Why Does Vancouver Have Two Queer Villages?

Подписаться 2,2 тыс.

Просмотров 53 тыс.

50% 1

Vancouver has not just one, but two queer villages.
Everyone is familiar with the Davie Street Village, but did you know there's another one?
In this video, let's explore this tale of Vancouver's two queer neighbourhoods, the people who defined them, and the reason they diverged.
I'm a professional storyteller, with a passion for sharing queer history. I'm here to restore a heritage that's been buried and erased. I'm here to tell our stories.
----
Follow Vancity www.instagram....
Learn more about Vancity's commitment to equity and financial inclusion: rethink.vancit...
----
KEY SOURCES:
Bouthillette, A.-M. (1995). Queer Scapes: Patterns and Processes of Gay Male and Lesbian Specialization in Vancouver, B.C. [Master’s Thesis, University of British Columbia]. UBC Library Open Collections. open.library.u...
Ingram, Bouthillette, Retter, Ingram, Gordon Brent, Bouthillette, Anne-Marie, & Retter, Yolanda. (1997). Queers in space : communities, public places, sites of resistance / edited by Gordon Brent Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthillette, and Yolanda Retter. Bay Press.
---
Website: www.thepinkhat.ca
The tour: www.thepinkhat...
Facebook: www.facebook.c...
Instagram: / thepinkhat_storyteller
TikTok: / pinkhattales
Linkedin: / glenn-tkach-067618284

Опубликовано:

7 сен 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 357

@B.Arthur Месяц назад

New Westminster has also become a real gay neighbourhood! It’s lots of older folks with dogs who own their condos, but also lots of young professionals and students. I work at one of the nicer restaurants in the area, and I’m always pleasantly surprised. We are here! 🎉

@sfeldmar Месяц назад

That’s where I lived the last time I lived anywhere near Vancouver. Still ridiculously expensive, but more affordable than the Drive or Davie.

@B.Arthur Месяц назад

@@sfeldmar Thankfully I’ve been in my place since well before lockdown, so I’m paying literally 1/3 the market rent price for my neighbourhood, just a block from a Skytrain station. I’d have to go way up the hill (and probably into a much older building) to find anything remotely comparable, let alone affordable, which is a shame because I work in the neighbourhood as well. It’s worrisome. My boyfriend lives in a 70’s walk-up in Blue Mountain, and their building has been bought for development (that failed in the early approval process due to local bylaws) and then sold again and he’s watching towers come up around him now. There’s a definite sense even in more affordable neighbourhoods that low-density and low-income housing is on the way out, and grossly inflated “ luxury “ pricing is spreading everywhere. Which is hilarious, I can’t count how many empty apartments there are in new towers in the cities neighbouring New West. Lougheed in particular is a ghost town.

@sometalkaboutbeinghuman Месяц назад

Thank you for pointing out that queer POC have too often been excluded from even so-called inclusive communities! I’m sure there were queer folks in those more traditional groups around the Drive who struggled to find a place in either community

@chowtime91 Месяц назад

Very cool that the sponsor of this video actually had an impact on the subject matter!

@Mothmanofficial_ 21 день назад

Fun fact Commercial Drive is still the queerbourhood for a lot of the reasons mentioned here. You would be surprised how resilient it is. Gentrification is encroaching slower there.

@teresasammut5126 Месяц назад

I want to see more videos from this person!! So good!

@pinkhattales Месяц назад

Working on it! Stay tuned for more queer history :)

@Garbear62 Месяц назад

@@pinkhattales, was Robison Street apart of village? I remember going to neighbours club

@gabriellef3351 Месяц назад

Please, so hungry for Canadian queer history @@pinkhattales

@focusedeye Месяц назад

@@Garbear62 I seem to remember a running joke the first time we were greeted at "Neighbours" on Robson St., back in the day. The gentlemanly doorman mentioned, that first we were "Buddies" then we were "Friends". Now we're just "Neighbours". I may have got the order wrong but the chuckle still remains.

@mollyo3558 Месяц назад

Yay you!

@ScottRobinson-g4q Месяц назад

I’m astounded that this is your first video - it’s excellent!! Can’t wait to see more 🌟

@friendlier Месяц назад

Excellent short history, and I'm so glad you didn't hide the racism of some LGBTQIA people, nor shy away from the overarching problem of real estate speculation. WELL DONE!

