Course:CSIS200/2024/Jim Deva Plaza: The Ability to "Be Who You Are" in Safe Spaces

KEY TERMS

CBSA	Canadian Border Services Agency
de facto	In fact, in reality, in actual existence, force, or possession, as a matter of fact
LOUD Foundation	Leadership, opportunity, unity and diversity -- that's what the LOUD acronym means. And these words are the concise philosophy behind our philanthropic arm: the LOUD Foundation

INTRODUCTION

An issue that I have found for many people within the LGBTQ+ community is having a space where they are able to feel safe and welcomed, no matter their sexuality, gender, race, etc.. Safe and inclusive spaces have not been as easy to find or feel welcoming for many people in the LGBTQ+ community as many institutions and conventional healthcare spaces around the world are not fully equipped to be able to help support these people since they commonly lack health-related materials that are usually relative to the needs of LGBTQ+ people. As the Oxford English Dictionary states, a safe space is “a place or environment in which people, especially those belonging to a marginalized group, can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm."

Having a safe and inclusive space provides the community a place where all demographics are able to come together, adapt, learn, and share different ideas and perspectives with other people. Public spaces should tend to include as many people as possible to maximize its benefits and resources towards everyone, while creating a sense of community, trust, and diversity amongst all. Inclusive communities for everyone allows the process of creating spaces where all people are allowed to embody their true self. A safe space that I’ve been able to find while living in Vancouver and being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is Jim Deva Plaza, which is located in the heart of Vancouver’s Davie Village. Jim Deva Plaza has been home to many events, including musical performances, dance classes, workshops, and LGBTQ+-related events during Pride month every August.

QUEER SPACE AROUND NORTH AMERICA

Global News "The Stonewall Riots: How the gay rights movement began"

The history of queer space and activism historically changed with the Stonewall Uprising on June 28th, 1969. Although it was not the first time a gay bar has been raided by the police, the media coverage and the series of events that unfolded afterwards changed the way queer space and community has been looked at. Police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, physically and verbally harassing its patrons and tossing them out of the bar, however the patrons fought back and three nights of rioting ensued, and Stonewall is considered by many historians as the start of the gay liberation movement in North America. As Rosenbaum states, “the Stonewall Inn was the place to be for all of the socially unaccepted, it was the pinnacle of gay society in New York. Many gay activists around the United States, as well as around the world were ready to commemorate this movement that happened and included events to understand and celebrate the day of liberating gay rights. This phenomenon that has had a large public uprising has become the spark for pride parades, changes to laws, and continued support and activism towards LGBTQ+ rights. In time, the Stonewall Riots influenced people in the gay community across the country to stand up for their rights, which led to the gay pride march in 1970, acting as the first nationally planned acts of resistance by the gay community.

For Vancouver, Davie Street’s gay village only became visible in the 1970s, but the history of LGBTQ+ communities within the West End has dated back to the 1940s. Jim Deva Plaza, which is located at the intersection of Davie St. and Bute St. is an excellent example of an inclusive space that welcomes all demographics of not only Vancouverites, but also citizens from around the world. Ron Dutton, who is an archivist and founder of the B.C. Gay and Lesbian Archives, states in an interview with Places That Matter that the history of Davie Street’s gay village goes back to the 1970s where it first became visible, but the history of queer communities concentrating in the West End goes back to at least the 1940s. In the 1940s, wealthy families started to migrate over to the Vancouver neighbourhoods of Shaughnessy and Kitsilano, and from this, mansions were torn down in replacement of apartment buildings that were created for the new working class. These residents included a high percentage of young gay men, who were attracted to the West End’s affordability and anonymity at a time when homosexuality was still illegal. In 1969, homosexuality was eventually decriminalized as Bill C-150 was passed with royal assent, allowing homosexual acts between consenting adults with the passage of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Dutton explains that in the 1970s was when the proportion of gay people in the West End began to grow very rapidly. Gay bars and dance venues flourished in the village and soon enough, the neighbourhood had become a symbol for gay liberation; and, in 1999, the Davie Street Business Association created the moniker “Davie Village”.

