Gayest Cities in America

[hookem]

Austin, yes. But it's already on all the lists.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by Brandon716

When I was in Portland, something that impressed me throughout the region was how people didn't care no matter where you went. Suburbs, city, rural outlying areas... People simply don't care more in general in the PacNW. It is an area with more open minds on a holistic level, not just in the gay villas inside the city. It isn't that people are all open arms and accepting in, say, Sandy.. But they just don't care, whereas that isn't the case all over the US. I suppose the pioneer spirit is still alive in that sense, and I hope it stays that way. To each their own.

I feel that way too -- there's a nice laid-back attutude here that really embraces anything deemed "different", and I wasn't trying to make Vancouver, WA sound like a narrow-minded place but I definitely found it amusing that it landed on that list ... and Portland didn't.

[paytonc]

Sadly, the number of Tegan and Sara performances in any given city probably exceeds the number of lesbian bars.

Originally Posted by emathias

gay.com? Geez, I'd have thought the Advocate would be a little more "with it" -

They're part of the same company, and yeah gay.com is so... 2003? I don't even remember when it was all that trendy. Besides, it seems that different sites take off in different cities -- the obvious case being Connexion, which is still very Denver-specific.

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

This must be the 'gayest white boy list"

Could also have to do with gay.com, which generally draws a pretty white crowd. There are, uhh, other sites out there which have more diverse audiences.

Originally Posted by Chase Unperson

It shows you what these morons know and/or how flawed their formula is.

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Well that is just BS

Chill out, guys, and stop taking what's so obviously silly so darn seriously.

[vid]

It is funny that they're taking something seriously when the criteria of Tegan and Sarah performances is obviously a joke.

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by someone123

Dallas also has the "gays caused the aflockalypse" woman.

Most gay people here know better than to bother going to church.

I was just using churches as an example. There are churches in every single city within the United States (as far as I know). Inevitably, that means that there are going to be some people that go to church, and some people that don't... otherwise we wouldn't have them. Also, if the city is more socially progressive, it is more likely that a decent percentage of GLBT people will attend church or want to attend church, which results in GLBT supportive congregations. We all know how statistics work here, so this shouldn't be a surprise. But yes, to avoid religion entirely, I could have just as easitly cited that there are probably more companies in California and New York that offer domestic partner benefits than there are in Texas. Same deal, and it gets the point across equally as well.

Seems like people immediately get offended and start lashing out when someone on the forum mentions a particular religious belief. There's nothing wrong with having a religious belief... it's a free country. Just like there's nothing wrong with being Atheist.

[Expat]

To say that gay people know better than going to church is a ridiculous post. Some go and some don't. I am interested in church history and architecture, so I always check out what the gay-friendly congregations are available when I visit cities (via their website & then a possible visit). I learn a lot about the city that way. Every city and sometimes small towns have gay friendly churches of nearly every denomination. Some denominations more reliably friendly than others. Like I said, I go visit these churches because I am interested in their building, but also enjoy the traditions. And there are always gay people in the congregation and often behind the pulpit. Everywhere! In some cities, you will find gay people mostly in the center city churches. But, in cities like Boston, I find gay people in the city, suburban, & exurban churches. I have found this to be true across much of the US, Europe, & Canada.

[elsonic]

having a maximum amount of 411 profiles may mean that there's a lack of real social places or that the gay life is not publicly assumed.

[ctman987]

Interesting list. Dont quite agree with the findings (or the methods) but I dont think many on here will agree with the methods! Regardless, Ill still take my New York City!

[mSeattle]

Originally Posted by elsonic

having a maximum amount of 411 profiles may mean that there's a lack of real social places or that the gay life is not publicly assumed.

I was thinking along this train of thought. It is easier to be behind a no-photo profile than really "out" in public. Further, not every person in a gay web site is... gay. [feigned shock] Occasionally acting-out in same-sex encounters... gay-for-pay etc... Then the flip side: Real world gay friendliness could mean fewer online profiles or fewer businesses using the term "gay" in their name or descriptions.

Another thing... what is gay-friendly? It's relative and does growth in a city/metro area actually relate to gay-friendliness in a real sense or just the potential?

[phillyaggie]

No love for the City of Brotherly Love?

