Jamie Lee Hamilton (September 20, 1955 – December 23, 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

political candidate and advocate of aboriginal people, residents of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

's poverty-stricken

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homeles ...

, and

sex trade The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related ...

workers. She was an independent candidate for the publicly elected Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation in the city's 2008 municipal election, after being controversially blocked from running on the

Non-Partisan Association The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) ...

ticket."Jamie Lee Hamilton calls Peter Ladner a "closeted Republican"
, ''

Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'', September 2, 2008. Hamilton was a lifelong resident of the Downtown Eastside and

Strathcona, Vancouver Strathcona is the oldest residential neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Officially a part of the East Side, it is bordered by Downtown Vancouver's Chinatown neighbourhood and the False Creek inlet (across Main Street) to th ...

. She ran for

Vancouver City Council Vancouver City Council is the governing body of Vancouver, British Columbia. The council consists of a mayor and ten councillors elected to serve a four-year term. Monthly, a deputy mayor is appointed from among the councillors. The current may ...

in 1996, becoming the first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

person to run for political office in Canada.''Peace River Block News'' Dawson Creek, BC; 1995 December 15, page 8.

Early life

Jamie Lee Hamilton was the child of Ralph Hamilton and Alice Hamilton. Ralph was an immigrant from Washington State, with Irish roots, who championed the unity of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Ralph was also a union organizer with the Foundry Workers' Union. Alice was from the Rocky Boy Band and became a leader of the aboriginal community in Vancouver. She was a founder of the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre in 1954. She was a cannery worker and member of the

United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union The United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union was established in 1945 in British Columbia through the merger of the United Fishermen's Federal Union and the Fish, Cannery and Reduction Plant and Allied Workers Union. It represents fishermen, sho ...

(UFAWU). She was one of the Militant Mothers of Raymur who blockaded the

Burlington Northern Railway The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

tracks to demand an overpass for the children of Raymur housing project to attend school. In 1967, Hamilton's parents co-founded the Unemployed Citizens Welfare Improvement Council (UCWIC) along with later-to-be Member of Parliament Margaret Anne Mitchell, tenants advocate Margaret Ellen Mitchell, and others. They also were among the first members of the

Downtown Eastside Residents' Association The Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) was a non-profit society in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, operating from 1973 until 2010. The association was founded by Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies, Jean Swanson, University of Victoria ...

(DERA). Hamilton attended

Lord Strathcona Elementary School The Vancouver School Board (VSB; officially School District 39 Vancouver) is a school district based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A board of nine trustees normally manages this district that serves the city of Vancouver and the Uni ...

Britannia Secondary School , motto_translation = Through The Right Way , founded = 1908 , schoolboard = School District 39 Vancouver , superintendent = Helen McGregor , trustee = tba , number ...

, and

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshin ...

. In 1968, in the Moccasin for Miles, she walked from Vancouver to

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

. Beginning in her youth, Hamilton worked in the sex trade and became an advocate of the various communities of which she was a member. In 1970, she was the first youth to be treated in Canada for gender identity disorder. Her doctor was William Maurice of the

Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) is an acute care hospital affiliated with the University of British Columbia and located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. The VHHSC is the second largest hospital i ...

Career

Hamilton served on the board of directors of the Greater Vancouver Native Cultural Society, which has served the aboriginal two-spirited community since 1978. Hamilton was a writer, entertainer, and guest lecturer in Women's and Gender Studies at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

and

, her alma mater. At the time of her death, she was working on a research project at the

, "The Expulsion of Sex Workers from Vancouver's West End, 1975–1985", as she was one of those expelled by the court ruling.

Controversies

In 2000, Hamilton was charged with running a bawdy house when it was revealed she allowed some sex workers to use an East End property as a brothel and safe house, charging them $15 per visit to cover expenses. A year later, ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' reported Hamilton used money from her government-funded drop-in centre to help finance her 1999 city council campaign. At the time, Hamilton said her campaign would repay some of those expenditures which had been approved by the drop-in centre's board of directors. In August 2008, Hamilton was preparing a human rights complaint against the

, the city's governing party, after it rejected her as a parks board candidate, which she alleges was due to an advertisement she had placed on ShemaleCanada.com, an online meeting place for transgender individuals. This account conflicted with the NPA board's own explanation that neither her gender identity nor her work in the sex trade were factors in her suitability for candidacy. Her complaint was supported by a number of prominent local figures, including former NPA city councillor Alan Herbert, Little Sister's founder Jim Deva, and incumbent park commissioners Loretta Woodcock and

Spencer Herbert Spencer Chandra Herbert is a Canadian politician who serves in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Canada. Representing the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), he won an October 2008 by-election in the electoral distric ...

Death

Hamilton died at age 64 on December 23, 2019. She had been in

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

care in

Grandview–Woodland Grandview–Woodland, also commonly known as Grandview–Woodlands, is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to the east of the downtown area, stretching south from the shores of Burrard Inlet and encompassing portions of the popu ...

since December 9.

References

*"An Interview with Jamie Lee Hamilton" by Matt Hern, ''Crank'' journal, Vancouver, BC; 2001 September, issue number 1, pages 39–43, 65. *"Jamie Lee Hamilton: Sex Trade Worker Advocate" interview by Day Helesic, ''SubTerrain'' journal, Vancouver, BC; 2001 November, issue number 32, pages 35 to 37.

External links