Vancouver's 2SLGBTQIA+ Hub: Davie Village
The neighbourhood's history, significance, and culture today.
Introduction
Davie Village Flags, Vancouver
The West End & Davie Street, Vancouver
Map Legend: Pride Flag — The West End Blue pointer— Davie Street
For many years, the Davie Village, more broadly the West End, has been home to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Vancouver. What makes this neighbourhood so important is its rich history, its queer-friendly businesses, and major events such as the annual Vancouver Pride Parade.
As we investigate the brief history of the neighborhood, it is clear that things haven't always been easy. For example, businesses in this area have worked hard to continue operating and through this we see a type of resilience which creates bonds between the community and its residents and visitors. Essentially, people of the community have created safe spaces within the neighborhood by continuing to show their support to these businesses, some of which will be explored later.
Just above this text we can see a portion of Vancouver centered on the map which makes up the West End and more specifically highlights Davie Street—this is meant to provide a visual of the topological space surrounding the community.
Section two, which is titled as ‘A Brief History,’ will explore a few important moments in time which have ultimately shaped the neighborhood. The third section, titled ‘Throughout the Years,’ I will discuss some of the community’s most influential businesses and how they came to be. Lastly, in section four, titled ‘Current Culture,’ I will introduce you to one of today’s most looked forward to events in Vancouver: The Pride Parade. All in all, each section will highlight different aspects of geographical elements such as: time & space, human systems, and environment & society.
Through events such as the pride parade, through businesses which accommodate the queer community of Vancouver, and through its rich history, each geographical element has played a role in creating the hub that it is today. Additionally, the neighborhood’s elements have both helped shape and have been shaped by its residents and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
A Brief History
Exactly 40 years after the first gay equal-rights protest took place at the Vancouver courthouse, signalling the arrival of the gay liberation movement, Davie Street continues to be the fight's most powerful symbol. The Village, as it is now known, is still the place to be as a new self-identified gay person" (Lee, 2011).
Jim Deva was a 2SLGBTQIA+ activist and founder of Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium. He was a mentor to many and played a big role in shaping the Davie Village. He now has an area dedicated to him called Deva Plaza, located at Davie and Bute Street [pictured].
(Thomas, 2014 & Lee, 2011)
(Photo credits: Dennis Sylvester Hurd. Jim Deva Plaza. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/2meDBWj )
A Timeline
1971
Gay Alliance Toward Equality Protest at the courthouse
1973
Vancouver's first pride event & picnic
1978
Canada's first pride parade held in Vancouver
1981
First municipal pride parade in Vancouver
(Lee, 2011 & Dutton, 2017 & UBC, 2022)
The map on this slide highlights the location of the Deva Plaza (with blue pointer), in memorial of Jim Deva.
"We used to march around Nelson Park...and the police used to gather along the perimeter of the park and tell us that if we marched on the street we would be arrested" (Oliv as cited in Thomas, 2006).
Nelson Park located at 1030 Bute Street remains an important space in 2SLGBTQIA+ history. It was one of the first spaces where Pride organizers started protest in Vancouver.
(Thomas, 2006)
(Photo credits: Godfrey Tait. City of Vancouver)
Throughout the Years
Little Sisters Bookstore. Broken thoughts. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/7nyPeC (left) QMUNITY at SlutWalk. Monnibo. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/9JMLv3 (middle) Xtra! newspaper. Neal Jennings. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/r9ggAb (right)
Throughout the years, residents and visitors of the Davie Village have supported its local businesses, keeping the community lively. Some of these businesses include local resource centres like Qmunity, infamous bookstores like Little Sisters Book & Art Emporium, 'Xtra!' newspaper, and clubs like The Junction and Numbers Cabaret. Each of these businesses have a unique connection to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the sense that they all have rich histories and the goal of creating safe spaces for their visitors.
For example, Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium has been a space of community and knowledge sharing since 1983 and continues to be a popular spot to purchase merchandise today.
The store's opening coincided with the first wave of an HIV/AIDS epidemic that swept Vancouver in the 1980s and quickly became a safe space where people could find information, and have discussions, about what was happening (Woo, 2016).
Community resource centres such as Qmunity have also been crucial in providing a safe space for Vancouver's 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Their main goal is to improve the lives of those who are within the community through their non-profit services. They were previously known as The Centre and were located on Bute Street. The new location is now located at Davie & Burrard.
The new location will provide office administration and multi-purpose spaces to accommodate much-needed programming, including culturally safe gatherings, workshops, counselling and educational events, details a press release from city council (Diment, 2022).
Current Culture
Vancouver Pride Parade 2023:
This year in August, Vancouver will be hosting its annual pride parade. However, there have been some changes to this year's event. To increase accessibility and inclusivity, the parade route is changing to one that is closer to public transportation. Additionally, the event will last for two days instead of one, making it easier for everyone to have a chance to attend.
2023 Pride Parade Route in Vancouver
(Vancouver Pride Society, 2023)
it's hard to imagine less than 30 years ago participants at such an event would more likely have had fruits or vegetables thrown at them, which is what happened during the first Pride parade in 1978 (Thomas, 2006).
The evolution of Vancouver's Pride Parade throughout the years is significant, because as we explored in section 2, celebrating pride hasn't always been easy.
The changes made throughout the years shows the dedication and perseverance of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
During the pandemic in 2020, the parade had to make changes to its usual in-person format and bring the festivities to the web. Although this was a massive change, the community was able to come together and adjust. Once again, showing perseverance and dedication to the community.
(Takeuchi, 2020)
(Photo credits: Tony Webster. Waving Rainbow Flag – Twin Cities Pride Parade. Wikimedia Commons)
Conclusion
Starting with the history of the Davie Village, we can see how humans, including 2SLGBTQIA+ activist Jim Deva, have shaped the earliest days of pride in Vancouver. With that being said, we can say that the village would not be what it is today without the actions and perseverance of all those involved. This represents the geographical element of time and space, which shows how the community evolved throughout the years, hence the timeline.
In the section ‘Throughout the Years’ we explored the importance of community businesses, especially highlighting how these local businesses have provided resources for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for many years. Both the business founders and the customers play an important role in keeping these businesses alive. With that being said, we can look at these businesses through the geographical lens of human systems.
Lastly, we explored the significance of the pride parade in the section ‘Current Culture’. In this section, we explored how human perseverance and community dedication has played a huge role in improving the quality and accessibility of the Vancouver Pride Parade—even throughout the pandemic, we found a way to celebrate. We also highlighted how the physical place that the events take place are important, especially in terms of inclusivity and accessibility. Through a geographical lens, we can see this as interaction between humans and the environment.
All in all, we can see with each example how humans have both shaped and have been shaped by the community which is the West End.
(Photo credits: Davie Village, Vancouver (2012). Wikimedia Commons)
