GLaD team member, Dr Sean Mulcahy, recently participated in the Visiting Scholars Program at the Peter A. Allard School of Law in the University of British Columbia. The duration of this visit included exchanging ideas with LGBTIQA+ rights activists. This stems from a project being led by ARCSHS Honours student Carla Lane on LGBTIQA+ inclusion in municipal public health and wellbeing plans and Sean’s work with the Victorian Pride Lobby’s Rainbow Local Government campaign to take research on LGBTIQA+ rights and apply it in practice in local government settings. His visit included meeting with the City of Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee to discuss LGBTIQA+ inclusion and human rights and share ideas across continents.
City of Vancouver 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee
Several Canadian cities have 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committees, including Toronto and Vancouver.
The City of Vancouver 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee is made up of community members who live, work, or have a significant body of experience with Vancouver. The Advisory Committee’s two co-chairs and the vice-chair are citizens, which gives a strong sense to the community that it is ‘our meeting’. The minutes of its meetings are accessible here and Sean attended the meeting on 16 May 2024.
The Advisory Committee also includes a non-voting Councillor and staff liaisons and liaisons from the Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver School Board, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, and Vancouver Police Department. The Advisory Committee can pass motions asking Council to adopt recommendations. The Councillor liaisons can also bring motions to the Council floor on behalf of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee has three sub-committees for: (1) ageing and housing; (2) safety and wellbeing; and (3) spaces, placemaking, and events. One of the general points of discussion, however, was about connecting the Advisory Committee with community organisations.
At the meeting, there was also discussion of:
- the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ people in shelters and community centres, with queries about what influence local government has over these spaces;
- 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion in Council-designed events funded and endorsed by the Council; and
- the recognition and stewardship of 2SLGBTQ+ memorials, with consideration of the three 2SLGBTQ+ memorials in the Vancouver parks system – all for gay men: the First Known Aids Memorial in Devonian Harbour Park, the Aaron Webster Memorial Bench and Shelter in Stanley Park, and the Vancouver AIDS Memorial at Sunset Beach.
The Advisory Committee also discussed culture wars surrounding 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion in local government, including on drag story-times, book bans, and bathrooms. The Advisory Committee shared that having conversations is crucial to overcoming culture wars.
The Advisory Committee also discussed:
- the Mapping the Gay Guides project, which turns the textual documents of gay travel guides into accessible visualisations exploring change in queer communities over time;
- the Vancouver Police Department’s Safe Place Initiative, which encourages businesses, schools, and other institutions to assist victims or witnesses to anti-2SLGBTQ+ crimes by calling the police on their behalf and allowing them to remain on premises until the police arrive, symbolised in a decal/sign posted on the premises; and
- the work that has been done since Vancouver Pride Society’s decision to rescind Vancouver Public Library’s participation in its pride parade.
City of Vancouver TGD2S Inclusion Strategy
The Advisory Committee also discussed the Council’s TGD2S Inclusion Strategy.
In July 2016, the Council adopted a Trans, Gender Diverse and Two-Spirit (TGD2S) Inclusion Strategy. Since the Strategy’s adoption, the Council has:
- Updated the Building By-Law to require providing at least one universal (accessible) toilet room in any building or occupancy and gender-neutral washrooms open to all genders and unisex toilet rooms (where each toilet room is fitted with one toilet and one basin) in assembly, business, mercantile, and industrial occupancies.
- Received approval from the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal to hire two temporary part-time TGD2S positions, which then became permanent part-time.
- Adopted a Diversity on Advisory Bodies policy to mandate that the proportion of members representing equity-seeking groups on advisory bodies be equal to or greater than 50%.
In December 2020, the Council stated that it ‘will carry out consultations aimed and reviewing and updating the TGD2S Strategy’.
In June 2023, however, the Council received an update that stated that ‘there has not been much progress to report on since’.
In September 2023, harmful and at times violent rallies were held around Greater Vancouver and across the country against 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive education.
In November 2023, following Transgender Day of Remembrance. the Council resolved to commit to the creation and implementation of a renewed TGD2S Action Plan with a focus on inclusion and safety, with a draft work plan and goals to be reported to the Council by July 2024, following engagement with the Advisory Committee.
Gay History Tour
At the Advisory Committee’s suggestion, Sean also undertook a Gay History Tour of Vancouver, that included Davie Village, its rainbow crosswalks (the first in Canada), ted northe Lane (named after one of Canada’s most prominent 2SLGBTQ+ activists), and Jim Deva Plaza (named after a long-time advocate for Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ community).
The visit will inform our further research on LGBTIQA+ inclusion in local government, with more findings to come soon.