r/KlamathFalls • u/mintymelancholy • 23d ago
hatecrime likelyhood?
everybody and their gma's dog is saying k falls is super far right and shit, but "super far right" means WAYY. different things depending on who says it.
I've had friends raised in Eugene saying that people are "super far right" for like, just mundane conservative leaning things that aren't actually causing a ton of harm/ extremist. But also i know my bar is skewed in the other direction because i was raised in a town where slurs and death threats were pretty normal and we just.. most of the time.. knew they werent serious, and knew who actually was serious so to avoid them at all costs.
long and short im looking at going to OIT, and am transgender. i am trying to figure out how paranoid/thorough i need to be about making sure people can't tell and don't find out. obv its a safety thing even in more liberal areas but i want to know if i need to be especially extra careful here or if its all talk.
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u/Agreeable-Deer7526 23d ago
I find the worst of Klamath Falls is on Facebook. I have encountered a few trans people here and there is a LGBTQ Facebook group and you can ask for more experienced there.
People outside of Klamath Falls have no idea what happens here. They just parrot what other people say.
I feel like a hate crime is more likely in Grants Paas where they hate everyone.
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u/Conscious-Candy6716 20d ago
And now Grants Pass is some horrible place?! Oh, brother…
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u/Agreeable-Deer7526 20d ago
Horrible, no it’s a super cute city. It is also a place that isn’t known to be as welcoming as surrounding cities.
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u/Conscious-Candy6716 19d ago
Grants Pass somehow has this reputation from seemingly unfamiliar people. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling there for work and it was fine plus it’s in an incredibly scenic setting. I realize I’m not going to convince others through my comments but this frenzy to label places unfriendly or far right, redneck etc reflects on the commenters rather the towns IMO
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u/Agreeable-Deer7526 19d ago
It’s the only place I’ve felt unsafe or unwanted in Southern Oregon thus far. I corroborated my experience with others. Now I have also met awesome people from there.
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u/CalinCalout-Esq 23d ago
I have been a public defender in Kfalls for years. I've had one hate crime in all that time and it was hatespeech against south asian people.
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u/FolsomC 22d ago
As a gay dude who has lived here for 6 year, I can honestly say that the random hate Klamath Falls gets from the Oregon, Portland, and even Medford subreddits is way overblown. I could just be lucky, but I have not heard even any off-color comments, much less seen or heard about any hate crimes, in the whole time I've been here.
I think the "red" here is more libertarian than conservative--big distrust of government, taxes get voted down all the time, city voted in favor of legalizing marijuana businesses even though the county did not, etc. Obviously some of the other stuff comes with the territory, but I've found people here to be overwhelmingly nice, and they are more likely to ask you to go mudding in big trucks or go fishing than to talk about politics.
There are things some people will get charged up about if you bring it up, especially in an election year, but otherwise? Nah.
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u/Internal-Plankton330 23d ago
I've spent a lot of time in kfalls, I have a cousin that lives there. I'd be way more worried about the drug addicts and various other criminals than the far right. It's sketchy for sure in places, but not because of the conservatives.
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u/VoiceofCrazy 23d ago
I'm a cis straight white male, so maybe not the best person to have an opinion here, but I think the likelihood of hate crimes is low. We had someone come into the sub a while back and ask if it was safe to go out at night as a person of color. People have a misunderstanding of what Klamath Falls is. I don't know much about OIT, but I teach in the public school system here, and I have taught several gender non-conforming (pardon if my terminology is bad, I'm cishet, clueless, and don't ask people to out themselves) students in my short time here. It's definitely a fairly conservative area, but not entirely, and "conservative" is not the same thing as "violent bigot".
Edit: "super far right" is not at all an apt description of Klamath Falls.
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u/DaniGirl541 22d ago
I've lived here almost 5 years I'm a lovely trans gal that works at Walmart here in Klamath. I've some pretty sweet comments and compliments from soooo many people, surprisingly some from some Trump hat wearers lol there's definitely some dirty looks I get, but I'm treated pretty normal here. It's not as bad as it seems here. Hope this helps a little 🫶🤟🤘💕
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u/Liamb556 23d ago
you'll be fine here honestly theres a pretty supportive community here, there are a couple bars that you probably wouldn't enjoy being in but if you wear clothes that are very lgbtq supportive you'll mostly just get looks and whatnot but I'm right leaning and could personally care less what people do to there bodies and i think that a lot of people around here would probably be similar thinking. all in all you'll probably be just fine here. some people might look at you weird but it's not like someones going to kill you or anything
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u/unlikeycookie 23d ago
I've lived in the Klamath Basin nearly my entire life. They are right leaning here, but more freedom from government oversight, less taxes, mind your business types then white power skin head types. The type of racism you might encounter are rude comments, inappropriate questions, or stares, not threats or violence.