@eternalbeing2222 Месяц назад

Even growing up queer on the drive, ( at the intersection of being portuguese-italian heritage) I did not know so much of this history!!! Thank you for doing this good work, may our village ties restrengthen… more in-person community spaces that doesn’t revolve around nightlife !! Let’s keep it up ❤

@katbrechtel499 Месяц назад

I'm one of those queers who got priced out of the Commercial Drive area! I'm in my mid-thirties and we lived on the Drive for a while but prices rose and we had to leave -- and the youngsters in the generations after me really don't stand a chance of experiencing that life at all. We want a village, but we can't afford to live in the villages our elders established, so we're out scattered in the satellite communities... and a village can't survive long-term without its young people. I don't know what the answer is, but I think in the next thirty, forty years, we're going to see the greater Vancouver area's truly vibrant queer villages moving out to places like New West, PoCo, Coquitlam. Of course we'll always love Davie and Commercial, and wish we could be there too. Thank you for doing this video. It's so valuable to look back and see our long history, even if that history is inevitably changing.

@jamesoldman3021 Месяц назад

I agree. The gay community needs to organise and start buying apartment complexes and instead of price gouging as the current owners do rent at a reasonable price. Then try to rent to gay only tenants. There is probably more disposable money in the gay community than the straight. Agree with another poster the younger generation that are just getting started are needed to keep the gay community flourishing.

@curiousgeorgia1436 21 день назад

“ City planners” will tell you that run-down areas of a city usually is where artists/ free thinkers live. Which results in these slum areas turning into beautiful places to live. Which causes developers to buy cheap buildings and turn them into Condos/Houses that no one can afford. Regardless of your sexual orientation, due to your free thinking mind, in the end your effort to build a grass-roots successful community …. Will get the boot in the end. That’s exactly what happened in Kits & Davie.

@hezebelbeing Месяц назад

We raised our child in the Davie Street Village and moved just before the pandemic as we were being priced-out yup. It was an awesome place to live, and yes MADE COOL by our Queer peeps. Just went to visit our dentist a couple of weeks ago and oh my it felt a little...wilted? If not downtrodden tbh. I was raised in East Van and remember smooch-gate at Joe's - also, My Mama worked at Vancity on Hastings in the mid-late-60s right after her hard-fought divorce and got her first solo account and was a loans-officer helping women as it was the first place to offer mortgages to women without a male-cosign. She was very proud of having worked there. Thank you for this WONDERFUL piece. An aside: Off The Rail Brewing off of Clark Drive a few blocks from Commercial Drive on Adanac, lovely Queer managed and friendly, friendly joint with outdoor seating to grab a cold craft beer :)

@tonydib5805 Месяц назад

Thank you for making such a comprehensive video essay like this. I moved here two years ago and didn't know Vancouver had such a vibrant queer scene. I find it difficult to make friends here, queer or straight but the more I know about where my queer people are, the easier i think it might be to find my tribe. Thanks again! I hope to get the chance to do one of your history walks!

@Scorpionturtle Месяц назад

As someone who lived in Vancouver in the 90's and now since 2022 it's sad to see how both West End and Commercial Drive are no longer very LGBTQ with so many young queer folks forced out to New Westminster and other further out neighourhoods because of the absolutely ridiculous prices.

@RayneTheEditor 26 дней назад

When I was a kid in the '90s, my mum once told me the West End was for gay men, and Commercial Drive was for lesbians. I never forgot that statement, but I thought she was kind of exaggerating. I had no idea how strong the gender divide was! 😮

@Coccinelf Месяц назад

I have no idea where this channel is going but hearing about queer Canadian history is really refreshing after only hearing about American queer history for so long. For example, I have no idea what is this persecution from Customs Canada.

@vangroover1903 Месяц назад

It was mostly about them treating same sex sexual and romantic literature differently than straight literature, mostly, and labelling it obscene and banning its import. I think they also might have objected to a few oversized imported dildoes

@MarcellaB3ll4 29 дней назад

For queer affordability, there's always New West... their Pride is low key but super fun too.

