Is Chicago Gay Friendly? (Naperville, Woodridge: neighborhood, buy, live)

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by Drover

Ever been to Miami or Key West?

I was thinking more politics in Florida towards homosexuals or Tampa since that's the city she mentioned, but I corrected this in another post. You are correct. Orlando is also more gay friendly. Key West, despite its "gay friendliness" still has a lot of hate crimes, etc. Overall though, I would check out Chicago.

[Avengerfire]

Like other posters have said,Andersonville is your best bet.Almost anywhere north of Belmont that is close to the Lake in Lake View,Edgewater,Uptown,and parts of Rogers Park would work for you the best.

[Chiguy1957]

Just as you will find myriad neighborhoods and suburbs in Chicago and environs, you will also find myriad attitudes about sexuality. Overall however, Chicago proper is pretty sophisticated and accepting. Heck, it's the gays that are saving the city if you ask me. Many, many neighborhoods that seemed destined for ghettohood were/are being gentrified by gay men and women. I believe Chicago was the first city in the country to officially recognize one of its preeminent gay enclaves when they installed and paid for the rainbow pylons on Halsted Street.

South Loop, Loop, parts of Pilsen, Gold Coast, Lakeview, Wicker Park, Uptown, Bucktown, Ravenswood, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, North Center, Andersonville, and Rogers Park are neighborhoods with sizable gay populations and decent transportation. You will have no trouble finding acceptance here. That said, even though bashings seem to have become rare events, it's still smart to always be aware of your surroundings.

[noplacelike]

Chicago has always been as gay friendly as cities come, save San Francisco or Manhattan. We have a long-standing gay pride parade and our politicians and mayor court the gay vote.

[ginger250]

There are going to be idiots everywhere but as a whole I think Chicago is very gay friendly. Andersonville is nice but a little out there. Personally, if you are new to the city and not on a really tight budget I would move to the Gold Coast until you become familiar with the neighborhoods. Right around Halsted and Belmont is "Boystown" this is where all the bars are.

[exberwynite]

Off the beaten path from this subject, but when people say things like "I saw gay people shopping", do they mean that 2 people of the same sex were holding hands and perhaps kissing... or that 2 men together looked particularly feminine (perhaps wearing pink and speaking in a higher than normal tone).... and that females looked 'butchy' with their hairstyles and lack of makeup... How does one know they are looking at someone who is gay????

I've come across young guys that I could swear were gay because of their highlighted hair, pink shirts and flamboyant belts, but have been told that young guys are no longer looking for a 'macho' image and the soft feminine look is in.

I AM SOOOOOOO CONFUSED. I'm not around gay people a lot, I dont think... Well, maybe I am, I just dont know it. Being married (to a person of the opposite sex) and having young children of my own, I'd prefer not to see 2 of the same sex people showing affection in front of my kids just as much as I dont want them to see two teenager heteros showing affection in public. My kids just don't need to see it.

If you're not holding hands / kissing in public, do people really even KNOW that you're gay?? And, if they assume you're gay by the way you look, does it really matter? I'd never thought I'd see a male, let alone my spouse, wear pink at any time... times are a changin', but for the life of me, I don't think I would know if a person was truly gay without seeing some sort of affection with another person of the same sex.

Am I the only one oblivious to this? How does a particular neighborhood become gay? The straights move out and gays take over??? What is 'gay friendly', you dont get beat up walking down the street? Sounds like a new type of gang, one I'd prefer over criminal activity.

[AnnaBanana77]

isn't every city gay friendly?
It's a metropolis!

[cathy J.]

Never been to Chicago myself but my brother who is gay has and he says its very gay friendly.

Chicago he was telling me is one of America's top cities for "bears and cubs" ( Hairy gay men ) and Chicago's "Bear Pride" is one of largest bear events in the nation. An event that attacts many ( thousands ) from all over the world.

Still though he was telling me Chicago isn't America's top "bear city", that honor belongs to ( depending on whom you ask ) to either San Francisco ( where the bear movement started ), Denver ( home of America's first bear group The Front Range Bears ) or Indianapolis which from what I heard has a number of businesses that cater strictly to..well bears.

of course since the person who started this thread is a lesbian, I doubt she is into "bears". Still though by having a large gay event that attacts lots of gay men and I am sure they ( Chicago ) offers similar events geared towards lesbians, is proof that the area is at least somewhat gay friendly.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by exberwynite

Off the beaten path from this subject, but when people say things like "I saw gay people shopping", do they mean that 2 people of the same sex were holding hands and perhaps kissing... or that 2 men together looked particularly feminine (perhaps wearing pink and speaking in a higher than normal tone).... and that females looked 'butchy' with their hairstyles and lack of makeup... How does one know they are looking at someone who is gay????

I've come across young guys that I could swear were gay because of their highlighted hair, pink shirts and flamboyant belts, but have been told that young guys are no longer looking for a 'macho' image and the soft feminine look is in.

I AM SOOOOOOO CONFUSED. I'm not around gay people a lot, I dont think... Well, maybe I am, I just dont know it. Being married (to a person of the opposite sex) and having young children of my own, I'd prefer not to see 2 of the same sex people showing affection in front of my kids just as much as I dont want them to see two teenager heteros showing affection in public. My kids just don't need to see it.

If you're not holding hands / kissing in public, do people really even KNOW that you're gay?? And, if they assume you're gay by the way you look, does it really matter? I'd never thought I'd see a male, let alone my spouse, wear pink at any time... times are a changin', but for the life of me, I don't think I would know if a person was truly gay without seeing some sort of affection with another person of the same sex.

Am I the only one oblivious to this? How does a particular neighborhood become gay? The straights move out and gays take over??? What is 'gay friendly', you dont get beat up walking down the street? Sounds like a new type of gang, one I'd prefer over criminal activity.

In places where they are comfortable doing so, some gay people make it a point to make sure you know that they're gay, whether it's by their behavior toward each other, or wearing a shirt with a rainbow flag on it, pink triangle stickers on their cars, or flat-out cross-dressing (very rarely seen except during gay-specific events like pride parades), etc. There are certain parts of Chicago where they are particularly comfortable doing so. A colleague of my ex-wife was like this where she took every opportunity to let everyone know she was gay, be it her house decorated with all kinds of rainbow crap, all of her jewelry was two intertwined female symbols (♀), her car had no fewer than three rainbow stickers on it, and she used every opportunity to reference her orientation in a conversation, no matter how forced, contrived, gratuitous or awkward. I wanted to throttle her by the neck and say, "OK, we get it already!"

Even if they're not so forward about it, there are sometimes other ways to tell. When a couple of effeminate-looking guys walk together into a shop called "Gay Mart" (I am not making that up -- there really is such a shop) or into a bar called Manhole (yes, there used to be one of those too), it's not too hard to put two-and-two together. And of course, there are some times when you can't tell.

[prairiestate]

This should answer your question: