A SOGI Misinformation: Can You Stop It? Campaign
Hate thrives in the shadows of misinformation, eroding trust and weakening democracy. Online falsehoods spread at lightning speed. Algorithms amplify outrage. Conflict profiteers benefit from division. Many communities, facing the harms of oppression, are left vulnerable to manipulation, stereotypes, and fear. The consequences are real: discrimination, distrust, and violence.
But what if we could reclaim those words and reshape them into something beautiful?
🌈 TRANSFORM THE WORDS is a collective, community-led art installation that does just that.
Spearheaded by Advocacy Canada and funded by the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, it brings together This Space, The Bridge Youth and Family Services/Etcetera, Free Parent Hugs Okanagan, arc programs, BGC Okanagan, The Foundry, CMHA Kelowna, Aesthetiks Lab, South Okanagan Similkameen Pride, Kelowna Bayanihan Filipino Community, Queer Craft Club Kelowna, and the Okanagan Regional Library — community amplifiers committed to creating safer, more inclusive communities.
Transform the Words invites participants to gather and discuss real online statements about sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) – whether accurate, affirming, harmful, misinformed, and everything in between – from all sides of the 2SLGBTQIA+ spectrum, and transform these into origami cranes.
Why Cranes?
In Japanese tradition, cranes symbolise longevity, fidelity, and good fortune. After World War II, they became global emblems of peace and healing, inspired by Sadako Sasaki, the young girl who folded 1,000 cranes while battling leukemia caused by the Hiroshima bombing.
This project is more than art. The act of folding is meditative, channeling intention into each crease. It is calm advocacy. A ritual that transforms misinformation about SOGI into something meaningful. Each crane becomes a symbol of peace, hope, and shared responsibility for the words we choose and the information we spread.
This initiative challenges the “scare script”, that cycle of labeling fear, and anger that deepens division, not with loud arguments or shaming, but by inviting people to pause, read, reflect, and engage.
Transforming words into paper cranes enables people of different, even opposing mindsets to walk together and hold conversations without raising our voices. In doing so, we discover talents and qualities that can unite us in building a more humane society.
The STOP method
The campaign is paired with education on STOP, the B.C. Human Rights Commissioner’s campaign against disinformation:
S – Share only when sure. Pause before posting.
T – Track down the truth. Seek reliable sources, even beyond your comfort zone.
O – Outsmart the outrage. Focus on shared ground, not winning arguments.
P – Poke at the point of view. Reframe controversy into shared values: compassion, justice, truth.
Together, these steps empower people to pause, reflect, and act responsibly in the digital age.
Source: Misinformation: Can you STOP it? | BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner
The Installation
These origami cranes do not stand alone.
Through the collective efforts of community members and partner organizations, hundreds of cranes come together to form a rainbow curtain — arranged in the colours of the Pride flag.
Each crane carries a message. Together, they create a powerful visual expression of our shared commitment to truth, learning, and care.
This installation becomes a collective chorus of cranes — holding space for empathy, justice, and reflection. It invites a form of calm advocacy that reminds us:
- We are radically equal, worthy of unconditional love.
- Discrimination has no place in our shared world.
- Two-way communication can bridge divides, even when perspectives differ.
We choose creativity and compassion over chaotic conflicts and confrontations. Imagine a curtain of hundreds of cranes, each one bearing your story, your reflection, your questions, and your commitment to a more informed and compassionate community.
The installation will be displayed at the Downtown Kelowna Library and will be officially unveiled on April 30, 2026.
The Desired Shift
Transform the Words is the first of many art projects urging participants to become peacemakers: to love without compromising core beliefs, to protect communities from manipulation, and to rebuild trust among neighbours.
Pluralism, the joy of differences, the strength of crossing boundaries, is the vision. Folding cranes together is pluralism, and community organizing in action.
Together, we can help stop the spread of misinformation and build more collective ways of being and learning. Each crane is a reminder that we can choose compassion over fear, truth over myths & misinformation, and connection over division.
About Advocacy Canada
Advocacy Canada aims to foster unity and amplify the voices of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and their allies and drive transformative change on vital issues with enduring impact by creating and supporting ways for the community to feel safe and experience belonging.
We amplify voices, support community-led initiatives, and advocate for safer, more inclusive spaces through education, storytelling, and systems change.
We acknowledge that our work takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Syilx/Okanagan people, and we are committed to ongoing learning and action rooted in respect and decolonization.
For more information, please contact us.