Davie Street's rainbow connection: Sandman Suites add permanent Pride to Vancouver skyline

While Surrey may have refused to fly a Pride flag at its city hall during its Pride celebrations, the West End is becoming even more rainbow friendly, believe it or not.

Last year, rainbow crosswalks were painted at the Davie and Bute intersection, mere steps away from Qmunity, B.C.'s queer resource centre. There are also a collection of picnic tables, each painted in a colour of the rainbow flag, in a cordoned off street area next to the intersection.

Only a few doors down, the Sandman Suites on Davie are showing their true colours too by getting into the rainbow game.

A massive rainbow, 17-metres wide by 7-metres tall (55-feet by 22-feet), was painted on an extension atop the Sandman Suites to coincide with WorldPride held in Toronto (and amid Vancouver's Pride season leading up to the parade on August 3). It can be seen as you enter the Davie Village as you head west on Davie Street.

Sandman Hotel Group communications coordinator Kayla Joffe told the Georgia Straight by phone that the company hosts numerous LGBT events and works with LGBT organizations like Gay Van.

"We're part of a community so we're always looking to see what others are doing and ways that we can contribute to the community that we're in," she said.

Sandman Suites Davie Street general manager Valentina Tang explained in a news release that "the concept behind the painting was: A heart of gold is where the rainbow begins."

The painting will add a permanent Pride rainbow to the Vancouver skyline.

So in other words, when you're walking through the Davie Village, whether you look up or look down, you'll see Pride all around.