Dara Parker: Qmunity's safety compromised by homophobic graffiti

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      Monday morning I started my day with a cup of coffee and a side of homophobia.

      As I strolled up to the Qmunity offices and started to unlock the front door, I was busy compiling my to-do list in my head…our staff meeting agenda that morning, launching ticket sales for Stack the Rack later this week, and wondering about how we could engage more folks to fill out our Building Qmunity survey.

      In fact, I was so consumed with my planning for the week ahead, that I almost walked straight by the new graffiti staring me in the face. On the side of our building, scrawled in bright blue cursive, a short message read:

      “You gaylords is veri [sic] bad news”

      I paused, read it one more time, and concluded that a cursive font is decidedly unintimidating. In fact, the only thing possibly less intimidating than grammatically incorrect, homophobic, cursive writing, might be printing similar insults in Comic Sans.

      But unfortunately it doesn’t matter.

      The fact that someone would violate a place designated as an LGBTQ sanctuary, in a neighbourhood known for being inclusive, in a city where people assume it’s easy to come out, in 2015, is frightening.

      Homophobia has not disappeared. 

      I proceeded to walk up the stairs to Qmunity thinking about why exactly 16,000 people walk through our doors every year. They do so for the same reason that I do—because Qmunity is a place where no one will make assumptions about your gender identity or sexual orientation. They do so, because it can be exhausting to have to explain who you are, coming out, over and over again. They do so, because Qmunity is one of the safest places for queer and trans people in BC. 

      This seemingly “harmless” graffiti compromises that safety.

      Our work is not over. In fact, it won’t be over, until every single one of our beautiful rainbow humans is not only free to be themselves, but believes that they also deserve to be loved. Dangerous messaging that tells us otherwise, slowly and continually chips away at our self-worth, whether in the form of scrawled graffiti, a university that prohibits same-sex relationships, or a billboard that refers to homosexuality as sexual deviance.

      Thank you for working with us to create the world we know is possible. A world where all queer people are safe, included, and free from discrimination. Your support helps drown out the cursive writing.

      Comments

      7 Comments

      Boo hoo

      Aug 11, 2015 at 2:33pm

      It's a political statement targetting a group that has, for illegitimate reasons, a free pass from political critique. We can critique oil tankers, and we can critique tar sands but for some reason not other systems of emission and penetration that may have a negative impact on things. Go figure. The real people who need protection in 2015 are people who want to voice their political views of public sexuality---they're the oppressed minority in Vancouver.

      Song

      Aug 11, 2015 at 3:19pm

      I find it sad to see that this kind of thing is still happening in 2015, only a week after the pride parade. The comment above only reinforces that we need organizations like Qmunity. My heart goes out to all those who continue to be hurt by this kind of ignorance.

      Beatnuck

      Aug 11, 2015 at 3:52pm

      The people that did this are an oppressed minority. The reason they are oppressed is they don't share Canadian values and they have no intention of doing so. Watch for them at the next anti-gay campaign directed against the Vancouver School Board for accommodating LBGT students.

      @Beatnuck

      Aug 11, 2015 at 5:58pm

      Canadian values? You mean the stuff that media programmed drones have?

      I don't care either way about homosexuality, but I do care very strongly about freedom of expression. If the only way to manufacture tolerance for a group is by eviscerating freedom of expression, that is perverse.

      westender

      Aug 11, 2015 at 9:37pm

      Why no news on the bashing by the group/gang that arrived on Davie Street at Thurlow, at 2:40am on Sunday morning (Aug 9)? The first guy who was attacked luckily got away. His friend tried to stop the group/gang, but they turned on him, smashing him in the face too, but it allowed them both to barely get away. Another guy passing by got attacked, & got sent to the hospital by ambulance with broken facial bones. There's video footage of the 1st attack, but the police say they don't have facial recognition technology, and unfortunately can't do anything about it.

      Hah

      Aug 15, 2015 at 6:45pm

      Wow, your safety is compromised by graffiti??????? Grow up already.

      Vancouver resident

      Aug 17, 2015 at 7:56am

      I'm tired of the gay agenda. I find your parades annoying.