Jamie Pine and his boyfriend Regg Acervo were riding the SkyTrain on Jan. 29 in Vancouver when they noticed a man glaring at them. As the two of them got off the train, they noticed that the man was following them.
“My boyfriend just said, ‘Run,’” Pine told CBC. Pine said that the man chased them from the platform to outside the station, where he started to scream homophobic slurs at them. Feeling unsafe, Pine recorded the man and uploaded a video of the verbal attack to TikTok.
“If you’re boyfriends, get a fucking hotel room. We don’t need to see that fucking shit in public!” the man screamed. “Don’t like it? Get the fuck out of Canada.” (A 34-year-old man from Chillawack has since been arrested in connection with the attack, as well as on an unrelated charge, per CBC.)
The video went viral and sparked immediate public outcry, both in the form of comments on Pine’s TikToks and in responses from politicians and local queer advocates. B.C. premier David Eby immediately reacted on Twitter, decrying the homophobia that the men faced.
“Jamie, I’m sorry this happened to you and your boyfriend. This is disgusting behaviour. If two people in love makes someone this angry—they’re the problem, not you. We must always stand up against racism, homophobia and all other forms of hate,” he wrote.
Mayor Ken Sim echoed Eby’s sentiments.
“Hateful and bigoted comments are never acceptable in Vancouver, or anywhere else. This is an important reminder of work that we must do to combat racism and homophobia in our city,” Sim tweeted.
Pine received an outpouring of support—but he said that the support came with just as much homophobic bullying and harassment.
“The support is great, but with all that support comes negativity,” Pine told CBC. “I’ve received quite a lot of that online.”
Pine’s experience—both online and in Vancouver—isn’t unique, according to local advocates. Michael Robach, who manages development and communications for the Vancouver-based LGBTQ2S+ support organization Qmunity, told CBC that comments like the ones Pine received are all too common.
“People behind a keyboard feel like they can just say anything to anyone without any consequence,” he said. “The reality is, when you read hateful comments, it validates insecurities that you already have inside your mind.”
Fae Johnstone, the executive director of Halifax-based consulting firm Wisdom2Action, told CTV News that the kind of online hatred Pine experienced is driving real-life hatred—with this instance being only one example.
“That started in America through far-right groups, and it’s also growing here as they translate online rhetoric into in-person harassment,” Johnstone said. “And that is what we should all be on guard against.
“Events like this aren’t all that uncommon…. Across Canada, we are seeing an unprecedented surge in anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate,” Johnstone continued. “This is connected to far-right groups that are mobilizing all across the country, targeting drag events and targeting inclusion in schools.”
This surge in anti-LGBTQ2S+ hatred isn’t without consequences. Robach said that from June to September 2022, Qmunity saw a 23 percent increase in demand for their mental health services, the largest spike they’ve seen in years. Still, Robach said that he felt hopeful for the future, and wants there to be greater policy changes that protect LGBTQ2S+ people.
“In spite of this uptick in anti-LGBTQ2S+ hatred, there is space here for our community,” Robach told CBC. “There is so much to celebrate.”
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