Angela Dawson was born in 1968 and was named Jeffery Alan Dawson by her parents. She testified that she was born intersex, but that she was assigned the male gender designation at birth at her father’s insistence. She says that since her teens, she has identified as female.
Ms. Dawson says she had a difficult childhood, and was abused by her father as a child. She says that she escaped from her abusive home at around sixteen years of age. Ms. Dawson has limited education. She has never graduated high school and reads at a grade six or seven level.
Ms. Dawson said, in an affidavit, that she is not violent or aggressive by nature. However, her criminal record shows that she has a criminal history with the police for violence, offensive weapons, B&E, theft, drugs, fraud, sex, other criminal code offenses, failure to attend, and arson. Ms. Dawson was also convicted of manslaughter. She spent at least ten years in a male penitentiary.
Ms. Dawson says she was raped several times during her incarceration. While incarcerated, Ms. Dawson says she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and she began hormone therapy. When Ms. Dawson was released from prison, she was released in British Columbia. She says she came to BC because of the availability of gender reassignment surgery through the Gender Dysphoria Clinic here.
Ms. Dawson lives with a number of chronic physical and psychological conditions that are not relevant to this case and which I will not describe in order to preserve what little is left of her privacy.
Ms. Dawson testified that she loves to direct traffic. She says that she directs traffic at busy intersections, including Main and Hastings, Broadway and Commercial, and Broadway and Cambie. She says that she began directing traffic after she saw a fatal accident between a truck and a pedestrian. She says she likes to help people cross the intersections, and feels that her role in the community is important.
When directing traffic, Ms. Dawson always wears rollerblades and often wears big headphones and brightly coloured clothing. She testified that rollerblades are her primary method of transportation. She describes her rollerblades as “her life”, wears them everywhere. She claims to be a very active and athletic person, and says physical activity helps her manage.
Virtually all officers of the VPB who work in the Downtown Eastside (“DTES”) testified that they know Ms. Dawson and they knew her as someone who likes to direct traffic on rollerblades. Usually they have spoken to her about the safety of her actions and some of them issued tickets to her.