As anti-LGBTQ2 hate grows in Canada, advocates say it’s ‘never been as scary’

The solution, they say, is education and support from allies to counter homophobia and anti-trans hate — particularly baseless accusations of pedophilia and "grooming" children.

Canadian LGBTQ2 community members and advocates say the past year has been difficult and scary amid a notable rise in hate crimes, threats and protests against drag queens and transgender people in particular.

The solution, they say, is education and support from allies to counter homophobia and anti-trans hate — particularly baseless accusations of pedophilia and “grooming” children, which they say only feeds threats and acts of violence.

“We are seeing some really great changes in terms of acceptance in society, but most queer and trans people I know are still worried about their safety,” said Fae Johnstone, executive director of Wisdom2Action, in an interview with Mercedes Stephenson on The West Block Sunday.

“I’ve been doing this work as a queer and trans advocate for a decade. It’s never been as scary out there as it is right now.”

Kyne, a drag queen who competed on the first season of Canada’s Drag Race, told Stephenson that although she’s seen more acceptance as drag becomes more mainstream, she has also faced a rise in hate over the past “weird year.”

“It’s been a year that I’ve been able to thrive as a drag queen,” said Kyne, who also teaches math online — while fully decked out in drag — to millions of followers and speaks at universities and schools across Canada and the U.S.

But “pretty much every time I do that, there’s always some sort of backlash online. I get called a groomer, a pedophile. Every organization that brings me, there’s calls to fire them. … And I’m just talking about math.”

Anti-LGBTQ2 hate has been particularly prominent in the U.S., where lawmakers are actively working to limit gender expression and discussion of queer identity in schools and hateful rhetoric has spiked in conservative media channels.