Davie Village sign at site of recent assaults urges Vancouverites to ‘do better’

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A new sign in Vancouver’s Davie Village is urging people in the city to “do better,” more than a month after a man was assaulted in the area for confronting anti-gay preachers.

The metal sign, which at first glance looks like one erected by the city, says “Violence to our friends, family, and neighbours happens here too. Don’t stand for hate. Share your art, stories and positivity here.”

It even features the city’s emblem but the words “City of Vancouver” are replaced with “Do Better Vancouver.”

The people behind the sign call themselves Day0lds and hope it raises awareness about assaults happening in the area — often targeting people in the LGBTQ+ community.

“Violence and hate in the area that one would assume is the most — should be the most — welcoming and safe space for these individuals is being targeted and weaponized,” says a member of the group, who wants to remain anonymous.

The sign, which was still standing as of Monday afternoon, was put up over the weekend at the corner of Davie and Thurlow, which is the site of at least two widely-reported assaults over the past year.

In August, Justin Morisette with Sportsnet 650 was left with a broken leg after he confronted a group blaring homophobic rhetoric over loudspeakers at the intersection. Several months prior, 46-year-old Andrew Kurra was left with permanent brain damage after being assaulted near the same corner.

But the group behind the sign says there have been more acts of violence in the area.

“The fact that two of those have happened in the last year alone is two too many and there are countless others. You look all the way back to even stories of like Richard Dowrey in the West End dating back to over 10 years ago, his assault at the Fountain Head Pub as a gay man,” the anonymous Day0lds member tells NEWS 1130.

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“This pattern of behaviour that a lot of people want to believe gets better year after year but seemingly isn’t getting markedly better.”

In addition to raising awareness about violence in the Davie Village, the group hopes the sign brings some beauty to a block where some “pretty ugly things have happened.”

“We definitely want to recognize that those things continue to happen and it’s unacceptable but we also wanted it to be a call to action,” says the member.

“If people can share positivity and good news and love and stories and art and whatnot in that environment … that is a heck of a lot better use of the space than these acts of violence and hate.”