@ptitqui 28 дней назад

The sober lounge is a lifesaver

@shortyipper 27 дней назад

Even New West isn't that affordable anymore it seems -.-

@traviscat604 Месяц назад

Wow! Thanks for the video! I love the picture quality and the content. These are two of my favorite neighborhoods in Vancouver, but I had no idea about the history of Commercial Drive! Good luck with the channel, and I can't wait for more episodes!

@catjenkins9679 21 день назад

As a queer person growing up in Vancouver, how did I completely miss this???

@hirsch4155 Месяц назад

Commercial Drive has a strong community of First Nations peoples also. This needs mentioning .

@David_Rafuse Месяц назад

It sure does. But this video is dealing with the LGBTQ2S community...namely the WHITE LGBTQ2S community who don't really care about BIPOCs.

@Clara-yw8rj Месяц назад

That’s not what the video is about…

@hirsch4155 Месяц назад

@@Clara-yw8rj well they mention Italy so .

@sfeldmar Месяц назад

Only thing is now you have be a darn millionaire to live around the Davie village. The Drive too, really. Nowhere in Vancouver is actually affordable unless you’re relatively rich.

@margaretnicholdesign Месяц назад

I live close to the drive, but am from Toronto originally. Toronto also has a very similar second queer neighbourhood in Parkdale. And yes, much less visible, predominantly made up of lesbians, and integrated into the diverse largely immigrant community population.

@kates7424 Месяц назад

What a great video, thank you! As a queer person and a member of Vancity I found this fascinating and so enjoyable. Learned new awesome things about Vancity😊

@ryvr2037 Месяц назад

i would argue that currently most cities could say there are two gay areas, one dying and one the replacement of the first. As gay communities move in and make an area safe and friendly, it begins to be co-opted by others who see opportunity and make it unaffordable to the average.

@ruslbicycle6006 Месяц назад

People are getting priced out of both of the two old neighbourhoods now at the same time

@ArthurPencilDragon Месяц назад

Just seeing this the week after Vancouver Pride- what a wonderful history lesson! Instant follow. I look forward to seeing more from you! ☺️

@thistle1923 25 дней назад

GLENN WITH TWO Ns!!!! YOOOO! AWESOME VIDEO! Your forbidden van tour and our chat after really sold me on moving here! You're awesome, good luck with you channel!

@RyanMcClelland-xl9bd Месяц назад

Can we remain a community without a village. First Nations felt the same way Nice work van city.

@Rhyswithoutherspoon Месяц назад

I think I need to switch to Vancity.

@ButchNews 25 дней назад

Butch, himself, says "hi". I was the doorman at FACES... you had to pass my arm to get in. I gave that up after I got stabbed but new bars were happening (The Gandy Dancer in what would become Yaletown, owned by the owners of FACES) and things got a lot bigger in Vancouver as Davie Street developed.

@ian-nator2685 Месяц назад

From a Queer Vancouverite, this is a GORGEOUS video. Perfect timing too, thank you for this!

@pam82573 Месяц назад

What a fantastic video. Please make more content! This was so informative and engaging. I've shared it with all my friends and staff.

@pinkhattales Месяц назад

Wow, thank you! I'm glad to know this story has made an impact. There's more to come!

@X3r0. Месяц назад

I'm so glad I found your channel! About time we had some educational queer history around these parts 🖤🖤 thanks for educating the masses !

@seanfranzable 24 дня назад

Your tour was one of the biggest highlights of my trip to Vancouver last year. I told all of my friends and co-workers about it. I just discovered your RU-vid channel. Great seeing you again on my TV, lol

@fluttergirl75 Месяц назад

I have a neighbour that goes to the Dyke March every year and that was my only clue. I just have to say that I've seen you on Georgia and Granville, and you are such a fascinating and enthusiastic storyteller. You should be Vancouver's official storyteller.

@Civics-no4nr Месяц назад

Love to hear stories about the city I live in! Keep it up :)

@magdabaker5983 Месяц назад

Yes all this! So important to be talking about our Canadian Queer history. I’ve been living in Vancouver for three years, and have never been able to afford to live in either of the Queer Villages. Most people that I know, young LGBT+ people, mostly in the arts scene, are completely priced out of living in the spaces that many of us move to this city to be a part of. It’s tragic and challenging to try and enmesh yourself in a dying scene- all because of the cost of living. Still beats the outright hostility of Calgary though, lol

@charischannah 28 дней назад

I've had the privilege of going on one of Glenn's history tours with Forbidden Vancouver--he's a fantastic storyteller who's really great at also listening to the stories the people on the tour have to share. If you live in the GVRD or are visiting, I'd highly recommend going on his tour.

