What are some of the best bigger cities out there for LGBT communities? I am looking at a bunch of different jobs all over the country and I kind of want to be near somewhere that has a bigger population. I know the obvious ones like San Francisco and New York, but are there any that are surprisingly very gay-friendly? Or are there any places in cities that you would recommend if one was to go there? Just kind of curious.
I've heard Austin is extremely liberal, especially compared to the rest of Texas. I know we also tend to be accepting in New England, and Boston is especially so. I'm not really sure how it compares, but Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage.
Wow, Austin is a surprising one. And I didn't know that about Massachusetts. One that I was surprised by was Omaha. It was a lot more chill then I first expected.
Aside from the obvious cities I've heard good things about Houston, DC, New Orleans, Raleigh, and Columbus.
Montréal! I've never actually wandered down to that part of the city, but there is supposedly a pretty vibrant gay village. I know my cousin has a few friends who frequent some of the gay clubs there as well. Quebec is probably the most socially liberal place in North America (albeit with some majorly screwed up language politics) and I've yet to find a place I like more than Montreal.
Add another vote for Austin. Food, music, mountain biking, night clubs. Wonderful place, I have some great memories from that city. Any town that has "Keep Austin Weird" as their semi-official slogan has to be pretty open-minded, right?
Haha, yeah, another vote for Austin. I ran the Austin Marathon/Half Marathon a couple of times and we passed by a house that had a HUGE rainbow flag on a flag pole and GLBT folks holding signs up supporting the runners. I almost tripped because I didn't expect that. That said, Austin's a pretty kookie place; it's too weird for me :lol:. Most major Texas cities are LGBT friendly enough. With the passage of San Antonio's anti-discrimination ordinance recently, all major Texas cities now have protections in place. ---------- Post added 15th Apr 2014 at 11:12 PM ---------- And you can't forget New Orleans' Southern Decadence festival.
Minneapolis and Chicago are pretty friendly too. I've also heard Atlanta, but idk for sure on that one
Never had any problems in Toronto. Everyone is pretty liberal here as well and there is quite a large gay community in the downtown core.
A lot of large cities have large LGBT presence; however, it does not always transfer over to policy and widespread practice. For example, you could live in a city that is in a state where marriage equality is present and that would probably be my deciding factor. However, there are great cities with LGBT presence in states without marriage equality (yet), but I am not sure I would want to go to state that is not progressive in terms of policy. I live in Maryland, which is a marriage equality state, but I would love to live in Florida, but I really do not see myself leaving a state that is relatively progressive (where my marriage is recognized) to one that is not. My partner and I made things official when it became legal here and I would not throw all that out by relocating to a state that didn't recognize us legally, unless we absolutely had to go for some reason.
I've been in Baltimore well over a decade, and I've found it a very gay friendly city, with an established gay 'community', and also a burgeoning arts scene. Plus, it's much more affordable than many other bigger cities, but still has a lot going on. And DC is very close, about an hour via train or commute, depending on traffic. DC is a bit less 'cozy' feeling, and a lot more expensive, but a fun place to visit. I'd rather live in Baltimore, and visit DC when I want to, given my experiences of the two places, and those of people who have lived in both cities.
Toronto above all has to be the the most friendly on the East Coast. About 3 hrs from where I live. I wasn't out when I was in DC so you couldn't prove it by me. I wasn't out on my last trip to Toronto either, but it appears to be extremely gay friendly and in my youth the few time I went there was pretty amazing and open, which sadly I was not.
Really? Not Denver? That is interesting. I mean, I was never out in my times there, but I always thought it was quite liberal.
Idk how friendly Florence but when I was there I saw lesbians EVERYWHERE. It was amazingly weird, especially for a person who used to see lgbt people once in a blue moon
I know personally Vancouver is awesome for it. They have a whole neighbourhood where the cross walks are rainbow and all the shops and restaurants have flags in their window. West End I believe is that neighbourhood. I wish I could live there, it is just so freaking expensive.