Map of Toronto's Church-Wellesley Village

Another well-known safe queer space in Canada is the Church-Wellesley Village located in Toronto. Toronto’s gay village formed despite opposition in the 1970s by gay political leadership that argued for an assimilationist approach and that it was wrong to “ghettoize” gay populations. It includes The 519 Church Street Community Centre, which is the meeting place for a number of groups in an LGBTQ+-friendly space. This village is home to Toronto’s pride celebrations, including the largest pride parade in Canada. One thing that I will note is that Toronto’s pride celebrations are during Pride month in June, while Vancouver’s is hosted in August. Toronto’s Pride month is in June to help correlate with the Stonewall Uprising anniversary. Vancouver’s, on the other hand, is in August because of the gay liberation protests that occurred, sparking the start of Pride movements in 1973, which included a picnic, art exhibits, and a rally for gay rights, and having its first “unofficial” Pride parade in August 1978. It would not be until 1981 that there would be an “official” Pride Parade, where the new residents of the West end came together as a community to organize one of Vancouver’s first pride parades in 1981. After years of being turned down by the city, a new municipal government was elected under the leadership of Mike Harcourt who followed through on election promises to the queer community for a proclamation and parade permit. In the lead up to the parade, hate literature was handed out in Burnaby and Port Moody and the queer community faced heightened harassment but that didn’t stop more than 1,500 attendees from showing up in support.

JIM DEVA

Jim Deva

Jim Deva was a well-known activist and member of Vancouver’s LGBTQ+ community, but unfortunately, he died at 65 years-old in an accident in his backyard. Jim was the co-owner of Little Sister’s Book & Art Emporium with his partner Bruce Smyth, which was a bookstore that would sell books and magazines emboldening generations of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. They were warned to let go of any shipments that get seized by the CBSA as challenging Customs would only bring unwanted attention to the store as they sold queer reading materials. After two years of opening their doors on April 15th, 1983, the CBSA was regularly targeting shipments headed to the bookstore, which ended up leaving their shelves increasingly bare and jeopardizing the ability for the bookstore to run as a business. As activists of the LGBTQ+ community, Deva and Smyth were not able to run their business without stock on their shelves as shipments kept repeatedly getting seized, so on Dec. 10th, 1986, they decided to publicly speak out and fight after their Christmas inventory was seized. Taking the CBSA to court sparked attention all across Canada as they were fighting for their business and the LGBTQ+ community against government censorship and homophobia.

Entrance to Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium

Jim Deva was someone who became a mentor and an icon for people in order to fight for what is right, break the silence, speak the truth, and to live as freely as you can. He stood up for freedom of speech for the community, and established a safe space and de facto community centre for many people to find support, advice, friends, and information. He strived to support everyone who was trying to find their identity, became a liaison between the VPD and the LGBTQ+ community, and welcomed as many people as he could. Gregor Robertson, who was the mayor for Vancouver between 2008 and 2018, states in his eulogy at Deva’s funeral that he was a city builder and it would be impossible to imagine what Vancouver would be like today. Deva was also someone who has built an incredibly powerful culture of love and understanding, of fighting for justice, of creating a city of leaders who look after each other.

Deva volunteered a lot of his time to the LOUD Foundation, which focused on principles of leadership, opportunities of unity and diversity, and investment in future leaders of the LGBTQ+ community. He was a former schoolteacher, and believed that supporting the development of students who had compassion, knowledge, and a vision for the future can improve the community’s outreach and awareness of its diversity. From this, there are now two scholarships in memory of Deva, which includes the Jim Deva Memorial Scholarship, and the Little Sister’s Bookstore Scholarship.

A HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATION OF A VILLAGE

The intersection of Davie St. and Bute St. has had a historical transformation from the 1980s to the present day as it has gone through significant makeovers in order to tailor to the community it is in. In an interview with The Georgia Straight, Coun. Tim Stevenson states that the mayor is very, very supportive and the council is very supportive and we have an inclusive city, and a multicultural city, and everyone is welcome in our city, and all of the traditions are celebrated and that’s the same with our gay community. The permanent pride sidewalks portrays a global perspective as it helps link this place not only to the city of Vancouver and Davie Village, but also links it with a global community supporting each other as a family. With local movements from the LGBTQ community, a perspective was taken from all communities in the area, marginalized or not, and created an image that helps support city-making and follows the ethics of extended responsibilities.

Archival photograph of the intersection of Bute St. and Davie St. facing South in Downtown Vancouver.

Bute St. and Davie St. facing South in Davie Village (Addition of Jim Deva Plaza)

Change between 1980 to 2024 of Bute St. and Davie St. facing South (Jim Deva Plaza development)

Going south at the intersection of Bute St. and Davie St. shows that it used to be a normal street that cars and bicycles could use as part of their daily commute. With the addition of Jim Deva Plaza, it has now restricted cars from heading southbound to allow the public to use this space inviting people in to sit and spend time relaxing in this busy urban centre, while also serving as a gathering space and home to a variety of events and activities hosted in Davie Village. Jim Deva Plaza, which was one of the historical transformations that the intersection has gone through, enables the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the residents of Davie Village to be able to have a space that is welcoming for everyone.

Archival photograph of the intersection of Bute St. and Davie St. facing West in Downtown Vancouver.

Davie Village is now a vibrant part of the LGBTQ community in Downtown Vancouver, as during the day it is frequented by many tourists and locals working in and around the area, while in the night, the intersection of Davie St. and Bute St. becomes the epicentre of Vancouver’s nightlife as many people end up in this area many days of the week at bars and clubs, like Celebrities Nightclub, Pumpjack, Numbers Cabaret, and more. Within Davie Village lies a huge part of Canadian LGBTQ+ history, which are the first permanent pride sidewalks in all of Canada. These pride sidewalks were unveiled at Vancouver’s 2013 Pride celebrations in commemoration of how Vancouver has become a welcoming city and how the city has evolved over the years. It portrays a global perspective as it helps link this place not only to the city of Vancouver and Davie Village, but also links it with a global community supporting each other as a family. With local movements from the LGBTQ+ community, a perspective was taken from all communities in the area, marginalized or not, and created an image that helps support city-making and follows the ethics of extended responsibilities.

Rainbow Crosswalks at Jim Deva Plaza

CONCLUSION

Safe spaces can be a numerous of places in many different areas, no matter where it may be, it can be classified as a safe space if it upholds the characteristics of safety, inclusivity, and welcomeness. For some, it may be a room in their house, and for others, it might be a store or an area in their city where they feel safe to express who they are. Inclusive spaces in communities provide a place where people can feel welcome, and be able to take pride in themselves. Public spaces should exert a sense of safety, welcomeness, and inclusivity for everyone as many people access spaces, like Vancouver’s Jim Deva Plaza, and Toronto’s Church-Wellesley Village, on a daily basis and should not have the feeling of being judged in any way in these spaces.

ABOUT ME :)

My name is Kevin Calindas, and I am a third-year student looking to major in Urban Studies, and minor in Law and Society at UBC! I am hoping to be a city planner and community developer in the future, so this class definitely caught my eye. CSIS 200 is my first class with the Institute for Critical Studies in Sexuality at UBC and I decided to take this course to get a different understanding and perspective about the community and how I am able to try to include all communities in any decisions made. In my spare time, I love to keep myself busy with school, sports, and work as I am a man of many jobs with a jam-packed calendar! As a local to Vancouver, I love photographing the city, working for our major sports teams in the city, and being able to challenge myself with new environments everyday! As someone who works and plays in multiple sports, CSIS 200 allowed me to look at spaces with a different lens, and broadened the idea that not every space can be welcoming if there is no effort to make it safe and inclusive for everyone. Looking at one of the safe spaces in Vancouver has helped me attain new knowledge of what Vancouver has to offer, and there is definitely more to learn and become accustomed to while looking at the future of city spaces and environments.