appeared in the Loop in November, 1995.

We may live in what many consider "a large timber village," but Vancouver has been blessed with Sister C. Although not from the Vatican, she is our own Ambassador of Safe Sex and Disciple of Good Will. Since 1991 she has been known as a mad nun on the prowl spreading the message of safe and responsible sex to the gay community. Her character came to life while performing at the Gandydancer in a performance called "Christian Women in the Church of the Poison Mind."

If you are in a club, coffee house or restaurant and she's there, you can't miss her! She frolics through the crowd, entertains the masses, hands out condoms and always takes confessions from bad boys and girls. Sister C started carrying condoms and taking her act on the road after losing four close friends to the holocaust. Instead of mournfully hiding, the good sister decided to fight back.

The crusade began with her toting a few condoms to the bars to give friends, but exploded into her now carrying pursefulls for everyone. Her "condom" runs became so popular that the staff at the Underground, her friend Karen at Celebrities and the generous nurses at Safe Company began stacking her up before and during the runs. As the popularity of her runs has increased, so has the need for help in getting her message out. Lately, she has been working with the Vanguard Project, and friends are helping her with everything from costumes to performances and moral support.

When asked where she gets the courage and the initiative to continue her work, she said that "Whenever I encounter a hurdle, I just remember one of my friends who I can't call up to chat with, or do a show with, or ever talk to again except in my head. I know there is nothing so large that I cannot go over, under, around, or through. AIDS won't go away by prayer alone. This is my part for now."

Frequenting many an evening at all of the local clubs has brought her into contact with literally thousands, and only the Pope knows how many lives she has saved. Our habits are off as we salute Sister C as one of our Unsung Heroes.