@jamesm.5125 28 дней назад

I have always found it interesting that the gay and lesbian communities have always had kind of a tenuous alliance.

@tonyhoffman3309 22 дня назад

They are extremely different. As are the other letters in the forced teaming of the ever growing labels

@tristanshears3048 Месяц назад

Now none of it is affordable

@shannoncurley3055 Месяц назад

i got an ad for this video on instagram and it immediately piqued my interest. i’ll have to go on one of your tours at some point, because i’d love to learn more about the history of queer people here!

@deelohazel Месяц назад

Thanks for sharing the history of the 2 villages. Great narration! Look forward to your next video.

@tunaprincess 22 дня назад

I don't often comment on videos, but I loved what you made here! I grew up on Commercial Drive and it's wonderful to see someone talk about it's queer history. I also feel the sadness and worry towards what will happen to these spaces as people get priced out. I ended up having to move away from Metro Vancouver just because it was too expensive, and as queer person of Portuguese descent it does suck to have to leave behind my roots. I believe in the spirit of our community though, because 2SLGBTQIA+ has always found ways to thrive!

@Habsfan-nr2hc Месяц назад

Brilliantly done, as the father of a beautiful Queer son I love the education. Stay well. 🏳️‍🌈💕

@SnapshotOfASoul 22 дня назад

My mother isn't queer, but she would go to gay bars with friends and eventually began working at a drag theatre with a bar, for a time, in the 80s. She's not super educated on stuff and hasn't kept up with the community in many decades, but she's come around on a lot of things. I'm queer, trans, and overall extremely flamboyant, and if it weren't for my dad I'd be in a safe environment - but the community in this province is so out and so proud that it's really, really easy to find each other. We don't have to be a secret here and it's easy to come by flags and stickers celebrating our existence. I feel safe walking around as a queer person thanks to the foundations these people set up. Thank you so much for this video!

@kt7087 28 дней назад

It was so awesome to learn a little bit about the queer history of the city ive lived in for so long! If you need a video idea i would love to hear about any specific influential queer people from vancouver or bc!

@duke613 28 дней назад

queer history? That term is incredibly insulting to our community. It is never ok to use this disrespectful term.

@kt7087 28 дней назад

@duke613 as a queer person i disagree. Historically queer has been used insultingly towards our community but modernly many people from the lgbtq+ community have begun to reclaim the word.

@duke613 28 дней назад

@@kt7087 This word has def. not been reclaimed and why would you want it to? NO ONE can make this claim. It is still regarded as an incredibly insulting term to our community. It is outrageous. When NPR first started using this term in their reporting they were flooded with complaints from the gay community. However they relented under pressure from the far left extreme gay activists who were bizarrely trying to mainstream this disrespectful term. It sets our movement back decades and makes us a joke. This is fact. It is never acceptable to use this term to describe our community. It shows self loathing and no respect for yourself or the community.

@kt7087 28 дней назад

@duke613 i understand that you and the lgbtq community have been hurt by the term "queer" but frankly, you are wrong. I don't believe that reclaiming a word is detrimental to the community and moving forwards into the future for the lgbt community i believe queer will only be used more positively. I hope you are able to see this word used from a perspective of love and acceptance one day as i do. I will no longer be responding to your comments. I wish you all the best.

@duke613 28 дней назад

@@kt7087 If you think you are in the majority you are wrong. We are the majority and the word extremely insulting and degrading. Always was always will be,. Have respect for other people and the community.

@rulinghabs Месяц назад

Interesting although I knew most of this. As a straight growing up in Montreal in the 80’s and 90’s there was and still is a strong gay community. Most of us integrated seamlessly. It was way more fun hanging out in gay bars like K.O.X or after hour parties. Apparently my give away of not being gay was my shoes. Although my looks and me being straight apparently was a challenge for some. Such wonderful times and memories.

