I have been deeply touched watching Vernon move towards creating a rainbow crosswalk downtown. Four years ago, my partner and I moved to Vernon with trepidation: Would this small town welcome and accept us as a bi-racial, same-sex couple? We’re happy to report, our experience has been positive. People have been friendly, welcoming, and even when tilting their heads in surprise – kind. People often say Vernon is not diverse. This has not been our experience. The cultural and religious diversity in Mission Hill is significant, the diversity of social class in this one small town is extreme, a surprising number of LGBTQ folks make Vernon home, and the rich cultural heritage of the Syilx people has been here always.
Recently, Coun. Scott Anderson made his case against the rainbow crosswalk. He points out that the rainbow is a symbol for the LGBTQ community. He is right – the rainbow largely represents LGBTQ people worldwide. I delight in standing in front of an historic mural for multiculturalism, or the Ukrainian people, or the Okanagan First Nation – even though I am not one of them. The multicultural mosaics outside the old library give an important message – diversity is valued here. How is this rainbow crosswalk any different?
Anderson states “Identity politics has done more damage to social relations in North America in recent years.” Identity politics in this country is not recent or new. Canada has a long, dark history of trying to maintain a homogeneous culture at the exclusion of others. The Chinese were recruited to Canada for cheap labour and then denied immigration. In fact, immigration policy in this country did not open to non-whites until the 1960s. Anderson continues, “it is not the business of … government to wade in culture wars … or to use tax dollars to tell people what they should believe.”
This is an appalling statement considering our not too distant past – using tax dollars to strip away a culture and a valued way of life from First Nations peoples. Canada only recently began to support – in laws and tax dollars – the equality of diverse sexualities and gender identities.
The majority of city officials voted in favour of the rainbow crosswalk. This makes me happy, and proud. To me, they represent the majority of welcoming and openhearted people that make us grateful to call Vernon home.
Michelle Doege
