Shawn Syms (born 1970) is a Canadian writer and activist on LGBT issues and other aspects of progressive politics based in Toronto, Ontario. From 1988 until 1992, he was one of the editors and publishers of Rites, a Canadian monthly magazine of queer history, politics and culture. Syms’s work for Rites included political and cultural analysis that was referenced in such books as The Lesbian and Gay Studies Readerand Global Sports Sponsorship, and reprinted in the respected left-of-centre LGBT weekly Gay Community News. During that time, Syms was also active in the political organization AIDS Action NOW!, which fought for access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.