Triple-X History

10th Annual RED UMBRELLA MARCH
For Sex Work Solidarity, June 11, 2022

Freedom To Associate Is Our Right!

Saturday, June 11, 2022, marked the 10th annual Vancouver Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity. This year, the Red Umbrella March was more important than ever, because the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Human Rights is set to release its report on Canada's new laws that prohibit the purchase of sexual services (Criminal Code s. 286) before June 23. For more information: triple-x.org/freedomtoassociate

The annual Red Umbrella March is held in Vancouver every second Saturday in June to commemorate the first Red Umbrellas March in Venice, June 8, 2001. Just as the Venice Red Umbrellas March was determined to disrupt the public sphere and draw attention to the historical and geographical social history of sex workers, Vancouver's Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity strives to draw lines through time and space that show that sex workers are loved and revered in our communities, regardless of perceived stigma and prejudice.

Our message came through, loud and clear it seems, according to this very supportive reporting in two of B.C.'s mainstream media:

"A group of sex workers and supporters gathered today at the Vancouver Art Gallery this afternoon protesting what they call Canada's unjust prostitution laws. For ten years, Vancouver sex workers their allies and families have held the Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity. The group is challenging Bill C-36 passed in 2014 the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. They allege the sections of law violate sex workers' rights to security, personal autonomy, life and freedom of expression.

"We're out here to kind of change the popular opinion, to show that we are actually we're beloved. Canada loves its sex workers. Don’t believe the laws." [Andrew Sorfleet, Triple-X Workers’ Solidarity Association of B.C. president]

"Tonight, Vancouver City Hall will be lit in red to mark the milestone. Red Umbrella Marches for sex workers began in Venice in 2001. It has since become an international movement with marches taking place in cities around the world."

"Sex workers and allies marched through Vancouver Saturday as a part of the Annual Red Umbrella March. The event now in its tenth year is a protest against Canada's prostitution laws which currently make buying sex illegal. The march’s organizers argue those laws infringe on sex workers' freedoms, increase the stigma against them and make the profession more dangerous. This year is an important one for the march because a parliamentary committee recently conducted hearings for a review of the prostitution laws introduced by the Harper government in 2014. The report for that review is expected to arrive later this month."

In addition, Vancouver City Hall was lit in red to mark the milestone event. Thank you to Kit at PACE Society and City of Vancouver, and to Louise for riding her bicycle up to City Hall and taking such beautiful photos:

Vancouver City Hall lights up red for RUM 2022. Photo: Louise Boilevin.

Vancouver City Hall lights up red for RUM 2022. Photo: Louise Boilevin.

As president of Triple-X, I would like to extend our deep thanks and gratitude to our co-sponsors who really pitched this year to create such a successful milestone event: Pivot Legal Society, PACE Society, SWAN Vancouver Society, B.C. Coalition of Experiential Communities (BCCEC) and the B.C. Bad Dates and Aggressors Reporting Project (BCBDAR). Thank you to our police escort team, Emergency and Operational Planning Section, Vancouver Police Department for keeping our marchers safe in very busy Saturday downtown traffic.

Also, I want to acknowledge our sincere appreciation for our dedicated volunteers (who provided critical labour infrastructure) Brook and the New West Tenants Union. Thank you very much for contributions in the form of financial donations (which make this event possible) Rob and Diane, Pivot, Will and Howard. Thank you to the other Triple-X board of directors, for all your contributions, your time, advice and resources, and your confidence that make all of this realizable: Anna, Howard, Kerry, Tracy, Will. And last, but so important, thank you to everyone who took time out on a beautiful Canadian summer Saturday, to come and lend your voice, your presence and your support; and marched through Vancouver's downtown streets to fight Canada's unjust prostitution laws. You make it all real.

Also, thank you so very much to Kemal and Tikki-Tikki pedicabs, without whom I could not have participated in the march this year. What a beautiful ride!

Kemal from Tikki-Tikki with Kerry Porth, Andrew Sorfleet, Louise Boilevin. Photo: Louise Boilevin.

In solidarity,
Andrew Sorfleet, president,
Triple-X Workers' Solidarity Association of B.C.

The Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity acknowledges the unceded homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Sex Workers, Allies, Family and Friends Mark 10 Years Fighting Unjust Laws: Vancouver's 10th Annual Red Umbrella March for Sex Work Solidarity, June 7, 2022

Read more about how the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act violates sex workers' Freedom to Associate: triple-x.org/freedomtoassociate.