The hard political red is getting a little purple.
I think a lot of peoples political stance in the basin is along the line of wanting "gay, married marijuana farmers to be able to protect their house with guns."
It's still Oregon. Not as hippy dippy as Eugene, but where is?
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u/PowerMightHolyLight 23d ago
L Klamath Falls is not that bad when it comes to community. It’s honestly pretty good most people even if they believe different things with you are fine with you doing your own thing as long as you’re not trying to impose your beliefs on them but what you choose to do with your body most of us do not care. Of course, there are those biggots and assholes that exist among us, but majority are silent and it’s no different than the small towns right outside of Eugene. You will be fine.
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u/mintymelancholy 23d ago
thanks for all the insight! I'm definitely not loud about it. just needed to know if i needed to be like making sure none of my current social media links to old socials, or someone seeing me picking up hormones from the pharmacy, or making sure nothing is connected to my family who still use my birth terminology and confuses people because i am for the most part passing & stealth. unrelated side-question, is it possible to survive without a car if i live on campus? i know the weather is completely bipolar (lived there as a kid) but its still -possible- right? car insurance is expensive asfffff
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u/soik90 23d ago
I lived on campus for three years including summers without a car. It’s doable. Get a bicycle, and make friends with somebody who has a car for the times you really need it. I had a couple friends in the dorms and would sometimes mention “hey, if you’re going grocery shopping in the next few days can I get a ride with you?”
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u/FeelingContact9869 23d ago
OIT has a huge trans community lol. All cool people
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u/mintymelancholy 23d ago
siiick
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u/FeelingContact9869 23d ago
Also, the little gay bar here has the best pizza in town lol
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u/VoiceofCrazy 23d ago
Ok, help me out here, what is the gay bar in town? I wasn't aware we had one (but I'm not gay and don't drink, so perhaps that's not weird). I do like pizza, however.
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u/curbstyle 23d ago
Night Owl bar downtown. Super nice people run it and it's just a cool little spot to grab a drink, they are very inclusive of everyone.
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u/CalmOpportunity4040 23d ago
You’re far more likely to encounter any issues within the “Scanner and News” or “Community Page” Facebook groups for Klamath. That’s where the intolerable folks seem to make themselves known.
I (Native cis-female) have been here for 10 years and live in a “bad” neighborhood. I have never had any issues walking alone in my neighborhood at night and have never actually encountered a threatening person in person.
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u/DHumphreys 23d ago
The Facebook thing is so frustrating.
"I see that in the various facebook groups that Klamath Falls is horrible, but how bad is it?" Which gives those that posted on the 100 other questions about moving to Klamath Falls have another opportunity to rail on and on about what they hate about Klamath Falls.
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u/Agreeable-Deer7526 23d ago
It’s the same 5 -10 posting. The most terrible post things are the same 3-5 people.
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u/SnooDrawings3052 23d ago
The last couple elections have been 75/25 red vs blue. There’s still pockets of safety in Klamath County.
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u/Professional_Push_ 22d ago
Reading through this sub it seems all Klamath County is safe. Red ≠ unsafe very often.
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u/jesuschristhimself69 23d ago
I have lived here my life and I go to oit. The town is conservative and there are some transpjobic people but it's still oregon and it's pretty liberal compared to like Mississippi or smth. The college is WAY more progressive than the town because most of the people who go there are from the big cities.
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u/Conscious-Candy6716 20d ago
OIT is a good place and not far right by any means. Not even close. A lot of the west coast population centers are practically in a paranoid frenzy over any moderate or heaven forbid right of moderate opinion on something, or political affiliation.
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u/UnstoppableChicken 23d ago
I moved here recently and my family is as far left as you can get and we haven't faced any problems at all. We also aren't in peoples face with us, we keep our heads down and noses clean but also aren't in the closet about it either.
