Davie Village (also known as Davie District or simply Davie Street)
is a neighbourhood in the West End of Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada. It is the home of the city's gay subculture, and, as such, is
often considered a gay village, or gaybourhood. Davie Village is centred on Davie Street and roughly includes the area between Burrard and Jervis streets. Davie Street—and,
by extension, the Village—is named in honour of A.E.B. Davie, eighth
Premier of British Columbia from 1887 to 1889; A.E.B's brother Theodore
was also Premier, from 1892 to 1895.
Along Davie Street
are a variety of shops, restaurants, services, and hotels catering to a
variety of customers, in addition to private residences. The business
with the most notoriety is Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium
("Little Sister's"), a gay and lesbian bookstore, because of its ongoing
legal battles with Canada Customs that have received extensive national
media coverage. Many businesses and residents along Davie Street
and in the West End generally also fly rainbow flags as a symbol of gay
pride, and many of the covered bus stop benches and garbage cans along
Davie Street are painted bright pink.
The Village hosts a variety of events during the year, including the Davie Street Pride Festival which runs in conjunction with Vancouver's annual Gay Pride Parade, during which sections of the street are closed to motor traffic.
Davie
Day is also held each year in early September, to celebrate local
businesses and the community itself. This Day is designed to build
awareness and promote the surrounding businesses, and is focused around
Jervis to Burrard Street.
The Davie Street
Business Association coined the name "Davie Village" in 1999 and also
commissioned banners from local artist Joe Average, which fly from
lampposts in the district. The two-sided banners depict a rainbow flag
on one side and a sun design by Average on the other.
Davie
Village is also home to the offices of Xtra! West, a biweekly LGBT
newspaper, Qmunity (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Centre) which provides a
variety of services for the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender residents, and the Vancouver Pride Society, which puts on
the annual Pride Parade and Festival.
Saturday, November 16, 2024
In Davie Village in Downtown Vancouver. Autumn of 2018.
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