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Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQ+ community is mourning the loss of cherished local activist and elder Dan Wurzer, also known as Sister Diversity Rains, who died this week at the age of 82.<\/p>\n
As Diversity Rains, Wurzer was the Reverend Mother of the Vancouver chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Abbey of the Long Cedar Canoe.<\/p>\n
Long-time friend Barb Snelgrove, a 2SLGBTQ+ community advocate and member of Canada’s Q Hall of Fame, said Wurzer’s death is a sad and sobering moment.<\/p>\n
“We’ve lost an icon in the community, and that’s never easy for anyone to grab a handle on,” she told CBC’s On The Coast.<\/p>\n
The sisters describe themselves as an order of 21st-century queer nuns who use “humour, irreverent wit and glamorous manifestation” to transform oppressive social structures. The charity has a long history of supporting people living with HIV and AIDS.<\/p>\n
Snelgrove said the sisters often referred to Wurzer as the “Energizer Bunny nun.”<\/p>\n
“If there was a community event, if there was a rally, if there was a drag show, if there was an opening, you know, an artist opening, if there was a march \u2014 Dan was there,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Diversity was there \u2014 with wimple proudly on head, full makeup, and just spreading joy.”<\/p>\n
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Dan Wurzer, right (in purple), also called Sister Diversity Rains, was a 2SLGBTQ+ community advocate in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. (Submitted by Barb Snelgrove\/@megamouthmedia)<\/p>\n
Snelgrove said Wurzer didn’t join the sisters until he was 70.<\/p>\n
“That’s a time when most of us are really slowing down, and Dan just grabbed the baton and ran with it.”<\/p>\n
Many friends have shared tributes to Wurzer on social media, highlighting his community work at Pride celebrations and events across the Lower Mainland.<\/p>\n
The Vancouver Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, using they\/them pronouns for Wurzer, said in a Facebook post that the advocate frequently documented community events as a photographer.<\/p>\n
“Their memory will live on through the lives they touched and the stories we continue to share.”<\/p>\n