Ok so prepare for part rant part question... So, as always, I'm am doing a lot of thought regarding my future, and specifically where I will move to after getting a degree here (Bozeman, MT). Obviously, I may just end up going to where to the job is, but as of right now I'd like to pretend that I will be able to pick a spot and go there. As such, being of an obscenely tolerant mind myself, I'm looking for equally tolerant cities. Or as close as I can get anyways. Let me explain, however, that I do not mean what is the most liberal city in America. For example, Seattle is very liberal, and very gay-friendly at that - but, on the issue of, say, smokers, I've heard a lot of local Seattle area people rant on about how so terribly "evil" smokers are, and how awful of them that they would do such, in public!, of all places. How awful must those people be! Now, I don't smoke, but all I can do when I hear something like that is shake my head, and think to myself "you know, some of the kindest people I've ever met smoked..." How dare they judge, is what I'm getting at. Or for another example - Seattle is ever-so LGBT friendly, but if a gay man is unkempt? Has a beard? Likes death metal? Oh my god, how awful! What is wrong with that person! (P.S. these are just my experiences in Seattle, I may well be getting an inaccurate picture and projecting that onto the entirety of the area). So, the type of tolerance I'm looking for - you've got your hair long, beard unkempt? Fine. Clean cut? That's fine too. Listen to Lady Gaga for a living? Sounds good! Into death metal and black metal? Huh, well that's not my stuff but more power to ya buddy! Like dressing up? Cool. Oh, you wear something that looks like it came from a farm? Hey, no problem man, why should I be offended by what someone wears? Tattoos aplenty? Awesome. None to be found? Also awesome. In short, I'm looking for a city that the city that is best at tolerating anything - hell, everything that doesn't directly injure another human being. And I know this is a judgement in and of itself, but judgements annoy the f*ck out of me (in case you couldn't all ready tell :lol. I'm also probably going to try three areas first (when I get that degree and attempt to become employed): Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. Why? Let's just say sunlight isn't my friend...and 40-70 degrees for 90% of the year sounds awesome. But I know this job market isn't the best, so.. Also, feel free to give examples from other countries/continents (here I am hoping that I can get people to comment on this wall of text :lol. I'm only specifically looking for American cities since, as a citizen, it'll be easier to move there. Although perhaps Canada wouldn't be too difficult?
From your description, you're reminding me of New York City, where you can almost see anything on the streets...at least that's what I know of New York City anyways. But then again, I'm not even American or even living in the states. I've only visited.
Vancouver's very nice (specifically, south of North Vancouver and West Vancouver[West Vancouver's both north and west of Vancouver]). If you ever wish to travel, 'testing' for cities, you may find Vancouver quite nice. Its weather is very comparable to Seattle, except it's more mild, and doesn't have as much wind and rain storms. I'm talking about the 2010 Olympics city, not any other Vancouver out there, by the way. As for the most liberal... I don't think you'll get any clear answer, except for suggestions of tolerant places. Vancouver is one such place which fits your criteria quite well. Also, gay people can marry here. (!)
I did love the one time I went to Vancouver, but it's hard to be certain given that I went to it when a Pride parade was going on. So if I use that as my impression then Vancouver is a party 24/7 (maybe that wouldn't be wrong for Davie though? :lol. Ha, anyways, I really do need to renew my passport and spend some more time up there. I loved it that one time, and hell that was just an accident (had no clue Pride was that day). I'll just use a Canuck game as my excuse! Also, I am just looking for general examples. I suspect there will be a subgroup of people in any city that "judges" in what I deem to be a "mean" way, so, just looking around for the best bet. Thank you guys for responding - I half expected everyone to skip past this..
Davie 'village' (that's what it's called) isn't a 'party' all the time, but it's full of LGBT stuff and sex-friendly, sex-positive stuff. There're also more wild clubs that have stuff like 'Shirtless Saturday!', I believe, but I dunno. And then there're probably things like more low-key, average bars that cater to gay people. As an aside, downtown is really lively (Davie street / village is deep in downtown) much of the time, and it's nice for shopping, too. As an added plus, it's not entirely weird to see guys holding hands and all in downtown! Yup, not just Davie village, also slightly outside of it! It makes me happy when I see things like that.
I'm interested in reading the answers. I'm planning to move to Los Angeles for other reasons, I wonder what's it's really like there...
