Is Austin Tx gay friendly? (Dallas, Blanco: low crime, college, organic)

[artsyguy]

Not in my experience.

Austin and UT are pretty darn conservative and I will never go back there.

You must be the rare gay person who was out having fun and oblivious to the reality that Austin is very limited and too conservative.

Originally Posted by septemberfifteenth

I am a regular patron at Halcyon in the 4th-Street Warehouse District, which at any given afternoon seems to be at least fifty-percent LGBTQ. I also occasionally frequent Progress Coffee in East Austin, which also has some regular LGBTQ patronage.

I am Catholic, and I attend St. Mary's Cathedral at the noon choral mass or at the 5pm classical-guitar mass, and I notice gay couples also in attendance. I sing at choral compline at St. David's Episcopal every Sunday night--an LGBTQ Christian oasis par excellence (myspace.com/complineinaustin). From my understanding, most mainline Christian denominations in town are affirming congregations, so if you are gay and Christian like myself, you will find Austin very agreeable.

As a gay graduate student in my middle 20s, I find this town very much for me even for its cliches: gay cowboys, colorful hippies, trendy hipsters, vegetarian activists, and shirtless tree-huggers... not to mention the HOT weather!



I live in a co-op (yes, the socialist establishment also copiously found in the Bay Area) where I am the token gay dude... There is room for improvement, but I am very happy in this place.

I do miss having a gay neighborhood, as I have experienced living in Chicago and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where I can flirt and almost assure myself a date, but I find the rather confusing mix here rather fun... If straight girls can flirt with gay guys, why can't I occasionally (and unknowingly) flirt with a straight guy? In Austin, you will find that most everyone is open to some affection.

[artsyguy]

That is actually a bad sign when gays are so blended into the society (invisible is what I call it) and it is what conservative Christians want too. They do not want gays to have their own neighborhoods, shops, churches, etc.

Yes straight people can and do get upset if a gay person hits on them.

Yes straight people get aggravated and irate if you have to work in a team with a gay man or gay woman.

Originally Posted by jread

That is really the best way anyone could possibly put it. Austin is the kind of town where a straight person isn't going to get pissed off if a gay person hits on them (or vice versa). It's all flattering and all in good fun. There aren't really any "gay" areas or "straight" areas... it is a very integrated city as far as sexuality goes.

[readymade]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Yes straight people can and do get upset if a gay person hits on them.

When we lived in West Hollywood, in the heart of "Boys Town," my ex would get hurt when gay guys didn't hit on him. It cracked me up. He would get especially bummed when we'd be with a guy friend who DID get hit on. HAH! (I told him it was because he was so "obviously" straight and manly, heh)
My other guy (straight) friend used to brag about getting hit on all the time. He would call me from a bar and be all "There's a bunch of guys here trying to turn me gay! It's awesome!!" It was an ego boost!

If people had any sense, they'd just be flattered and leave it at that. I kind of assume that if someone gets upset about it, it's because they're probably gay themselves, and can't deal with it. That goes for any homophobes.

One time my co-worker friend "confessed" to me that he "didn't like gay people." I told him that it was probably because he was gay himself, or at least... that's what I assumed when anyone felt that way. He was horrified. HAH!

[coog78]

I feel that Austin has definitely lost a large part of its original liberal streak. Gays in the 90's would have felt much more at ease in Austin. The town has really turned into the most pretentious place in Texas. It isn't anti gay by any means, but will never be Houston or Dallas. Houston has the largest gay pride parade in the southwest. Dallas and Houston both have large gay districts, but the openly gay population is by no means oppressed or uncomfortable at all within the core of either city. As far as the uppity-ness at gay bars, that seems to be a southern thing. It's in Houston and Dallas also. You just don't get that in New York or San Francisco. I've had friends I would consider two steps from an obesity heart attack able to strike up conversations with men that could be models in both cities.

[Trainwreck20]

Yes straight people get aggravated and irate if you have to work in a team with a gay man or gay woman.

I haven't noticed this at all, at least not in the last place I worked and the current. To tell you the truth, I know it has never crossed my mind when working on a project and doubt it has occurred to many, if any, of my co-workers. I seem to find that any phobia/discomfort is more prevalent in social settings rather than work settings.

Yes straight people can and do get upset if a gay person hits on them.

In my younger days, I probably would have been discomfitted somewhat. To tell the truth, I was so oblivious I was pretty much unaware if anyone (straight or gay) was hitting on me . Depends on what you mean by 'hitting' on you, too, since a casual flirt is one thing, but if you are obvioulsy not interested and someone continues to 'hit' on you, then, whether they are gay or not, it gets to be really annoying.

I worked for many years as a waiter and a by-product of that job is that many people seemed to assume that if you are male you must be gay. Honestly, there probably was a higher percent gay guys than in a random group of people, but not THAT much more. You would occasionally get the random group of guys - say, hunters or whatever - that would be so phobic that they could hardly order. Now THAT was funny and you could always play it up just a little, since you pretty much could tell you weren't getting a tip anyway .

[TexasHorseLady]

Yes straight people get aggravated and irate if you have to work in a team with a gay man or gay woman.

This is interesting, because I know of several places where gays (male and female) and straights and a few bis work quite happily together. Now, in some cases, EVERYONE, gay or straight, gets aggravated and irate at having to work with one or another of their co-workers, gay or straight - but I can assure you that it has a great deal less to do with their sexual orientation and a lot more to do with their behavior on the job and whether they're a pain to work with or not.

Not every time someone doesn't like someone else - or a lot of people don't - can be written off to prejudice about sexual orientation, you know. Sometimes it's just that the person who is not liked is not liked because of the kind of PERSON they are, not who they choose to sleep with. It's a lot easier, of course, to write it off to something like sexual orientation than to take a good, long look at how one interacts with people and take some personal responsibility for that.

[AGA]

I make it a point to ask all my team members up front who they sleep with, because it is really important on meeting that deadline!!! LOL...

Yes straight people get aggravated and irate if you have to work in a team with a gay man or gay woman.

You must be kidding... Please tell me you are kidding!!!

[twange]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

You would occasionally get the random group of guys - say, hunters or whatever - that would be so phobic that they could hardly order. Now THAT was funny and you could always play it up just a little, since you pretty much could tell you weren't getting a tip anyway .

This is a hilarious image...maybe worthy of a Saturday Night Live skit Homophobic hunters, trying to order burgers but avoiding eye contact. Ha!

Originally Posted by AGA

I make it a point to ask all my team members up front who they sleep with, because it is really important on meeting that deadline!!! LOL...

I ask everyone I meet up front whether they are gay or straight. Makes it easier to judge them and saves any awkwardness later.

[TexasHorseLady]

At the workplaces I mentioned upthread, the ONLY way anyone knows anyone else's sexual preference is because of who they bring to the office parties. Which never causes any problems whatsoever.

Again, if people don't like you, or you can't get along with them, sexual preference is very often way down on the list of reasons why, if it's on the list at all. Sometimes you just have to look closer to home for the answer.

[artsyguy]

Why should anybody have to look closer to home. Being disliked and uncooperative during group work doesn't make it right or good....if you are gay or a minority then yes a gay or minority is going to attribute it to their status instead of to whatever it is the people are being silent about or refusing to discuss...or whatever else they are blaming it on.

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

At the workplaces I mentioned upthread, the ONLY way anyone knows anyone else's sexual preference is because of who they bring to the office parties. Which never causes any problems whatsoever.

Again, if people don't like you, or you can't get along with them, sexual preference is very often way down on the list of reasons why, if it's on the list at all. Sometimes you just have to look closer to home for the answer.