Gay - Non/Gay In Chatt (Chattanooga, Cleveland: house, neighborhoods, living in)

[stella423]

My companion and I are moving again, within the Chatt area, but after reading the post on Cleveland and some of the other posts, I don't know what to believe. We are used to living in intolerant areas. You know, areas where you get looked at funny. Areas where comments are made behind your back. Dirty Looks. Well, we are used to that kind of area.


Any suggestions ?

[u4icmusic]

I haven't had those problems in East Brainerd at all, so I think you would do fine out here. There are a lot of gays and lesbians in the Belvoir and Glendon Place neighborhoods, and there are some in St. Elmo and Highland Park too. Where did you live where you were looked at funnily? I also think it's how you look and act that may make a difference. If you fly a rainbow flag or hold hands outside, you may rock the boat a bit here in Chattanooga. I personally believe that if you don't shove your sexuality down anybody's throats, whether you are gay or straight, then you won't cause any problems. I don't want to see a straight couple kissing and I'm sure they don't want to see my and my partner making out either.

[nurider2002]

My partner and I visited Chattanooga in July and loved it. Now, we didn't venture to Cleveland but, Chattanooga itself "felt" very tolerant. We met locals both gay and straight and felt welcomed by everyone. Agree with the above poster, it's a live and let live town, and a beautiful town as well. Best of luck.

[craven72]

My partner and I haven't had any problems either, and our friends and neighbors (mostly straight) are quite open-minded. The issues I have had have been the "gay community" in general - it seems rather fragmented, and there seems to be a good deal of shame and secrecy when, in fact, most people don't care and respect you more for being honest. I've run into a lot of "I'm not out at work" or whatever, which is bizarre to me coming from Atlanta. We even have a rainbow flag on our house sometimes (we live in Highland Park), and we've had no issues.