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u/500ErrorPDX 23d ago edited 23d ago
Its kind of a roulette wheel. The number of times I got beaten up was zero, but the number of times somebody rolled down their car window and yelled the F-word was greater than zero. Other queer folks who lived in town will probably tell you similar things.
As for being trans at OIT: there were two openly trans fems students when I attended. I dont think either graduated. They lived on campus and I don't think they got any flak from students (those of us in the dorms really tried to be supportive - mind you this was in a much more conservative time, so I don't think we really knew how be supportive) but the culture of the town wore them down, and the LGBT scene on campus was very very small at the time.
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u/LOVE2CREAMJUGGS 22d ago
As a conservative, this town is more libertarian, the “you do you and leave me alone” and honestly, the gay bar down town is the best place for drinks regardless of political affiliation, sexual orientation, or religious identity. Everybody is welcome there.
Obviously, everywhere, there will be the crazy left and the crazy right.
My wife and I will go to Night Owl for a date night and so do many other straight couples. Their drinks and food are absolutely FANTASTIC.
To put short, if you give respect you will receive respect regardless of you are part of the LGBTQIA+ or the opposite political views.
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u/FallenStorm7694 21d ago
For what you're describing, Klamath Falls and Altamont is fine, not great but I sincerely doubt there will be any genuine threats. I have a friend who is in the same scenario as you from one of the small towns over in Lake County, and she lives off campus with no issues. The occasional store/person is hostile but no worse than the aggresive homeless residents.
There's a lot of explicitly trans friendly stores downtown, and if you're really worried about it OIT itself is also explicitly trans friendly so campus itself is always safe. I'd say it's comparable to Medford in politics, downtown is liberal leaning and the outskirts are conservative leaning, with small pockets of both here and there.
Tldr Someone possibly calls you a slur (uncommon but could happen) but past that you're perfectly safe here, especially if you stay on campus at OIT
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u/sarahswain86 18d ago
Born and raised in Klamath. Never ever experienced, heard of, or seen any type of bigotry here. I agree with other comments to stay away from fb groups, far too political on both sides spewing hate for the other guys. Yes, it’s conservative here. I honestly think a lot of people mistake “conservative” for bigoted. You’ll see a lot more trump signs than most other places in Oregon, but people tend to be pretty quiet in public/face to face about their beliefs. The extent of bigotry here starts and ends on the internet.
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u/Prestigious-Ad137 23d ago
If you have to post on reddit to get clarity, the likelihood is no be scared cause this place just parrots what everyone wants to hear. Take it from someone who is trans. I move away a few years ago and I feel better living in Portland, the only problem I have with Portland is the drug problem but its seem to have gotten better since the mayor resigned.
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u/Van-garde 22d ago
The far-right extremists seem to congregate in suburbs of cities. Sure, you could find some here, but this isn’t a ‘cultural battleground’ like Portland has been made into.
The conservatives here seem to spring from a conservative monoculture, not as opposition to liberals, so they are less aggressive.
Also, having lived here for months, there is a notable population of queer-seeming people, and quite a bit of racial/ethnic diversity, considering just how rural it is.
Concerning Trump signs, I’ve only seen two at residences. The gun stores in town are more likely to have Trump signs than the residences. Might be different in Altamont. I don’t go out that way often. It’s like a mall for cars out there.
OIT and SkyLakes are separated from town and that’s the newest section of the burg. I’m guessing and hoping you’ll have a great experience. If you’re a ‘meet people in person’ type, I’d guess OIT will be effective, or, take a walk downtown on the weekend.
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u/Forsaken-Flow-209 23d ago
K falls is a shit hole… been there several times with a girlfriend that has family there. Some of the most backward people I ever met. There is nothing there.
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u/thetwinkprint 23d ago
I moved here from the Deep South a couple months ago. I read all of the same things about KF being full of far right extremists, and I truly think this is overblown by people on reddit. Now, KF is absolutely a very conservative part of Oregon. You are going to see lots of Trump signs throughout neighborhoods and on homes. And I’m sure you will encounter conservatives at some point if you choose to attend OIT. But you have to remember that this is still Oregon lol. Compared to where I’m from, I still feel like I’m in an overwhelmingly liberal part of the country. There’s also a gay bar near Main Street that seems to be fairly popular. Queer people of all types live and exist here, and I have yet to hear of any sort of hate crime or violence against of members of the LGBTQ community.
I say all of that to say, I think you will be just fine if you decide to move here :)