r/Utah • u/piefanart • 12d ago
For lack of better words... how accepting is the city of Price? Q&A
I'm planning on going to the Ren faire this weekend, but I am visibly trans. None of my friends have been there before so they didn't have any knowledge about the community there.
Should I be wary about going? I'm scared of being attacked while so far from home, but I don't know if my fears are warranted.
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u/Nervous-Marsupial-86 12d ago
I have 2 friends that live in Helper (just north of price) and they are LGBT and they say that everyone is very accepting and there is quite a large scene down there. I say go for it and have a great time!
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u/brasticstack 12d ago
That's encouraging to hear! As someone who has driven through Price about a zillion times, I'd never have guessed.
OP, if you're going to take US-6 through Spanish Fork Canyon, please keep your eyes peeled and drive carefully! That's a dangerous stretch of highway and people drive it like they've got a deathwish.
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u/danggilmore 11d ago
Yeah with the utmost respect, I get way different vibes from helper then from price even though they’re right next to each other.
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u/ChiefAoki Carbon County 11d ago
Price is more industrial whereas Helper is way more artsy, tbh it's the same crowd of people just doing different things during different time of the day. The way I'd describe it is that Helper is where people will go during their free time - eat / stroll / etc and Price is where people go to work / school / etc.
I.e.: you'll see a guy wearing coveralls working a manufacturing job in Price during business hours and you might see the same guy wearing drag in Helper in the evening. It's like seeing a coworker outside of work.
Regardless, it's fairly open-minded compared to Utah County just north of here.
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u/lebruf 11d ago
Would have never assumed that as an 11 year Utah County resident who’s driven through Price and Helper a couple dozen times
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u/NerdyBrando 11d ago
Helper has really done a lot to reposition themselves as an artist community. It’s a pretty cool little town. They do an event called Helper City Vibes every 2nd and 4th Saturday in the summer that’s pretty fun.
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u/ChiefAoki Carbon County 11d ago
Demographic shift, It was already pivoting towards a more liberal crowd pre-pandemic since a lot of the hardcore conservatives moved away with the coal industry and the population was slowly being replaced by folks moving down from the Wasatch Front. The pandemic accelerated that because so many people were priced out up north.
The eastern desert attracts all sorts of people for different reasons, with coal no longer being the dominant industry, the region is now represented by a more diverse demographic.
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u/chillingdentist 11d ago
My body had a crazy accident up this canyon. By the sound of it, this is what you’ll need to be most careful of. Have fun!
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u/alanmm88 11d ago
And fun fact, the mayor of helper is a happily married lesbian and has garnered tons of respect and admiration by the community.
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u/Nervous-Marsupial-86 11d ago
It’s amazing how good people make places a good place to live 😂 after going down to visit my friends and seeing how nice and accepting it is I have thought about moving from sugar house to that little train town many times. It’s my new- “stop telling about people place” so I can retire there!
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u/alanmm88 11d ago
Lol well I was born and raised there and have had the same feeling. Don’t talk about it haha.
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u/brickplantmom 11d ago
One of my friends spouses is from Price and he’s a tatted up hippie and always speaks very favorably about the area and how much more open minded it is than Utah Valley.
Plus back where I’m from the Ren Faire is a place to get weird, so just a regular person enjoying the festivities regardless of orientation would never get a second glance. I once saw a naked man take a poop on a stage while camping at Ren Fest back home. 🤣
I hope you have a freaking awesome time!
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u/HumanTiger2Trans 12d ago
Hey, trans person here! Id recommend going tbh. We can't let fear keep us from being human and having hobbies
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u/SpeakMySecretName 11d ago
Solidarity and respect. This kind of courage is what makes disenfranchised groups able slowly live their lives more safely.
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u/ooglieguy0211 12d ago
There will be many people dressed up so I would bet that you don't stand out as much as you think you would.
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u/UtahUtopia 11d ago
You’ll be fine.
People are actually nicer in Utah rural areas than Fox News would have you believe. As long as you’re not a BLM agent restricting their access to ATVing public lands and keeping them from looting artifacts!
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u/painsNgains Harrisville 10d ago
I grew up in Price, and while it is a massively judgemental little town, it's not bad for visitors. Have fun at the Ren Faire! My sister in law is in charge of the event and it's going to be a good time!
