[The following letter was submitted in response to the Feb. 15, 2022 op-ed "Everyone deserves to feel safe in Vancouver. Period." by Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart.]
I agree that Mayor Stewart doesn't take our safety in Vancouver seriously, however, I have a different take on the situation.
Last March 21, a Sunday morning, I was waiting for a bus at Davie and Cardero. Two men were also there. It was raining, so I made room under the shelter for one of them. The second guy said: "Stay away from me you ugly dyke."
I replied "Are you serious? I'm just making room" and he says "Cool story bro."
Over the next few minutes, they laughed at me and said I belonged in this part of town with the "homos."
When the bus arrived, I was relieved to see that it was a female driver. I stepped up first and told her that I wasn't feeling safe. I felt two punches in my back and then one of the guys pushed me into the farebox and they both got on and sat down.
By the time we reached Thurlow a bystander stood up and told them to stop with the gay slurs. At the next stop, one of them got up, took my phone out of my hand and ran off the bus towards Burnaby Street. Thankfully, three witnesses helped me and found the building he ran into. So, with help from the building's security, we had a pic of the guy and they called 911 for me.
Here is where I agree with Mayor Stewart. The VPD called back an hour later and told me that it was a Transit Police issue.
At that point, the security in the building got my address and promised to send the police to my home when they showed up.
They didn't show up until Tuesday. Two days later.
There are things that haunt me from my treatment by the police, but I won't go into it here. I'll just say that the witnesses that helped me are angels and they are why I love Vancouver. My treatment by the police has left me more traumatized than the actual assault and theft.
I just wanted to give another perspective on this story. Thank you for your time.
Kristy, Vancouver
