Hi. My name is Lee. I'm a gay 53 year-old man who lives in Indianapolis. I've been out to my family & friends for a long time.
A hearty welcome Lee! Hope you find EC a warm and caring site. There are a lot of great folks here. Feel free to comment. Congrats by the way on revealing your orientation to your family and friends! That's awesome! Take care and stay bundled up. The polar vorte will visit your area. Things will get cold quick. BRRRRR!
Let's try that again. Thank you. This seems like a nice place. There's so much loneliness among lgbt people. Yes, the polar vortex is making its presence known here in Indiana. I'm sick of winter already.
Regarding the loneliness issue, sadly, that seems to be the case for many gay people. I've read many similar comments. For a lot of LGBT people, especially in the rural areas or small towns, there are not a lot of LGBT organizations to sponsor activites and other get togethers. The use of dating apps appear to be used for largely for hookups (which is fine but many folks are looking for more long term relationships). I'm only out to my wife and a few others. In the spring I hope to begin attending some LGBT functions in a city a couple of hours from where I live. It would be nice just to meet some other gay people face to face. It's a bit of a drive but will be worth it. Are you close to a major urban area that has an active LGBT social scene?
I live in Indianapolis. Many years ago, we had an lgbt community center & a switchboard. But it closed. And at least 4 of our gay bars have also closed. I think it has to do with the economy. So many business PERIOD have closed here. Lgbt & otherwise. We have 2 gay bathhouses. It's sad that so much of the gay culture is so heavily focused on the bars & sex. There's so much more to life than just booze & sex. Frankly, I don't care for either the bars or bathhouses. We have an lgbt youth group here though. It's been around for more than 30 years. As I understand it, loneliness in the lgbt community is particularly bad for the underage & the elderly.
I was unaware that Indianapolis had been so impacted by the last economic downturn. That's too bad. I've visited there a few times (grew up in Cincinnati). Indianapolis has a large population, so I'm saddened that your hometown could not sustain an LGBT center. I agree that it's unfortunate that gay life was for so long focused on bars and bathhouses (as well as backroom adult video stores). But back in the day, what were the other options? The dating apps, for all their problems, at least make it easier for gay folks to hook up. It must be a real challenge for gay people living there, not having many centers for a social life. Are there any LGBT friendly churches around that you know of? In one of the towns near me a couple of churches host some LGBT functions. That may be the case for you. If not, how do you meet other local gay guys?