@Jordan-pf9ws Месяц назад

I very much appreciate the inclusion of more than just gay men when speaking about queer history

@maxklein1614 Месяц назад

This is not totally unique, many large cities have had more than one 'gay' area. NYC and LA still have several. Chicago has at least two that I know of. I say "have had", because these queer enclaves seem to be eroding and even disappearing at an astonishing pace. As acceptance grows, the need to concentrate in a particular neighborhood has diminished, straights with money move in and take over, as they are want to do, displacing our less economically advantage community members. It's sad. I remember reading about the Lesbian Bar Project a few years ago that said there were only about a dozen or so actual lesbian bars that still exist in the entire USA, a country of 342M people. I mean, it was the pandemi-times, but still... 🤯😨😢

@SiobhanWaldock Месяц назад

I'm so happy you've gone into digital video content, and happy that youtube recommended this to me! I took your tour years ago and have not stopped thinking about it since. I always recommend it to people. You're such an amazing story teller and so well researched. Keep the videos coming!

@alfredo-ferreira Месяц назад

"We're here, we're queer, and we don't want your coffee!" if I recall well, was the queer protest chant at Joe's. In the 80s and early 90s, I lived off the Drive mostly with lesbians of colour. As a latino - indeed Portuguese - queer guy but more into politics and the environment (and doing a BA in literature at SFU), the west end gay scene was not for me. But it was for my brother, who was also gay. This duality in the two queer areas of town, I lived it. 🎉❤

@ktaraallayexandrianna4491 Месяц назад

Great video! I hope you do more. We loved our tour with you.

@fearfullyqueer Месяц назад

I went on the history tour with you a couple of years ago, absolutely incredible, powerful story telling

@pinkhattales Месяц назад

Cool! It's so cool to be able to reconnect with you over here in RU-vid land. Thanks for watching the video :)

@kyasa5 Месяц назад

Great video! Love watching and learning about local Vancouver history!!! Looking forward to see your next video!

@deancooke4664 Месяц назад

Excellent video and host. Learned a lot!

@tylero8595 Месяц назад

We used to hang out on the Drive in the 1990s. It was the best. My buddies were all straight, I was bi. It was so cool along the drive back in the day. Its a dump now. Too many drug addicts. But thats ok. Nothing stays the same forever. Its only magical for a short time. Its really a brief history of time that lives forever in memories and stories.

@LeahandLevi Месяц назад

Such a beautiful and well produced video!

@mouman Месяц назад

As a queer person that lives on commercial drive. This video skims just the surface on history and does not talk about the messy social factors that lead to the split in neighborhoods and what communities reside in them. I know they are a historian but lets hear history from the actual sources. I feel a lot of the observations made about both neighborhoods are wrong.

@pinkhattales Месяц назад

Hi, thanks for your comment! I agree that this video only skims the surface - the numerous factors involved in the divergence of both neighbourhoods is far more than I could cover in the space of 12 minutes. I chose to focus on a few key aspects. But I agree - there is so much than what I cover here! For anyone who is interested in finding out more, the sources I listed in the video description below are a great place to start.

@robw0127 Месяц назад

As a straight male from the East Coast US, I found this video a really fascinating and well done look at Canada‘s third largest city. Thank you!

@YoshiKawai Месяц назад

I spent many young years in Castro street now I am in Vancouver. I have to learn about 🏳️‍🌈 history in my new place as my hometown. Thank you❤️❤️❤️love Vancouver💐

@359339 Месяц назад

I feel like Mt Pleasant is also a space where queer art happens. I'm curious what it was like in the 80s and 90s though.

@chantalrochon3566 Месяц назад

Very grateful for this video. Loved your storytelling style ❤❤❤ Looking forward to view more of your creations😊

@forest_green Месяц назад

This is wonderful. Thank you so much for preserving this history.

@olhomagico6344 Месяц назад

I remember the Kiss In and Josephine’s

@MsGanodes Месяц назад

Really interesting, and very well-spoken and presented - this video is great!

@TiagoCotrim Месяц назад

What a great first video, very well done. Your channel will def be successful! :)

@iamdavidcjones Месяц назад

This is fantastic! Well researched and engagingly told. Bravo Glenn!

