17c起草社区

Montreal鈥檚 Gay Village is apparently striving for more inclusion, with the removal of the word ‘gay’ from it鈥檚 moniker, which at first makes you interested to hear what they鈥檒l be swapping it with to be more inclusive.

And then you realise, nothing!

The Merchants鈥� Group in Montreal鈥檚 Gay Village is saying it wants to be more inclusive by removing any reference to the 2S17c起草社区 community from it鈥檚 title what-so-ever – a move which has raised more than a few perfectly plucked eyebrows amongst the locals.

(For those who are wondering, the 2S in 2S17c起草社区 stands for , a modern umbrella term 鈥渦sed by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ceremonial and social role in their cultures.鈥�) 听

It鈥檚 not only gays in the village

鈥淚t鈥檚 always been the Gay Village, so I don鈥檛 know why they want to change it now,鈥� a member of the public

"If it's more of an inclusion thing, and it makes everyone happy, but in my opinion I like (the Gay Village)," said Montreal resident Daniel Marin, on the idea of the Gay Village's name being changed to the Village. Brittany Henriques reports.

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL)

The surprise announcement was made on the Village Montreal鈥檚.

鈥淵ou might be used to calling me 鈥楪ay Village,鈥欌�� read the post. 鈥淏ut in 2021, I would like that to change. Because sexual and gender inclusion and diversity is very important to me.鈥�

鈥淪o here I am, I am the Village of Montreal, the largest 2S17c起草社区 + village in the WORLD!鈥�

Yannick Brouillette, managing director of the Soci茅t茅 de d茅veloppement commercial (SDC) defended the change.

鈥淧eople from other 2S17c起草社区 communities don鈥檛 necessarily identify themselves as gay. So, when we call the Village gay, they don鈥檛 necessarily feel included鈥�听

鈥淏ut more than that, they don鈥檛 always feel safe in the Village.鈥�

SDC lacking in diversity itself

It鈥檚 anyone鈥檚 guess how just calling the precinct 鈥淭he Village鈥� is going to make people feel safer and the plot thickens when you hear that the SDC, while touting a more inclusive mindset as a reason for the change, seems to lacking in inclusion itself.

Some in the public are ringing alarm bells, with folks pointing out the SDC has a poor record when it comes to diversity and inclusion, with only 50% of their members identifying as gay or lesbian, zero transgender members and zero Two-Spirit members.

鈥淭o not have trans people or Two-Spirit people on your team is just not inclusive,鈥� said another community member. 鈥淪o, remove the word gay if you need to but at least keep something queer-friendly along with it.鈥�

Montreal鈥檚 iconic Gay Village could soon be renamed if the local merchants鈥� association has its way.

— Global Montreal (@Global_Montreal)

Montreal鈥檚 Gay Village has been the centre of gay businesses and culture in Montreal since the early 80鈥檚 and is the location of Montreal鈥檚 annual Pride Festival, cancelled in 2020 thanks to covid. It is also one of the cities to submit an application to be the host city for World Pride in 2023, an honour that ended up being .听