Hello I've been reflecting about this for some time.... in the near future I'm going to graduate from college, and I have plans to move to a different city...but I'm 25 and still in the closet, mostly bc I've discovered I was a LGBT very recently... now I want to make the right decision...and one of the things I often see here on EC is about people struggling because they live in a small town with very few LGBT people around or no community at all....based on that, my main question by now is..... how many people at least do you guys consider ideal in a city for one to have better chances on finding other LGBTs and to suffer less with prejudice?? Like, should it have at least 100.000 people? 200.000? 500.000? More than one million? I really want to know more...it will help me hugely on where I'm going to move to, alongside with job prospects, lifestyle and other important things in life
Every city has a different number of people, so I'll do it by percentage of LGBT people. I would say that a city with around 5-10% of people being LGBT is decent. I don't think the current town I live in even has 1% LGBT, and my local city (Glasgow) seems light on gayness as well. It says your location is London. I can imagine that in the right areas, you will be fine. Brighton and Manchester are also both good for the gay scene apparently.
Hello Joe, thanks for the advice! It seems a good starting point.. do you know how to find data about LGBT percentage on the city population?? I always forgot to uptdate my profile information...by the time I created my profile I was doing an exchange in UK....but I'm from Brazil actually.... but what I wonder is bc here at least, many people say small cities are usually filled with prejudice, and also you get used really fast to the city
Brazil may be different to European countries due to cultural differences and the religion factor. Maybe you should look at some Brazilian cities and see what websites/ gay guides there are - and you may get an idea of the gay friendliness. Of course, the larger the city the more 'tolerance' you are likely to find.
As a rule, the bigger the city, the more opportunities there will be and capital cities are often good places for LGBT people to live and work. An internet search often gives you an idea of what's going on and what might be available. If you type LGBT followed by the city name it should bring up a list of results. If it doesn't you should ask yourself why that is and do some more research before moving there.
^ That. Usually bigger city means more LGBT people. But there are some important things to watch out for if you want to choose the right city for you. 1) What are the local laws about LGBT? Are lawmakers in that city LGBT friendly? Do they have some type of legal partnership for lgbt couples? 2) Are there any local LGBT organization in the city? 3) If there are theater production or other cultural artsy places in the city then more likely than not there will be a strong LGBT presence. You want to look for legal protections more than just a lot of LGBT people. In return, legal protections will attract more LGBT people
I haven't thought before about the legal aspects...good to remember! I've heard about the capital cities and the bigger, the better.... alongside a good cultural and artistic scene... I actually live in a capital city....but what makes it a little more difficult to me is that the job market for physicians here is better in smaller cities (Im graduating from the medical school.... and the bigger the city, less money and opportunities you have, bc the market is more saturated, more physicians, etc..). So what do you guys think I can do to find the good balance between a town small enough to have a good career...and at the same time big enough for me being able to find more LGBT's, more peace on being myself and have a good standard of life??? Im not so sure I have any idea on where to look for, taking the career thing into consideration...
How much more money are we talking about? Is it worth it? If you are talking about HUGE difference in money they I would say follow the money while you get your career started. If you think that you can make a decent living in the city, but with less money, then I would say stay in the city. Money will not bring you more happiness if you feel alone, isolated and unprotected. That being said, LGBT people are EVERYWHERE. The more out you can be the more you will find each other. Its just about how safe you feel being out where you live. Either way, keep in mind you are playing a long game. Either decision is temporary and you can always relocate if you seem fit. Try not to stress out too much about it. You will find away to thrive either way. You got this.
I'm not sure what the specifics are in this case, but in most cases yeah living in a major city makes physicians lose a gigantic amount of money. Less populated areas will pay a lot more just to get a doctor to move there at all. For example the specialty I was exposed to most growing up was Emergency Medicine. Average EM starting salaries in Los Angeles, Chicago etc. are around $150,000-$200,000 Average EM starting salaries in rural Texas, rural southern states etc. is around $250,000-$350,000. Pretty huge difference. I agree, he should follow the money and move to wherever he likes after establishing financial security.
Come to my city. PLEASE. Absolutely desperate for family physicians here. Very high level of gay-positivity (you can walk hand-in-hand with your partner and no one will bat an eye) and full rights and protections under federal law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax,_Nova_Scotia