Oh if you could see my smile that day... and I don't smile much either But... the sunlight, the terrible sunlight! Although I guess I could go all "Angel" and only come out at night... All I've heard about LA has been from San Fran people, who are apparently very biased against SoCal :lol:, so we need someone from LA to comment...
Based on what I've seen and heard, as I've not been there, I'd throw my vote out for San Francisco. At least for states that are outwardly LGBT friendly. Here in Texas, the place would be Austin. If the rest of Texas is moving ---------> that direction, then Austin moves <------------ that way. The only other place I could think of (again most of this is based on things I've heard and read, not that I've actually experienced yet) would be Key West, Florida. Basically what you described for me is that you want a city that's full of weird quirky people who love other weird quirky people. If that's right, then my recommendations are worth looking into.
I've lived in San Francisco and I'd say the majority of people are tolerant and there are neighborhoods that are certainly more open than others. For example, the most obvious, the Castro and Folsom St., where I saw some crazy stuff going down apart from full nudity. Also the Haight, where it's a smoker's paradise, my sister loved it lol. Now I'm back in my homestate, New Mexico, living in Albuquerque and noticed that it's quite LGBT friendly with room to grow, meaning we only have 3 gay bars in the entire city that I know of. New Mexico itself is pretty liberal considering minorities are the majority.
Well if you're considering the neighbours upstairs, you could do worse than Montreal, it's quite gay-friendly, an immense gay village by any North American standard, the French element (although annoying to those who don't speak it) adds a certain European flavour (and French guys are either super cute. or...not), the weather seems to be as you like it (really short days in the winter, and a bitchin' winter). You can also walk around dressed to the nines or wander about in a baseball cap with "George's Bar and Grill" written on it and no one will mind. Plus, you can get married here. By the way, I've been to Vancouver on a number of occasions, and Davie street in particular, yes, it's everything they said it was...
I find San Francisco to be extremely tolerant of others, mainly because it's so diverse. There's a huge gay village in San Francisco. There's also many people smoking (specifically the Chinatown Area) and no one would say anything about it. Extremely liberal (literally almost everybody voted for Obama), and there's some hippies there LOL
Ive never been off the east coast, so I dont have a lot to compare it to, but im going to agree with nyc. Theres all kinds of stuff you see in this city and most the time people wont even bat an eye to even really wild behaviour and actions. Because this city is such a mix of different sorts of people not even side by side, but on top of eacher, I think it lends itself to a general tolerant, or at least apathetic vibe about other people and their actions.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like you're looking for a city that gives 0 fucks. NYC might be the closest thing to that. Though they do seem to care about the size of your sugary beverages, so that's something to be mindful of.
While I like Vanc a lot despite never having been, I thought there was a lot of issues with the homeless around there? At least, there was a lot of news coverage about it during the Olympics.
In America I'd probably go for New York for most tolerant city (San Francisco for most gay-friendly, but that's not what you asked). If we count outside of the US as well, I'm pretty sure nothing beats my city. You could walk on all fours bare naked and no one would give a fuck. I've seen some crazy things -- most people just keep on walking.
I can't speak for the US, but this is actually a shock to me. I'd never imagine that any of the above would be even a slight consideration to anyone over the pond. I came out as gay at around 14 and I went to the worst school in my city (and it's one of the biggest cities in the country). I never received a negative comment from anyone, even the ones you might consider 'bullies'. If you're looking for equality for all, America might not be your place. I would say though that New York or San Francisco seem like obvious choices.
LA is a real mixture. It is so spread out and diverse that it is hard to generalize. There are certain areas that are more tolerant of LGBT folks, like Silverlake/Echo Park and West Hollywood (but even W. Hollywood can be less desirable if you're not a young, gay cisgender man), and there are other parts that can be dangerous for anyone, or just kind of conservative and judgmental, like cities in the South Bay or more wealthy areas. Parts of Long Beach are good.
New York City, perhaps? It seems to be incredibly diverse and accepting of people, no matter what their backgrounds. As a proud Canadian though, I must plug my country as well lol. I am originally from Ontario, about two hours south of Toronto and have lived back and forth between there and Calgary, Alberta (where I am currently living). In general, you are free to be whoever you are in Canada, no matter where you live. And of course same sex marriage has been legal here since 2005, so if you wanted to get married at some point, you would be all set. My girlfriend is American and right now we're trying to decide whether it makes more sense for her to move here or me to move there in the long run. So, I can totally understand your desire to stay in the US if possible, because it does mean less work in sorting everything out. However, if you decide to move North of the border, we'll welcome you with open arms! (*hug*)