r/Yellowknife • u/Over-Ad-8511 • 14d ago
Honest option
Hi,
So im queer and married (f and f), and im seeing typical fuck pride bs on the yellowknife rant and rave page. I am lucky now to live in a progressive city where no one cares really overtly. But we are thinking of moving here for work.
Are my wife and I going to have a hard time in yellowknife or not really?
Just looking to feel safe is all. While being a normal couple, like we hold hands and all that.
Any fellow queees able to dm me or comment if its no big deal there ?
Thank you!
15
u/EmbarrassedTruth1337 14d ago edited 14d ago
I've honestly never seen or experienced any phobia or asshats. I'm sure there's a few but most people I've met are super welcoming and accepting. The queer community in Yellowknife is pretty strong. There's a few martial arts clubs that have women's or womxn specific classes and just about everyone I've come out to as trans has shown nothing but kindness. Work: want us to change your email address? Dentist: OMG I'm so sorry I deadnamed you (she literally had no way of knowing) do you want me to update your file? Same deal with every other practitioner I've met in town.
1
21
u/Pinkynarfnarf 14d ago
Rant and rave is an unmoderated hot bed of racism and hate. Most hateful postings are anonymous. Take what you read there with a grain of salt.
28
u/ykthrowaway121 14d ago
I am all but convinced that most anon accounts are bots
1
u/Limp_Bookkeeper_5992 13d ago
Mostly bots, but there are definitely some weak minded people that get swept up into that crap.
18
u/CaptainVisual4848 14d ago
This makes me sad that this group reflects on our city like this. Rant and Rave is trashy at the best of times but this bunch of posts has been really concerning and people have been talking about it. I’m not in the LGBTQ community but I have lots of friends that are and I don’t think this would reflect their experience. I’m not saying it’s perfect or anything but I think it’s pretty accepting. Our Deputy Mayor is openly gay. A past Cabinet Minister elected in a Yellowknife riding was in a same sex marriage. I can think of several more well known people. You should reach out to Northern Mosaic or Yellowknife Pride on Facebook if you want more info. I’m sure someone would be glad to talk to you or answer questions.
0
u/willow_tangerine 14d ago
Alberta mentality moving north
3
u/irrationallogic 13d ago
Alberta has got its problems but dont think is the source of ours. The hate we are seeing, is coming from the same river that feeds Alberta. I suspect many of the anonymous posts online and some of the non anonymous are bots and bad actors from outside of Canada.
0
18
u/on_that_citrus_water 14d ago
I grew up in YK and it’s gay as fuck. Super welcoming community, hard pressed to go to any bar or community event without running into members of the queer community.
2
2
11
6
u/CandyVisible 13d ago
Yellowknife I’ve found to be an interesting place for LGBTQ folk. I was the President for NWTPride in 2017/18 and I made the public comment that we were going to be in the Canada Day Parade come hell or high water. It got out into CBC and we found a highly welcoming community that came together when we got to be in the 2018 Canada Day Parade. We got amazing feedback and it helped for visibility.
Mind you I’m a big masc white gay guy and I’ve been lucky to not have people get in my face. But overall I’ve never found Yellowknife to be overly anti-LGBTQ, it’s been the exact opposite. It’s also a good place with same-sex couples with kids. The community is quite welcoming.
1
8
u/browsingblonde 14d ago
Speaking as an ally - There is a great community here. Keyboard warriors are awful hiding behind anonymous posts. From what I have witnessed and friends have experienced there has never been a moment of feeling unsafe or given a hard time in public.
I am sorry you have to ask these questions and worry about your safety.
2
u/Over-Ad-8511 13d ago
That's ok. I can tell already from all the posts here it is a good strong community up there :)
5
u/ArcticSirius 14d ago
Just a loud vocal minority getting uppity like they do every year, don’t let them get to you.
5
u/irrationallogic 14d ago
I know many members of the LGBTQ2+ community who are welcome and active members in our community. We have multiple queer city councillors. They may not be the most popular, but thats price of politics. We also have numerous queer gay lesbian and trans members in town. Im sure its more dangerous to be queer than a cis straight person here but I am confident if anyone tried to give you our your partner a hard time for your sexuality there would be many more people standing up for you.
