The conservative thing is really out of hand. Anecdotally, I have had friends say they want to visit me from back home or from Seattle (two different people) and both were like "Yeah, last time I was in Calgary, I was literally called a n*gger on the street, so no I'm not gonna go there", and other friends who say they've seen so much anti-indigenous racism here that they were scared for themselves just for being southern European (olive skinned) and said they won't be coming back probably ever.
As a gay man, I'd never shy away from holding my partners hand on the street, but almost every other gay dude I know is afraid to do so. I'm about 220 lbs and fairly muscular and bearded so I never see the homophobia here, but some gay acquaintances I know say they get harassed (called a f*ggot from passing cars, groups of breeder douchebags on the street, etc) on a regular basis. It's actually shocking how few gay couples I've seen holding hands in Calgary in my 8 years here. I could probably count the total amount on both hands, not including my own "daring" ventures of doing so of course. Even though I'm not afraid to do it, the fact that there's always something in the back of my mind terrified of what I would do to a person who called me or my hypothetical love a faggot or anything else homophobic. The fear that I could black out and send some dumb piece of shit to the hospital and then go to jail just for being a free person in the free world is not something anyone should have to go through, especially anywhere in Canada of all places.
I always believed our conservatism was just of a fiscal nature, but over the past year I've come to realize we really are no better than most American cities here, and in a Canadian context, that's both horrifying and pathetic.
This is the kind of bullshit that is driving the young people of the 21st century away. No one wants to live in a place where they or there friends can't live free.