[SWAF-Potluck] 10th Annual Vancouver Red Umbrella March RUM2022

[Andy Sorfleet]


Dear Red Umbrella March Supporters,

Saturday, June 11, 2022, marked the 10th annual Vancouver Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity. This year, the Red Umbrella March was more important than ever, because the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights is set to release its report on Canada's new laws that prohibit the purchase of sexual services (Criminal Code s. 286) before June 23. For more information: https://triple-x.org/freedomtoassociate

The annual Red Umbrella March is held in Vancouver every second Saturday in June to commemorate the first Red Umbrellas March in Venice, June 8, 2001. Just as the Venice Red Umbrellas March was determined to disrupt the public sphere and draw attention to the historical and geographical social history of sex workers, Vancouver's Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity strives to draw lines through time and space that show that sex workers are loved and revered in our communities, regardless of perceived stigma and prejudice.

Video footage by Bill M. Powers: https://youtu.be/bbF_GLzDwfk

Our message came through, loud and clear it seems, according to this very supportive reporting in two of the B.C.'s mainstream media:

6 o'clock BC CTV News, Saturday, June 11:
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2462938

Early morning Global BC News, Sunday, June 12:
https://youtu.be/AZqFWxXzMB4

In addition, Vancouver City Hall was lit in red to mark the milestone event. Thank you to Kit at PACE Society and City of Vancouver, and to Louise for riding her bicycle up to City Hall and taking such beautiful photos:



As president of Triple-X, I would like to extend our deep thanks and gratitude to our co-sponsors who really pitched this year to create such a successful milestone event: Pivot Legal Society, PACE Society, SWAN Vancouver Society, B.C. Coalition of Experiential Communities (BCCEC) and the B.C. Bad Dates and Aggressors Reporting Project (BCBDAR).

Also, I want to acknowledge our sincere appreciation for our dedicated volunteers (who provided critical labour infrastructure) Brook and the New West Tenants Union. Thank you very much for contributions in the form of financial donations (which make this event possible) Rob and Diane, Pivot, Will and Howard. Thank you to the other Triple-X board of directors, for all your contributions, your time, advice and resources, and your confidence that make all of this realizable: Anna, Howard, Kerry, Tracy, Will. And last, but so important, thank you to everyone who took time out on a beautiful Canadian summer Saturday, to come and lend your voice,  your presence and your support; and marched through Vancouver's downtown streets to fight Canada's unjust prostitution laws. You make it all real.

In solidarity,
Andrew Sorfleet, president,
Triple-X Workers' Solidarity Association of B.C.

PS: Also, thank you so very much to Kemal and Tikki-Tikki pedicabs, without whom I could not have participated in the march this year. What a beautiful ride! ~ a.s. https://tikki-tikki.com/
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