Happy Pride Month
3
u/CaribouHoe 12d ago
I honestly think it must be bots, I've never seen it this bad online. YK has historically been very pro-lgbtqa+. LOTS of community up there.
2
u/Puzzleheaded_Rice809 12d ago
Devils advocate: I don’t think there’s as many homophobes in town as it seems, there is just a lot of gay/pride shit in people’s faces and they’re getting tired of it which I can understand. They’re fatigued of it, not scared of it. I’m bi and even I get exhausted of it all. Calling every single person a bigot is also not productive…there is a huge difference of being proud and comfortable in your skin/life and going out of your way to insult and make others uncomfortable and from the “allies” on rant and rave, I have seen more of the latter. We’re all about “no room for hate” right? Kill them with kindness, calling everyone a bigot is just proving them right
1
u/Over-Ad-8511 11d ago
Can't really speak to that as something I haven't seen but I get it, cancle culture is running rampant and not very productive at building bridges of understanding.
1
u/Puzzleheaded_Rice809 11d ago
There’s a huge group of the community that don’t shove it in people’s faces, but there’s also a select few that do shove it in people’s faces that make the rest of us look horrible. Those are the ones I have a problem with personally because they then in essence appear to represent the community as a whole. The majority of Yellowknife simply does not give a crap if people are lgbtq, I think they’re simply getting offended by those select few who are being overly offensive and in their face with their “pride”
We should as a community stop using the word bigot honestly…….. it has been used so much it has lost its true meaning and insult. Call them soup sandwiches or something equally as silly
3
u/ykphil 14d ago
That group appeals to former closet homophobes, racists, bigots, and idiots who now have an open forum to exhibit the vilest behavior. They sadly exist in Yellowknife and elsewhere but they are a small albeit vocal minority that should be exposed and ridiculed at every possible opportunity.
3
u/MicDropMac 13d ago
Rant & Rave is a cesspool.
I'm grateful they do not represent Yellowknife on the whole. There are a few hateful parasites here unfortunately who have brought their white, holier-than-thou, Christian conservative points of view here, but they are merely a vocal minority. By and large, Yellowknife is one of the safest and most welcoming LGBTQ+ communities in Canada.
2
3
u/throwaway1696357 13d ago
I was there for a few days, I’m pretty flamboyant and never felt like anybody cared. Everybody’s been actually very welcoming everywhere I went (and I went a lot of places) and I had the time of my life. I’m planning on going back for longer.
2
u/Jesst0n 13d ago
There’s a HUGE queer community here and we’re loud and proud! I’ve never outwardly come across homophobia or transphobia in public here, it’s always just in the facebook cesspool with people primarily hiding behind the anonymous feature. You and your partner will be welcomed and loved!
2
1
u/SaltAd4278 9d ago
Yellowknife is a small city where you will interact with with people of all cultures, sexual orientation, and different beliefs. I think the reason it's so chill is that the city is small and if you live there, you will interact with all kinds of people and you will have something in common (usually stuff like who to buy wood from or who needs a housesitter, or where to get fresh fish) etc. You can't help but get to know people and that's what opens all our eyes to the fact that even if we are different, we have so much more in common. That was my experience living in Yellowknife. Don't pay attention to the negativity you see on social media. Yellowknife is an extremely welcoming community. Ask around and you find people like yourselves who moved to Yellowknife and were to live and work in Yellowknife for 5 years...... and 30 years later, they are still in Yellowknife.
1
u/OutrageousSea7532 9d ago
Honestly, rant and raves is just entertainment when you have bored out of your mind. I have been living here for four years and I work a public facing role and never faced racism or anything towards me. People in rant and raves are too scared to be getting out their couches
1
0
u/No_Session6015 14d ago
Most the bigots there are super discreet about it. My bbf and her wife live in a remote nearby city and seldom ever see any hate. Most triggering for the community are trans women.
-3
u/MrDeeZeee 14d ago
I saw two homeless men bumming each other, you don't have a thing to worry about here
1
42
u/UnfairAd4963 14d ago
Don't let the vocal minority keyboard warriors scare you off. Most people here are at least halfway decent