Is Wilmington Population open-minded/gay friendly? (Wrightsville Beach: transplants, movies, living)

[innkeeper2B]

Mature gay couple considering a move to Wilmington and curious as to how accepting the general population is towards gay couples; any any input is appreciated.

[Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus]

yes , it is. we had a lesbian state senator, for example.

[innkeeper2B]

Thanks Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus...to the best of your knowledge, are there businesses, retaurants, etc that are frequented by the heterosexual or single population and which are clearly gay owned/operated? We are considering a move there to work and live and while we do not push ourselves on anyone and have been well accepted wherever we have lived, we have been told (by some NCarolinians) that southeast NC can be very closed minded and might avoid a gay owned business just because it is gay owned...that would make living there very difficult.

[Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus]

Originally Posted by innkeeper2B

Thanks Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus...to the best of your knowledge, are there businesses, retaurants, etc that are frequented by the heterosexual or single population and which are clearly gay owned/operated?

well, let me put it this way. i have gay friends, who own businesses, but i wouldn't describe their businesses as clearly gay owned and operated. It isn't like they advertise their sexual preference on the front of the building. (However, I have seen some that do, but I couldn't tell you whether or not these were frequented by the single or heterosexual population.)

another way to look at it -- usually gay-friendly is associated with bigger cities. However I've lived in cities in the south that were twice the size of Wilmington, and twice as conservative. Wilmington is about as gay-friendly as you can possibly be, for a town of this size in the south.

We are considering a move there to work and live and while we do not push ourselves on anyone and have been well accepted wherever we have lived, we have been told (by some NCarolinians) that southeast NC can be very closed minded and might avoid a gay owned business just because it is gay owned...that would make living there very difficult.

Wilmington is in southeast NC, but they aren't the same thing. Most of SENC is rural, and yeah, probably not the ideal place for gay people.

Downtown Wilmington and the Wrightsville Beach area both seem gay-friendly to me. This is a beach area that's full of transplants; one good thing about that is a relatively high level of tolerance for different lifestyles.

[movedtothecoast]

I totally agree [although not gay] Wilmington/Wrigthsville beach is gay friendly.

My brother[in law] and many gay friends come and spend time with us and have always
found it to be a non issue.
can you find people that are against? yes but isn't that the truth everywhere?
there is a good bit of diversity here, a couple of gay bars/nightclubs downtown
etc.
It is however a smaller city and if you were to go live in the more rural areas around eastern NC
it might not be as acceptable of an atmosphere. this would be true for a lot of states though.

what kind of business are you opening?

[innkeeper2B]

Thanks to everyone who responded, makes me/us feel much more comfortable. We do not press our sexuality but we also do not hide the fact that we are a couple in that we go out to dinner, the movies, concerts, the beach, etc. together. Our concern was based upon comments made to us by residents but they were by residents in a more rural part of the state.

[movedtothecoast]

while I don't know how it is to live with that fear of acceptance,
I really do feel that you guys will be fine here.

your member name gives me an idea of what business you will be in?
let us know if we can help with anything else.

[NM posts]

I think Cletus is right - downtown is the place to open a business - (plus downtown has a bunch of empty storefronts, you might get a good deal). My sense is that Wilmington is probably nowhere near as gay friendly as the triangle - it's much more conservative in general - but as with anywhere, the closer you get to downtown, the more progressive (I'm not specifically talking politics, just in terms of social issues)(though obviously they really tend to go hand in hand).

[koolkalang]

You'll be alright. It's not as openly "pro-gay" as other places, but it's not "anti-gay" either.