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Atlanta the Gayest City in America? I Hope So

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Dtownandrew, Jan 24, 2010.

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  1. Dtownandrew

    Dtownandrew
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    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122867548&ps=cprs

    San Francisco has long been regarded as America's gay capital, but a new list seeks to dispel that assumption: Atlanta tops Advocate magazine's list of the Gayest Cities in America, followed by Burlington, Vt.; Iowa City, Iowa; and Bloomington, Ind.

    Mike Albo, who wrote the article for the magazine, which has a predominantly gay readership, says the list's goal was to be counterintuitive.

    "We just dumped a bunch of numbers and statistics together and came up with this sort of wacky list of places that are actually more gay than you think," Albo tells NPR's Madeleine Brand.

    The article examined data such as the number of same-sex couple households per capita, elected gay officials, statewide marriage equality; other measures were more creative: the number of gay bars, cruising areas and gay-friendly films rented in a particular zip code.

    Portland, Maine; Seattle; Asheville, N.C.; and Austin, Texas, also made the list.

    "In a lot of ways, these are places that are kind of mimicking what New York and San Francisco were [doing] back in the '70s," Albo says. "They're becoming kind of magnet centers for people nearby to go to and maybe feel more comfortable about being out. They just happen to be in smaller towns now."

    But he concedes that the list has its critics, especially those who live in New York and San Francisco.

    "But then again, what measures gayness?" Albo asks. "Maybe there's one gay bar, but a ton of gay couples and a really great cruising spot there, too. Who knows? Who knows what measures gayness?"
     
    #1 Dtownandrew, Jan 24, 2010
  2. joeyconnick

    joeyconnick Guest

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    I don't live in San Francisco but I've been to both cities, and however much gayer Atlanta may or may not be compared to SF, Atlanta is a total, appalling hole of a city whereas SF is one of the most beautiful, awesome cities around, even minus its über-gayness.

    I don't even know how people could begin to compare a landlocked city with a coastal one, for starters. *shakes head*
     
    #2 joeyconnick, Jan 24, 2010
  3. Revan

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    #3 Revan, Jan 24, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2010
  4. joeyconnick

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    I've heard Houston isn't so bad... but I would definitely need to verify that in person. Austin, though, everyone raves about.
     
    #4 joeyconnick, Jan 24, 2010
  5. Revan

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    Yeah I meant Austin lol, misread on my part...
     
    #5 Revan, Jan 24, 2010
  6. Shevanel

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    #6 Shevanel, Jan 25, 2010
  7. Greggers

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    Well, the data they used to decide this was kind of poor. You can have a large "Gay district" in a city, but what about the other 95% of the city? All the data they collected would be in most part from one small part of the city, leaving the majority of the city un-tested.

    And they left out alot of variables. Like what if the city has a high percentage of gay bashings? They didnt look for that, but for all we know Atlanta could have a higher rate than say San Fran. What about the populations opinion on gay issues? I would hardly call a city with a large gay sector, but also a large percentage of "homophobic" people outside of that sector, america's "gayest" city. I feel that the heterosexual population's opinions should also factor in here somewhere.
     
    #7 Greggers, Jan 25, 2010
  8. Chip

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    I lived in Asheville for 2 years, San Francisco (east bay, actually) for 5, and visited all of the other mentioned cities except Iowa City (one of the occupational benefits of having worked in the touring entertainment industry.)

    I would have to, for the most part, agree with what the Advocate is saying. In addition to being gay-friendly, all of the cities in that list that I've visited definitely had a very liberal and accepting feel to them; I was a little surprised about Asheville and Austin and Portland ME, for example, but even though Portland and Asheville are pretty small, they were both surprisingly hip places with a lot going on. So not only are they gay friendly, they have an interesting night life, and a pretty large population of young people (gay and straight.)

    And I respectfully disagree about Atlanta; it's not a bad place at all, has some very beautiful sections, and I can think of much, much more horrendous places to live. Houston, for example. :slight_smile:

    I think the list is an interesting and useful one, though I am inclined to agree that the greater San Francisco area is among the most appealing places (other than cost of living) out of all the discussed areas.
     
    #8 Chip, Jan 25, 2010
  9. RaeofLite

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    ...I thought San Francisco was the "Gay Mecca" of the USA and possibly North America or the World?
     
    #9 RaeofLite, Jan 25, 2010
  10. zzzero

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    Boston is a pretty gay friendly city, and I see gay people all the time because a good amount of people moved here when we got gay marriage. But it's nowhere near being the biggest... i'm surprised it didnt make the list anywhere though.
     
    #10 zzzero, Jan 25, 2010
  11. Dtownandrew

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    I'm sorry that my home city so greatly offends you, as I'm sure Vancouver has no faults of it's own.

    Anyway, I think that Atlanta is a very charming place, and surprisingly gay friendly. And Atlanta's gay population is very spread out. I live in Gwinnett and have gay neighbors, my aunt and uncle live in Decatur and have gay couples completely surrounding them, and tenth street at piedmont all the way over the connector to Atlantic station is pretty much all gay.
     
    #11 Dtownandrew, Jan 25, 2010
  12. excuseyou77

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    I've lived in Georgia most of my life...Atlanta first, then moved to Indiana and stayed there for 6 years, and then came back and now live in Duluth, which is outside of Atlanta. And when I came back I was also surprised at how gay friendly the city actually is. I'm sure coastal places like San Francisco are lovely, but it's nice to hear positive things about other places in the country... especially in the Southeast and Midwest.
     
    #12 excuseyou77, Jan 26, 2010
  13. Phoenix

    Phoenix Guest

    I agree it's nice to hear of big gay havens around the country. I mean the west coast has San Francisco (and arguably Los Angeles), the Northeast has Boston, the Southeast has Atlanta. As far as I know the South doesn't have a good one (maybe Austin though) and I don't think the Midwest has one either (though I hear Minneapolis/St. Paul is very positive towards LGBT's).
     
    #13 Phoenix, Jan 26, 2010
  14. Katherine

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    Actually, the city of Atlanta is very gay friendly. It's the suburbs around it that aren't. Many people consider there to be two Georgias: one being the liberal city of Atlanta, and the other being the polar opposite redneck-filled rural and suburban towns around it.

    Now, I dunno if I'd consider Atlanta to be THE gay capital of the US, but it's certainly one of them. I'd like to live in the city much more than where I live now.
     
    #14 Katherine, Jan 26, 2010
  15. JurrBurr

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    I live in Bloomington, and its gay galore. No joke!
     
    #15 JurrBurr, Jan 26, 2010
  16. paco

    paco Guest

    the article actually isn't actually saying too much, i mean, they say themselves that they just used a bunch of random statistics to make a shocking claim, but san francisco is probably still gayer by our normal standards.
     
    #16 paco, Jan 26, 2010
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