She opened facilities to support other trans women and prostitutes, and in 1996 became the first trans woman to run for office in Canada
Vancouver sex worker Jamie Lee Hamilton camps in front of city hall during a rally to pressure the city to fund a drop-in centre for prostitutes, on Jan. 29, 1998.One rainy winter day in 1998, Jamie Lee Hamilton climbed the marble steps outside Vancouver’s City Hall. Ms. Hamilton was enraged by the refusal of police and politicians to take seriously the disappearance of women from the city’s Downtown Eastside. In the doorway, she dumped 67 pairs of stilettos – one for every missing woman.
Alice and Ralph were dirt-poor crusaders for social justice whose Downtown Eastside Vancouver home was a haven for dissidents and a frequent meeting place for the Communist Party. The family’s meagre fortunes were further reduced when Ralph was waylaid by silicosis, a lung ailment caused by the inhalation of silica, and had to stop working.
Jimmy’s closest friend at the time was Sandy St. Peters, Vancouver’s reigning drag queen throughout the 1970s. By 17, Jimmy was appearing alongside her as Flo. At BJs, the city’s earliest drag bar, Flo sangAfter decamping for the Okanagan town of Osoyoos, Jimmy, who had begun taking hormones, adopted the name Jamie Lee. She found a job as a waitress, fastidiously waxing her face to help keep her past as Jimmy a secret. It was a dangerous time to be trans.
In Vancouver, Ms. Hamilton returned to hustling. She was a streetwise, mother-hen figure in the gay village in Vancouver’s West End. She encouraged trans sex workers to work in pairs, and jot down customers’ licence plates, and she raised the alarm about bad clients. In 2000, Ms. Hamilton rented a space on Pandora Street with the goal of challenging the constitutionality of the country’s bawdy house law and keeping Downtown Eastside sex workers safe. She opened a brothel named Pandora’s Box, taunting Vancouver police, daring them to arrest her – which they promptly did. The charges against her, however, were ultimately stayed. Robert Pickton had just been arrested, and the serial killer had been using the Downtown Eastside as his hunting grounds.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon’s sex assault trial set for JuneRozon was charged in December 2018 with rape and indecent assault
Read more »
‘F—k it, save the koalas’: Sex workers, models send nudes in exchange for Australia wildfire donationsAustralia is burning and these women are dousing the flames with their nude photos HoesAgainstScoMo Australiafires Australia
Read more »
Vancouver Island man pleads guilty to beating, holding woman captiveA Vancouver Island man, who held a woman against her will and brutally beat her on his rural property in 2017, pleaded guilty Monday and will serve just over a year in jail.
Read more »
4.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off Vancouver IslandA magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattled off the coast of Vancouver Island Wednesday.
Read more »
Kim Cattrall explores ‘the next chapter’ of her life in return to televisionKim Cattrall explores 'the next chapter' of her life in return to television via nparts
Read more »
HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media
Read more »