@pendorran Месяц назад

I'm glad you mentioned Vancity's history as an ally. I hadn't heard that before, and I won't forget it.

@Ticklebrush Месяц назад

Pleaseeeee make more videos on queerness in Vancouver/the lower mainland/etc. Would love to share them with my friends and family. Makes me feel seen.

@MisatoBestWoman Месяц назад

When I eventually visit Vancouver BC I’m going to visit these villages. History needs to be remembered.

@jamesoldman3021 Месяц назад

Thanks for the tour down memory lane. I hit the area in 1952 as a young gay kid.

@rcamels3042 Месяц назад

how fascinating! You must have quite the stories to tell.

@carimhalladay7877 Месяц назад

I left Vanc Island and moved near 8th and Woodland in 2003. It was hands down the best time in my life. The Drive represented my 'polyanna' vision of what Vancouver was meant to be. Culturally, ethnically and sexually diverse where everyone coexisted peacefully. There was an underlying mutual respect for people where everyone saw each other as neighbours. I knew from LGBT perspective that it was primarily know as the area pioneered by and for lesbians and womyn and I loved that about it. It really opened my eyes to a bigger reality. Being male and white (albeit gay), I had a sense of entitlement that comes from that but soon learned from mostly diverse gay women how to share space which inevitably builds community. Sadly, as many have experienced I was pushed out by overpriced gentrification of our neighbourhood as so many have been. I will forever cherish those memories It was living there that defined the person I am today and I am better for it. Side note...I remember how much fun it was one Sunday out for a walk in 2004 near the Italian cafes just as Italy clinched the World Cup. The excitement was intoxicating.

@joecutro7318 Месяц назад

I enjoyed this video. Thank you! I just spent 6 lovely nights in Vancouver in the West End. I live in Seattle and have been to Vancouver several times, but never for as long a stay. This visit provided more time to savor the West End and Commercial Drive. Can't wait to return and continue my exploration!

@supergrover17 18 дней назад

A bit more herstory about Joe's cafe, was that it was two lesbians hugging not kissing, n the lesbian community at the time of whom some of us were activists, decided to organize a kiss in several times to protest how ridiculous it was that he mistook it for something more…n a boycott of Joe's by many in the lesbian community happened as well. After all these years, the boycott lost its teeth, n I recently [as in years ago] moved past it, but the outrage over it is still very ingrained in my memory. FYI, one of my fav things about Josephine's was one of her 🚽 seats, which was an epoxy'd kitschy seat. Very cool. Very much embodied the Dr…I was very sorry that it was never successful enough to stay in business for long. I miss that toilet seat… I also miss the La Quena collective restaurant. Many of us hung out there volunteered. I also miss the La Quena Fiesta that happened every July. Sooooo very awesome 😎🧊🆒

@jonathanwaldie 25 дней назад

Thank you, this was a fantastic video. I hope you make more!

@xDivenire Месяц назад

So good! Definitely inspired to do the forbidden vancouver walking tour now!

@michaelrainey6243 Месяц назад

I might be mistaken, but I think I recall reading that the Commercial/Victoria Dr. area was the original 'shaughnessy' of Vancouver before shaughnessy was built in the 1920's and that is why you still see a few mansions left here and there. I just thought be interesting to someone.

@RMGCBK 25 дней назад

I've lived in the Vancouver area for over a decade and certainly spent plenty of time on Davie (not that I could ever afford to live in the west end) , but I had no idea Commercial had this kind of history. Fantastic 💗 I would love to visit Josephine's.

@nickolasgallo Месяц назад

Thank you for sharing this. As someone from Toronto now that lives in Vancouver now it’s so nice to hear about our history here. Keep up the great work.

@quinnersley3495 Месяц назад

Fantastic video, and such a great host. Thank you so much for the content, I really hope to see more!

@campbellwoodman1785 Месяц назад

I loved this! I think I have heard of the gay Vancouver walking tours before but since I live in Victoria I haven’t had a chance to see one. I knew about the history of Little Sisters but I didn’t know about the lesbian history of Vancouver and as a trans masc lesbian myself it was wonderful to learn

@AloeVeraJuiceJuice Месяц назад

Very well written! Didn’t know anything about commercial drives lesbian heritage and I’ve been in Vancouver for 25 years!

