Is Austin Tx gay friendly? (Houston, Dallas: homes, neighborhoods, school)

[Still Havent Founf]

How large is the gay community in Austin? Is there a lot of discrimination?

[lattelizard]

Generally speaking, Austin is very liberal and supports the idea of "keeping Austin weird." You will see much variety in Austin. There is a definate gay community here and I have not heard or seen any discrimination. On the other hand the gay population here is not as open as you will find in other cities (San Fran or NY) but nonetheless, the gay community is present and easy to come across.

[loose cannon]

Please refer to my post to the interracial couple. Maybe it was a rare occurrence but I saw a gay couple hand in hand without a care in the world a few years ago when I was there.

[Cathy4017]

Austin is EXTREMELY liberal...and is the most liberal city in Texas.

They're so liberal that a homeless cross-dresser is allowed free rein right in the middle of the downtown area. They don't even bother to try to restrict his movement and weird activities.

So you shouldn't have any problems finding gays or anything else in Austin!

[Frey Guy]

Would Houston be considered the 2nd most liberal city in Texas?

[txbuilder]

Houston has a large gay community in the Westheimer area where all the best unique restruantsshops and lovely old homes are. It is by the museum district and is a favorite spot for us to shop when we go there.
Gail

[OREGONRAIN]

I am considering the austin area to retire in, I am 57, Not sure if I want to plug that into the general forum, if I got someone that told me to stay in Oregon, I might tell him or her to stick it where the sun don't shine, but then that would be here oregon, so why bother. Anyway, would like to hear from people that could give me some info on other gay guys that have relocated to austin and what they think of it. Im not sure this is the right forum, this is probably all young people, and they would have another agenda, and who could blame them, I might just be blunt and actually place a forum that states. Are there any gay men that relocate to austin for retirement, and see if anyone answers. Thanks

[austin-steve]

I read somewhere recently (maybe in the statesman) that some gays were complaining that Austin is so tolerant and accepting of different types of people that they don't have a place of their own. In other words, there are no strictly gay neighborhoods (they called them "gayborboods" in the article) or sections of Austin that are "gay only" like there are in many other U.S. cities. Presumably because if you're gay and want to live in Circle C for example, it's not a problem. Your neighbors will be cool and won't really care that your gay. Thus, unlike some U.S. cities, gay people don't have to congregate in "their" part of town to feel safe and accepted, so they're spread all over Austin.

So, when gay people come to Austin and want to head out to the "gay areas", there really are none since everybody is welcome everywhere. Of course there are gay bars, but the people quoted in the article seemed to be lamenting the fact that there are not entire contiguous blocks or streets in Austin where they can have a nightlife stroll to various different gay bars and clubs that are "all gay, all the time".

I have to admit I found this odd. Almost like reverse discrimination.

Austin is so accepting/tolerant of different lifestyles and cultures that everyone can blend together and get along, and somehow that's a bad thing? I'm missing something here.

I have a black friend who moved to Dallas for a similar reason. There are no affluent "black areas" in Austin and he wanted his kids to go to school with and be around successful black families that share his values. In Austin, he was always the only black guy at the business lunches and other gatherings. In Dallas, he has a full black community to belong to and it's all black families in his neighborhood.

I guess humans, for the most part, really do want to be around and hang out with people like ourselves. We seem to hold different groups to different standards though. I know "white flight" people in Atlanta who've moved 50 miles north of town to be in the "all white" suburbs. I think of them as somewhat racist, but I don't think of my black friend who moved to Dallas in the same way for doing the exactly the same thing.

[AustinTraveler]

And to answer your question about age on this forum, it is definitely not all young people. And besides, when did 57 become old??

[jread]

Austin is extremely gay-friendly... even the outer areas are. I've read that suburban Austin has a very large lesbian population.

You will find that most people here won't really pay attention to your sexuality. Also, there was a list a few years ago of the "Top 10 'Gayest Cities' in America" and Austin was in the top 4 if that tells you anything.