JonnyB

Hey guys, first post so please be gentle...have spent quite some time reading through hundreds of threads here...great forum!
Anyway, I am 24 and my partner is 20 - we have lived together for over 18 months, but during that time we have been subjected to constant homophobia from the local youths (graffiti, verbal/physical abuse, bricks through window, car keyed, fireworks through letterbox etc). The police have been useless and it has been difficult for us to move due to me owning the house and needing to finish off my MA degree. I don't want this to sound as if it is a trigger reaction to awful experiences that make us want to leave the country...there are many things we have considered that would improve our quality of life. BC is the area we have swayed towards, we are going to spend 3 months out there next summer, but know that there are some things that will be more difficult to find out than others. We are not comitted to having to work since we both have okay incomes from websites, which would continue out there - so we want to move to a waterfront acerage in a fairly rural area. However, rural areas tend to be more homophobic and I just wondered whether this is an issue in BC (especially around the kootenay and Okanagan areas). It will obviously be very different to living in the city where there is a constant flow of people outside the house with hundreds of people living within metres...but I just wanted some opinions on this. There are obviously never any guarantees - you never know what the neighbours will be like etc. Anyway, sorry for the long post..I have loads of other questions but this is one I couldn't find much about (other than gay bars having bullet proof glass in calgary , with alberta being really homophobic!).
Thanks for your time,
JB

yonk

Welcome, I can't really help you with your query but I thought I would say hi.

I've just moved from the pink triangle in Edinburgh, where you wouldn't encounter as much, if any, hostility! But I would imagine, as in the UK, your experience will depend on the thoughts of individual local people & therefore, nowhere is guaranteed 100% friendly.

Bleech

Hi JB,
Welcome to the forum.
Not that clued up on the gay scene in Kelowna, but I'll tell you my experiences so far.
Pretty mixed reactions I'd say. My wife's brother is gay and coming over to visit early next year, so we've been testing the water a bit. I've heard quite a few "I'm not homophobic, but I don't agree with it" attitudes from some of locals with sun burnt necks! which was a bit of a surprise to us.
There is a gay pride in Kelowna, but it's only just become "gay pride", before that it was just called "pride" as people complained about the gay bit
But overall I'd say the majority of people that I've met are pretty chilled and intelligent enough to accept without any prejudice. Pretty sure you wouldn't have firebombs through the door and burnt at the stake here

Londonuck

Hello mate

Good friend of mine still lives in gay area of Vancouver, around Davie St., and he used to say it was a bit homophobic out in the sticks. They always head to Vancouver Island and Tofino for their hols.

Good luck fella.

Tableland

Unless you have Canadian citizenship I would first worry about how you are going to get there. The waiting list for a skilled federal worker application is around 4 years, and is contingent on you having some kind of skill to offer Canada. I'm not sure what "incomes from websites" means, but you would need to prove to Canada that you have some kind of skill and a certain amount of work-place experience to go with it. If on the other hand your "incomes from websites" constitutes a professional business and is significant, you could look at applying for a business visa perhaps. When you have this part of the puzzle sorted, you could start looking at what areas suit you best.

JonnyB

Hey guys, thanks for the responses...getting other peoples thoughts and experiences is always useful! I am used to people commenting 'I don't agree with it' or whatever, and to be honest it doesn't really bother me a lot - it is when people get threatening or violent towards me, nick or our property that I find it hard...and it is just so common around here.
re tableland: obviously that has been our primary concern, but there is a lot more info available on that. We're also be staging our move - it wont be another few years that we'd be living out there all year round (I am right in saying that we could spend six months each year out there though?). I will have my MA, and undergrad, plus quite a lot of experience in academia that would qualify under the skilled worker programme. The income from websites is about £25k a year between us before tax, and we will have about £150k from this house sale and savings in cash so a business visa is a possibility but I was under the impression that it would involve an investment in a business etc, whereas the income involves very little work and would certainly need no investment/employment etc. So I thought skilled worker would be the way forward - it doesn't mean I actually have to work when I am there...just that I could do..?
JB

Gray C

What is it you do for a living that earns you such good money from a website? Sorry if you think I am being nosey, but we are racking our brains as to how best to earn a living in Canada ourselves.

Just curious really.

britishvixen21

I cant comment on BC but two of my best freinds here in Toronto are gay and Toronto is very very liberal towards the gay community which is huge here. Pride pulls around a million ppl here. i know that BC and Toronto are a world apart but i find Canadians in general very liberal towards different sexual orientations.

Good Luck to you both.

dbd33

South of the 401. Once one gets as far as Orangeville it's another world. I'd guess rural BC to be about as tolerant as rural anywhere else in North America. Wyoming, for example.

yonk

I was wondering too, some other poster also had a web based business and it sounds ideal.....

Tableland

As you are young, the 4 year wait is not a problem for you, but for many older people it has a sort of kryptonite power of deterrence. Once you are in Canada as a permanent resident via the skilled worker programme, you will of course not be obliged to work (legally not necessarily morally...), if you have some other method of income.

You might also consider the PNPs as well, as these can often expedite the entire process.

NessieOggy

Hi JB

Found this link that might give you some useful information and contacts in the Okanagan Valley.

http://www.gaycanada.com/okanagan-pr...anizations.htm

Cheers

Oggy

Gray C

No reply. Oh well I thought as much.

At least some sort of response would have been appreciated, even if it was not to give too much detail. If you mention in an open post that you get a website income, you must have expected some people to ask questions and be prepared to give a reply. We do not expect fine detail, but a general idea would be nice.

If you want a response from us to your questions, it would be nice for you to reciprocate a bit.

britishvixen21

He may just be at work? it was only today that he posted. patience is a virtue

DB33 - I hear ya about the whole North of orangeville bit, my inlaws are 20 clicks north of there and you cant even say homosexual without a gun being pointed at you!

Gray C

OK. Maybe, we shall see