@forivall Месяц назад

I love learning more of my local history, so in glad that youtube surfaced this video and introduced me to you! Btw, im a commercial drive queer.

@HoneyBeeNarcissist 6 часов назад

Sadly, the same price hikes are happening all across the country in Toronto’s Church-Wellesley and Montreal’s Ste-Catherine-Est. As these neighbourhoods become more and more popular, they are gentrified and redeveloped, leaving the initial queer population without a place to go.

@littleripper312 Месяц назад

There is a sign in Grandview Park that says "Dyke Chilling Park". As for losing our villages I get that but we will make new ones in new cities. I'm sure Abbotsford could use an awesome queer village too and some colour, lets go!

@David_Rafuse Месяц назад

Good luck, I'm from the Fraser Valley and lived in Abby for several years; the Punjabi community will never stand for you doing so. You think that White Evangelical Christians are hostile to you? They're all doing the White-flight thing to northern BC. Just wait 'til you tangle with the South Asian crowd...

@le8307 Месяц назад

@@David_Rafuse in the big city theres no villages. if you want to survive as a community you needs spiked bats and brass knuckles. what kind of gay are you? at the very least be the ancient greek.

@nkrat1093 Месяц назад

Thanks for the video! I've lived just off Commercial Drive for most of my life and you've finally put words to something I noticed but couldn't quite pin down. I know as a kid I was always baffled by how this neighbourhood wasn't recognized as a queer area the same way that Davie Village is.

@nochancecw Месяц назад

This was really well done. I never knew that about the drive.

@Rahatsaini13 Месяц назад

So much amazing information in this video! Thank you for sharing 🫶🏽

@Halfhoff 25 дней назад

You are an excellent storyteller. Thank you.

@leamonty2992 25 дней назад

I've always wanted to take the Really Gay History Tour, but now I know I *need* to take it. Thank you for such a comprehensive video!

@pqunit Месяц назад

The Drive never had a sizeable gay presence until it was gentrified 20yrs ago

@David_Rafuse Месяц назад

Always funny to hear members of the LGBTQ2S community complaining about being priced out of the areas that they helped to 'make hip/cool.' In major North American cities, their community is a major driving factor in gentrification/"urban renewal." Move into lower cost racial/ethnic enclaves, drive the prices up, drive out the previous residents, rinse, repeat. But what do they care? The overwhelming majority of White LGBTQ2S people I've known have a very thinly concealed undercurrent of racist entitlement. And I've met a LOT of LGBTQ2S POC's that would concur with this.

@Beilmanimal 19 дней назад

So happy I found this channel!

@zx5218 25 дней назад

Well told story. Thank you.

@AminoWellness Месяц назад

Wow! Such awesome information. As a person queer person in Surrey I should take your tour to learn more.

@rylandervin Месяц назад

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!! your tours are lovely and i can't wait to see more from you !

@debbiesherstobitoff3546 Месяц назад

Love this video ,l used to live on the west end in the 80s and have so many great memories of having out with friends who lived in the area and going to all the great clubs on David Street

@ffgggghfqturgj Месяц назад

Love this! I will note that Cross & Crows Books at the south end of the Drive proudly flies rainbow flags!

@pinkhattales Месяц назад

I love that you're flying rainbow flags on the Drive, and I love Cross & Crows Books!

@EricaGamet Месяц назад

How wonderful! I'm in Seattle and haven't been to Vancouver in 20 years. Been meaning to get up there (to be fair, I've only been in Seattle 7 years lol). I will be sure to check out the villages and even check into one of your tours. I really love your storytelling style!

@goldensloth7 Месяц назад

awesome drone shots! this was so interesting! i've lived on commercial drive since 1992 so i sort of knew about this stuff, it's always been pretty dykey. and i've NEVER been into Joe's because of that incident in 1990... when i was 4.

@goldensloth7 Месяц назад

AHHHHH I FORGOT ABOUT JOSEPHINE'S

@therealpancakegirl777 9 дней назад

i grew up along the drive (although i’m straight) from a traditional immigrant family. it was a liberating neighborhood all the same - less pressure to look a particular way for a woman. let’s learn from each other’s communities!