I live in a small city and I am often wondering about a life in a big one. Not that I'd actually want to live in a big city, I like my place with this kind of a familiar atmosphere. But you wouldn't find a couple of boys or girls holding hands in the streets or kissing on public here and if yes (which is very unlike), there would be a lot of people staring at them. I would like to ask those of you who live in the big cities like London, Frisco, New York, Tokyo, etc.: Can you walk on the streets holding hands with your same-sex partner (or kissing, etc.) without being stared at or insulted? Do you meet a lot of gay couples on the streets that don't (need to) hide they're in a relationship? I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but I'm just really curious about the life in the big city and stuff :rolle: Thanks for your answers!
always having lived in or near big cities its certainly where im most comfortable. i can be me and not worry at all. i havent 'met' many gay couples in the street but you do see them in passing.... occasionally. its not like gay central though where you see a looooad of gay couples, you see more than you probably would in a small town but... only a couple more than usual id say. maybe thats me though. but then you can get days where the whole world and his wife who is gay decides to go out and so you might see a load. it just depends. even in big cities you will get a few stars and remarks but its nothing major. people in bigger cities seem to have other things on there mind like getting to work lol!
I live in SF and yes, people are very liberal here. Believe me, the gay couples are no phenomenon to stare at...there are crazier sights/people to see haha. First of all, we have the Castro, which is a little area of SF that's basically "Gay Town." There's flag poles on every corner with rainbow flags. There's rainbow flags on every storefront. Every store is LGBT related...they sell gay porn, sex toys, and all kinds of crazy things...there's even a store for LGBT clothes for dogs lol. And there's a tiny bakery that sells cookies...AND underwear! Pretty much all the stores are owned by gay folks and the housing units in and around the Castro are occupied by gay people, too. Just last month, I was at SF's Fisherman's Wharf and there was a nude bicycle riding protest. Over 100 people rode their bikes like a parade around the area completely nude...men and women. That's the kind of thing you see in SF, so gay couples are no big deal
Well it depends. There's some small towns that can be safer for a same-sex couple than a big city. It really all does vary on where you live, the attitudes of the people who live there, religion, city background and heritage, etc. It really does all make quite a difference. I live in a huge southern city, however my city is predominately Hispanic/Mexican. The attitude here is much more liberal than something you'd see in Houston, for example.
I agree that it depends on way more things than the size. I live in a small town and occasionally see gay couples. Yesterday I saw two guys sitting on a bench holding hands. I live in a pretty liberal area, so I guess to most people it just isn't a big deal.
Haha, you should! We need more gay female couples here anyway. We mostly only see gay men together haha
I live in a place thats outside city limits (as far as taxes/legal stuff/etc goes) but would still be considered as suburbs... I have never once seen a gay couple here. In the nearest 'big' city (Denver) I know there are gay friendly areas. but I don't know exactly where/have never been in them...couldn't say if gay couples openly show affection there.
Both cities are actually fairly liberal in their core areas, and Houston even has a gay mayor. That said, I'm from a city of 250,000, and I go to school in a city of about 2 million (which some people consider mid-sized). Despite the bohemian/progressive reputation the larger city has, I don't see a ton of gay couples out showing affection. That's probably because I spend most of my time on campus and in the college neighborhood where there are still a lot of people our age figuring themselves out. Either way, nobody bats an eye at gay couples or LGBT related things. Heck, one of the more popular mayoral candidates in town for years was a bigender crossdressing nomad, and the whole town mourned his death a few months ago. When I'm down there, I don't really spend much time people watching since I'm usually busy. I'm currently in my (stiflingly conservative) hometown though, and when I've gone to the mall or other public places, I've been tuned into looking at how couples interact with each other. There are a lot more gay couples here than I previously realized, though you can tell almost all are trying to be discreet about it. I guess I know what to look for having gone through the whole coming to terms process. As a gay guy, I can't imagine myself living here and being happy in the slightest, which is why this summer is the last time I ever plan on spending significant time here apart from visiting family. I'm trying to get them to move honestly.
I think Liverpool's got a really big LGBT culture. Just on my street there's a lesbian woman and two gay coupes and then there's me... I notice more gay men than females and even quite a few trans people. There are areas where a LGBT would never enter unless you really really have to but in the city centre 'gay town' is huge.. Well that's what i think but i might just be being narrow minded cause gay town and skate parks are pretty much the only places id like hang out.
I live in Hong Kong, and despite it's size (7 million+) the culture is quite conservative in comparison to other cities like SF, New York or London. Summing up, the public mindset about LGBT issues are essentially "we don't care what you do behind closed doors, but please keep it discreet in public". But nonetheless, tolerance is still widespread and gay bashing or other forms of violence/discrimination against LGBT people are rare, and that there's a LGBT orientated magazine and radio. On a sidenote, this June i found out that two of my professors in college (both guys) are dating each other, having seen them holding hands under the table at lunch. i've never seen anything so cute!
Yeah you can easily walk on the streets holding hands here.. in fact I'd be really surprised if there was a day that I didn't see gay couples. It's just part of the street view here lol.
This (the last part especially) is why I want to spend a semester/eventually live in San Fran - I hear nothing but endless stories showing their seeming appreciation and respect for eccentricity! One of my friend's fathers (who grew up in the area) told me "you could walk in a Chewbacca suit or Darth Vader costume and no one would think you too strange." Sounds like heaven to me .