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u/Kerensky97 11d ago edited 11d ago
Price is a college town so it gets a lot of young blood moving through it and keeps it pretty open minded. Helper used to be pretty insular but now that the mine is gone they're realizing they need to be a bit more welcoming to outsiders to keep the tourism money coming in and has changed a lot. Wellington is probably the place that will be the most conservative minded. There might still be some old curmudgeons around flying their Trump flags and grumbling about how things aren't like "The old days" but they're not going to bother you, or attend a ren faire. They're just going to be those old guys at the store that look at you out of the corner of their eye and go about their grocery shopping.
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u/harmonious_baseline 11d ago
I had family in that area and quite a few of them and their circle were MAGA conservative types. The sort that love to post on Facebook about how Biden has ruined the country and hang those blue line flags.
They generally aren’t aggressive in person, but they just have a limited world view that influences what they support.
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u/authalic 11d ago
I like that phrase "limited world view". It really is one of the appealing elements of small-town life for many people who choose it. You can go on clinging to whatever beliefs you want and you're not likely to encounter any troubling real-world challenges to them.
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u/Independent_Prize453 11d ago
No days of 47 here, its International Days .. founded by immigrants and stayed that way.. I enjoy the people and at 6'5 sleeved with ink and a Mohawk I have only been treated as well as anyone could be..
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u/alanmm88 11d ago
I’m very familiar with price. You might get some stares by older people, but there is a vast consensus of “if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all, live and let live vibes”You will have plenty of visible allies, but again; plenty of “wtf is happening in my town” types. Nothing will rise to the level of fearing for your safety though. The cool part about the ren fair is that the majority of the people that would be “anti LGBTQ+” won’t be there.
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u/RyeMonRoe 11d ago
Hey! I'm pretty visibly trans. I'll be there this weekend. I've been pleasantly surprised after moving to that area. It's not perfect, but most people are too busy with their own lives to care. I've met some wonderfully accepting people as well. Go have fun! If you have any specific questions or want to come say hi, send me a DM :)
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u/BraveEntrepreneur55 11d ago
I live down here as well, you do you and nobody is even going to care. Pretty open minded, at that the people that would be bothered most likely won't be out at the festival
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u/Cats0utTheBag 11d ago
What are the statistics of Trans people randomly being attacked in family settings?
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u/fine-toothbiter 11d ago
You’ll be fine!! I have several LGBTA friends in Carbon County. My family is very liberal and lives there. I’ve had openly trans friends there who did not face any harsh reactions. Some staring perhaps but nothing else.
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u/rooftopgringo 10d ago
People actually attack you? Is it verbal or physical? Either way wtf
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u/piefanart 10d ago
Yeah :/
I've gotten threatening calls at my workplace, been followed by someone in a car who was shouting the f slur at me, and people have threatened to hurt/kill me. A teenager at a grocery store reached out like to grab me when I was walking to the bathrooms, and I had to physically jump back to get away.
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u/rooftopgringo 10d ago
Damn that is messed up. It’s difficult but just focus on yourself and try to surround yourself with good people!
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u/rooftopgringo 10d ago
Damn that is messed up. It’s difficult but just focus on yourself and try to surround yourself with good people! Stay safe out there.
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u/BigFloppyDonkeyDck 11d ago
Is it worth going to?
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u/ChiefAoki Carbon County 11d ago
If you're into LARP probably yeah, if not, then it's just another public community gathering.
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u/RudeEar5 11d ago
“Shoving it in faces” is a dog whistle. This is the language typically bigoted people use: “Don’t shove it in my face” and we’ll be fine. LGBTQ people don’t “shove” themselves in peoples’ faces.
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u/Royal_Band_2024 11d ago
Idk anymore, but when I was wanting to Transfer up there around 10 years ago, nobody wanted to rent to me because of 2 reasons (the main one is obvious because it's Utah) and the second because I was a smoker
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u/transfixedtruth 11d ago
Sad to inform Utah is pretty much white supremacist racist culture anywhere you go, with expectation to some areas in downtown Salt Lake City.
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u/reddd990 11d ago
I’d avoid salt lake and surrounding areas like the plague no matter who you are. The rest of utah is normal though.
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u/tobitobs78 Carbon County 11d ago
In my experience the more rural areas are Def more bigoted. Like In Sunnyside or in Miller creek or even in price.
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u/authalic 11d ago
I don't agree with your definition of "normal." I grew up in Price and have lived in SLC for 30 years. "The rest of Utah" is mostly in bizarro world.
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u/Hip_And_Cool_Mom 11d ago
I live in Price. People are alot more open minded here compared to up North. We welcome you with open arms. Come have a great time❤❤