Philly has the gayborhood right in Center City and the city's convention and visitor's bureau has been specifically selling the city and making the effort to GLBT tourists, with such efforts gaining traction among the GLBT audience in recent years...

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by mSeattle

I was thinking along this train of thought. It is easier to be behind a no-photo profile than really "out" in public. Further, not every person in a gay web site is... gay. [feigned shock] Occasionally acting-out in same-sex encounters... gay-for-pay etc... Then the flip side: Real world gay friendliness could mean fewer online profiles or fewer businesses using the term "gay" in their name or descriptions.

Another thing... what is gay-friendly? It's relative and does growth in a city/metro area actually relate to gay-friendliness in a real sense or just the potential?

As has been stated before, gay.com is grossly outdated. Facebook would be a better metric, but it still might not tell the complete story. I am not "out" on Facebook yet, eventhough everyone in my daily life (parents included) knows that I am gay. But because Facebook has so much information flowing to so many people, I choose not to be out publicly there. And I'm sure many other people have made the same choice.

[urbanactivist]

Eventhough it's not for everyone, here's a recent blog from the Chronicle about Houston's rapidly growing GLBT Religious community...

http://blogs.chron.com/believeitorno..._in_hou_1.html

Gay Christian community in Houston: Diverse, kid-friendly and working for justice

Gay-affirming congregations in Houston, like those across the country, are growing more diverse and more hopeful that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians will soon have a place in the traditions that have long opposed homosexuality.

"The negative policies are the last gasp of a dying age. There really is no future in discrimination and injustice," said Rev. Harry Knox, of Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in the Heights. Knox long served as an activist on behalf of the American GLBT community and took leadership of the 850-person congregation last month.

Its membership is half white, a quarter Hispanic and a quarter African-American and spans generations, though the church has had to offer more children's ministries for the growing number of families in their pews.

Census data show that same-sex couples in Texas and across the South are more likely to have kids than those living in New England or the West, the New York Times reported. From the story:

...Families in (the South) defy the stereotype of a mainstream gay America that is white, affluent, urban and living in the Northeast or on the West Coast.

"We're starting to see that the gay community is very diverse," said Bob Witeck, chief executive of Witeck-Combs Communications, which helped market the census to gay people. "We're not all rich white guys."

The diversity among GLBT Christians has allowed gay-affirming or "welcoming" churches to expand their justice outreach to focus not only on sexuality-based discrimination, but also immigration, poverty and equal access to education, Knox said.

"Young LGBT people are leading this justice movement to be thinking about a number of issues," he said. "We come as fully-involved people."

[SpongeG]

does anyone else get the Palm Springs as at the bottom of the page? lol

:someplace to be yourself... we know what you need"

pic of two men holding hands against something

[Metranite]

Originally Posted by Metranite

"Sharing body heat" is a necessity there.

I found the passage:

"Two are better than one,
Because they have good reward for their
labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his
companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will
keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by
another, two can withstand him."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

[JosefHall]

I'm surprised LA doesn't pop up on that list, but at least San Francisco does so SoCal isn't lost in the mix

[The North One]

Originally Posted by JosefHall

I'm surprised LA doesn't pop up on that list, but at least San Francisco does so SoCal isn't lost in the mix

What does San Fran have to do with SoCal?

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by JosefHall

I'm surprised LA doesn't pop up on that list

Well look at the criteria: gay.com? Tegan and Sara concerts? Ahhahhahaha! LA is a *little* more cutting edge than that. Ahhahaha!!!

And where is there a lesbian bar in LA anymore?

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by phillyaggie

No love for the City of Brotherly Love?

Philly has the gayborhood right in Center City and the city's convention and visitor's bureau has been specifically selling the city and making the effort to GLBT tourists, with such efforts gaining traction among the GLBT audience in recent years...

Philadelphia got a perfect score on HRC's Municipal Equality Index last year.

http://www.phillymag.com/g-philly/20...quality-index/

I think there's a big divide between perception and reality. Philly's stuck between DC and NYC, perceived to be "gay cities" simply because more tourists go there. Bigger bars don't mean gayer cities.

When you get right down to it, it's very easy to be gay in Philadelphia, so easy it's moot.