Newcomer to the Des Moines area with some questions. (West Des Moines: neighborhoods, living in)

[armozel]

I thought I say hello to you all and ask some non-standard questions about the area.

How LGBT friendly is the Des Moines area? In particular, is the culture more accepting/open to transgender people? I ask because right now I haven't been able to transition due to living in Kansas (born and raised) with respect to the social climate here. Should I expect some overt resistance or just your standard gawking/staring?

Thanks in advance.

[Tek_Freek]

You're going to get a mixed reaction. People like my wife and I (we just recently moved to Vegas) would not care. We had a couple of neighbors there that would freak out . One of them got upset when a black family moved in down the street for Heaven's sake.

We were in West Des Moines, Sun Prairie area.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by armozel

I thought I say hello to you all and ask some non-standard questions about the area.

How LGBT friendly is the Des Moines area? In particular, is the culture more accepting/open to transgender people? I ask because right now I haven't been able to transition due to living in Kansas (born and raised) with respect to the social climate here. Should I expect some overt resistance or just your standard gawking/staring?

Thanks in advance.

I have a lot of friends in the LGBTQ community in Des Moines and they love it there. There is a fabulous PRIDE event every June. Lots of bars if that is your thing, too.

You are gonna have haters no matter where you go, but that is THEIR problem, not yours

[tollfree]

It's going to be friendly in the sense that gay men who fit the stereotype will typically make sense to the general public. This is true for most of the US in any city over 100k (besides a few in the deep south), even in predominately blue-collar cities like Green Bay, WI.

If you want a place where you won't feel you're getting stared or judged for cross-dressing (unless it's a show at a gay bar/club), you'll probably have to goto Minneapolis (and live in one of the urban neighborhoods) if you choose to stay in the midwest.

Culturally liberal cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, or Portland are probably the only places you won't feel like you're getting stared or seen as different. There's simply so many alternative types in those cities that no one really takes notice of the next person who would stand out in most places.

[Tek_Freek]

The non-resident "expert" speaks.

[armozel]

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't expecting Des Moines to be like San Francisco or Seattle, but I'm more concerned how the average DSM-area person would react towards LGBT people. Mostly because I'm from Wichita Kansas and there's always been a problem with transgender people in the very small LGBT community here (and just the city in general).

[steel03]

Originally Posted by armozel

I thought I say hello to you all and ask some non-standard questions about the area.

How LGBT friendly is the Des Moines area? In particular, is the culture more accepting/open to transgender people? I ask because right now I haven't been able to transition due to living in Kansas (born and raised) with respect to the social climate here. Should I expect some overt resistance or just your standard gawking/staring?

Thanks in advance.

I am non-binary and I lived in Des Moines for 7 years. The MOGAI scene in Des Moines is mostly cis gay and lesbian focused, but all things considered it is NOT a bad place to live as a trans person. It's better than rural Kansas, but it certainly isn't San Francisco. On a scale from Wichita to Minneapolis, it's much closer to Minneapolis.

[lurtsman]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

You're going to get a mixed reaction. People like my wife and I (we just recently moved to Vegas) would not care. We had a couple of neighbors there that would freak out . One of them got upset when a black family moved in down the street for Heaven's sake.

We were in West Des Moines, Sun Prairie area.

When I was in Iowa I didn't see much anger towards gay people. I did see racism.

[akrington]

That is very unfortuante

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by lurtsman

When I was in Iowa I didn't see much anger towards gay people. I did see racism.

The woman who got upset was from Nebraska. Farm town.