A Queer Perspective on the COVID-19 Vaccine

As someone who is gay, I’m part of a marginalized community that has needed to protest, participate in civil disobedience, and continually advocate to live. In the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was in full force. Because HIV/AIDS predominantly impacted gay men, which most people in power didn’t care about at the time, governments paid little attention as they saw it as a “gay disease.” Some in power even saw it as some sort of punishment from God.

We know today that HIV/AIDS is a disease that impacts all people though it still disproportionately impacts marginalized people.

I have gay friends who lived through the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which they called “the plague.” They called it that because they lost countless friends. Many also lost partners. People can only take so much before they start taking action.

Silence = Death. A sign used by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fleshmanpix/7650195616/

The drug AZT, a potential cancer therapy drug from the 1960s, showed promise in treating HIV. It was one of the first treatments for HIV. People needed to protest and participate in civil disobedience to get governments and pharmaceutical companies to study the drug and let people participate in potentially life-saving treatment.

Fighting for access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment isn’t a thing of the past. It wasn’t until 2018 that the Government of BC provided free, expanded access to PrEP. This drug is a highly effective treatment to prevent HIV infections, which scientists first proved effective in 2010. Access to this drug is still limited in most of the world.

So what does this have to do with getting a COVID-19 vaccine? I’ve heard the stories of “the plague,” I know people who can manage HIV successfully with medication, and I know people who are on PrEP.

The right to getting treatments and preventative drugs for HIV was hard-fought. When the COVID-19 vaccine became available, I wanted to get it right away. Why would I turn down a life saving vaccine that helps reduce the likelihood of getting and spreading a deadly virus?

As part of a community devastated by a virus in the past, I want to do what I can to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and my likelihood of getting ill today.

Does Langley City Need a Tree Protection Bylaw? Take My Survey to Let Me Know

In 2010, Langley City proposed a tree protection bylaw that would fine people between $1,000 and $10,000 if they remove healthy trees on private property with a 20cm or larger diameter. Due to public feedback, this bylaw never moved forward.

With hotter summers and renewed understanding of the critical services that trees provide in cleaning the air, cooling our cities, and preventing soil erosion, some people have suggested that it is time to revisit a tree protection bylaw. What do you think? Take my survey, and let me know.

Go to the survey

Public Feedback Requested for Subdivision and Development Servicing Bylaw

In early July, I posted about Langley City’s proposed new Subdivision and Development Servicing Bylaw. This bylaw is important as it outlines:

• Waste management requirements during construction
• Standards for lot grading
• Standards and best engineering practices for storm/rainwater management, water distribution, sanitary sewer system, roadway design, landscaping, trail design, streetlight, traffic signal design, and water meters
• Road cross-sections that accommodate safer, separated infrastructure for walking and cycling, roundabouts, and high-quality streetscapes
• Storm sewer management requirements that incorporate the impacts of climate change into its design

For single-family housing zones, which are not subject to council approving development permits as per BC law, this proposed new bylaw, combined with the zoning bylaw, dictates site preparation for redevelopment, density, lot coverage, and siting of buildings on a lot.

Langley City is seeking public feedback on the proposed new Subdivision and Development Servicing Bylaw.

For more information, please visit Langley City’s website or contact Hirod Gill at hgill@langleycity.ca by August 27, 2021.

From grey to green, how Langley City will tackle the heat island effect

Recently, Nathan Griffiths published an article in the Vancouver Sun about the heat island effect in urban areas. He noted that in Langley City, “asphalt and other heat-absorbing materials from malls, parking lots and businesses, pushed surface temperatures to among the highest in the region.”

As someone who is currently living in an industrial and commercial area, I can attest to the facts of that article. Langley City is actively working to reduce the amount of “grey” in our community to reduce the heat island effect, among other environmental initiatives.

View from my apartment. Select image to enlarge.

Motor vehicle parking creates much of the “grey” space in our community. As part of the proposed new Official Community Plan for Langley City, which is currently waiting for approval by the Metro Vancouver Board, the City is reducing the amount of parking required in our community, especially near SkyTrain stations.

East of 200th Street and north of 53rd Avenue, the City will create “a public parking strategy, complete with potential parking pricing approaches” to manage parking spaces. The City will combine this parking management with shared parking and reduced or no on-site parking requirements to free up space for more green infrastructure.

A recent concrete example is an apartment project near Nicomekl Elementary School. Langley City’s Advisory Design Panel recommended more green space for the project. In response, the project’s proponent removed five visitor parking spaces to plant more shrubs and trees.

The new Official Community Plan strongly discourages surface parking lots, but if built, the City has strong environmental considerations as part of the proposed Official Community Plan.

The City will require permeable pavers in large paved areas to ensure that rain is absorbed into the ground for parking lots.

The City will also require parking lots to contain smaller parking areas with significant landscaping and a minimum of one tree for every six parking spaces.

On the topic of trees, the City will require street trees as part of all new development projects. These trees will further help reduce the heat island effect.

The City also plans to build more open spaces and greenways, as shown in the following map.

Map of proposed new plazas, open spaces, and greenways. Select image to enlarge.

While Langley City has many “grey” spaces today, which leads to the heat island effect, the new proposed Official Community Plan contains policies to green our community.