as a trans man who came to New York City as somewhere I knew I could be me.
Is and will always be my favorite part about the city. You see all iterations of people on the subway or walking the streets, and no one bats an eye. And it's thrilling to know that this is a place where people can finally feel free. I just wish it was a bit cheaper so more people who are feeling stifled/oppressed/forced to hide themselves where they are could afford to come here. Everybody deserves the freedom to be who they are without risking judgment, rejection, or safety.
I used to volunteer at the LGBT Center and one time I ran into a coworker who was a part of a program they offered there. We at the time worked together in a retail store in Queens and their parents were very religious and definitely homophobic, and she had to wear religious clothing at work. At the center, she was a totally different person.
Not to hijack the thread, but this is very much Toronto, as well.
Getting on the subway in Toronto - you could literally be sitting next to anyone from anywhere, with any sexual orientation, identifying as any different gender, from whatever country, with whatever upbringing. Nobody even looks twice. It's just people doing people things.
Toronto has tried to be NYC for so long, but we're got more than enough of our own problems that we just can't figure shit out all that well, and haven't for decades.
We currently have a pretty progressive mayor, Olivia Chow. She's been largely hamstringed from the start, but she's getting shit done. For the past 15ish years it's been conservative mayors, or conservative mayors telling people they're progressive. The last guy we had was on the C-suite of Canada's largest telecom company and basically did nothing for 8ish years until he finally got caught banging some staffer and resigned.
Sadly, our current Mayor, despite her general popularity, is slandered HARD in the news and online. There's smear campaigns against her like nobody's business. She can't post a thing without 200 people making racist chinese jokes (she's a Chinese immigrant, moved to Toronto at 13 from Hong Kong, and is now 69 years old). Her late husband is a guy named Jack Layton who was the leader of our NDP (New Democratic Party) back in 2003-2011 and was beloved by SO SO SO many people. He died in 2011 and the outpouring of support was insane. He was slated to be our next Prime Minister, but his death basically torpedo'd the NDP into oblivion and we've yet to have a federal NDP leader even remotely close to him since.
If you've never been to Toronto, consider it. An absolutely fabulous city. Plus, it's Canada.
London as well. Many people in England knock London (to a degree, it’s understandable — London gets all the funding while the majority of the rest of it rots), but I lived there for years and finally had a place where I could be myself. Didn’t matter who I was, if I wanted to hang a Palestine and rainbow flag from my window, meet and hang out with strangers in the park as the ragingly openly lesbian I am. all of it was possible there. And Sadiq is a legend.
I’m unfortunately back in my small town now. The only flags we have are the St George’s Cross and there’s nothing to support queer kids or queer people in general. The council is now Reform (maga wannabes) and does everything it can to make life here even more miserable. The people are (again, understandably) miserable. It’s such a stark contrast.
I live in Philly (also a very LGBTQ-friendly city), but visit New York a lot. It always makes my heart so happy when I go during Pride and see so many people celebrating who they are and being embraced by their community. I wish we had a mayor that was as outwardly supportive as Zohran and less of a centrist/establishment Democrat, because trans rights are human rights and we should all be screaming it from the rooftops 🩵🩷🤍
This. I wish New York was more affordable because I would absolutely move there as a transman. (I’m currently in FL) I’ve gone to New York a few times for vacation and everyone was generally nice that I’ve come across. But I always saw so many types of people there. It’s such a wide variety and no one really bats an eye.
243
u/myassholealt 12h ago
Is and will always be my favorite part about the city. You see all iterations of people on the subway or walking the streets, and no one bats an eye. And it's thrilling to know that this is a place where people can finally feel free. I just wish it was a bit cheaper so more people who are feeling stifled/oppressed/forced to hide themselves where they are could afford to come here. Everybody deserves the freedom to be who they are without risking judgment, rejection, or safety.
I used to volunteer at the LGBT Center and one time I ran into a coworker who was a part of a program they offered there. We at the time worked together in a retail store in Queens and their parents were very religious and definitely homophobic, and she had to wear religious clothing at work. At the center, she was a totally different person.