Rehabbing Prostitute Culture
So the City Fathers of
Vancouver decided the reputation of former West End (WE) prostitutes needed to
be rehabbed. (See Post 130.) Did they consult with us WE residents at all? They
may have, but I certainly never heard of such an event, while I usually try to
keep on top of such happenings. Such consultations are usually well advertised
far ahead of time. I must admit, of course, that I do travel a lot and thus
might miss some of these occasions.
Lack of Citizen Involvement
But were there any cries
from the current residents that a former injustice had to be undone? Was the city under local pressure on this
matter? Even if I missed out on whatever
public consultations might have taken place, I have noticed nothing of public
pressure to restore the honour of prostitutes, let alone thank them for their
historic contribution to advancing our “progressive” WE culture. I am sociable;
I spend time on the street; I drink tea on the new plaza in front of our
building. I heard no such discussion of any kind. It seems the City Fathers
just quietly slipped this one over us, possibly alerting some citizen groups
they would expect to support such a move, but almost definitely no general
public consultation. Though St. Paul’s Anglican Church participated in and approved
of the action, I doubt that other area churches such as my church, the large
Baptist “cathedral” at Burrard and Nelson, was consulted, or the Guardian Angel
Catholic Church on Broughton. Possibly St. Andrews United, for they could be expected
to support the move and, perhaps, the Presbyterians.
Citizen Reactions
As could be expected,
citizen reactions ran the full gamut from warm embrace to vigorous rejection. One
Derek Frew wrote that he initially thought it a case of “blasphemy” that “involved…placing
a monument to paganism in front of a Christian church.” But then he had second
thoughts urged on him by words attributed to the famous writer G. K.
Chesterton: “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.”
Frew concluded that “perhaps not a bad place for it after all” ! (Vancouver Sun, Sept 20, 2016, p. A11). If nothing else, his has at least a humorous
touch to it.
The Earlier Part of the Story
From the other side of the
opinion track, we get Ray McNabb’s piece on the same VS page under the title “Memorial
to sex workers a wrong-headed affront.” He’s
lived in the WE for 40 years and has always found it “a wonderful area to live
in. However, I vividly recall a time when it wasn’t.” That time was the early
1970s when there was so much traffic that he could hardly get onto the street.
There was a constant lot of “noise, car horns, car radios booming, shouting,
swearing from the traffic. The cars were all headed for Davie Street, where the
prostitutes all gathered. Bumper to bumper stuff. Some WE-enders organized a “Shame
the Johns” movement. “We were upset and annoyed with the lack of action by the
police and city hall….” A pressure group
of citizens, including some politicians, finally was heard and the “court
ordered the…hookers out of the WE.”
Traffic was forced away from the regular tours by a mini-park on Jervis
and a cul-de-sac at Bute & Burnaby, right in front of my building here. The
neighbourhood slowly “returned to normal.”
Then and Now
So, that time there was public pressure on the authorities
to stop the sex trade in the WE. The residents did not want it. It ruined their
lives and turned the area into a noisy and chaotic place. Davie village became
so infamous that even in Africa,
where I lived at the time, I heard about it, just like today the place is world
famous for its gay-friendly culture
so that gay people from all over the world gather in the WE to participate in
the annual week-long activities that culminate in the huge local gay parade.
But notice the difference: infamous vs
famous. At that time it was the laughing stock of the province, nation and even
world!
An Affront
And now, McNabb rightly
complains that city Counselor Andrea Reimer, judging from the name, a
descendant of that morally pristine Mennonite community, refers to the citizens’
action in the 70s as “a tragic injustice.”
Oh, yeah? How about opening up space for that crowd on her street and see if she would still
feel that way! Her neighbours would likely drive her out with the rest of the crowd to follow! If not worse!
“What an affront!” comments McNabb. “She lost my vote”—and mine as well.
I am coming close to dubbing her an “idiot!” Again, something like calling a spade a spade.
The Next Post
I hope to have the time to
prepare for the next post to deal with the more overtly Christian perspective
on the issue. You will learn that I do not see it all in black and white terms.
My prostitute story in Post 130 is illustrative of the tragic circumstances
that can drive a person into prostitution. I am far from judging an individual
prostitute, but that is very different from elevating the culture of
prostitution to the level of desirability to which more communities should
aspire.
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