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I have lived in The Castro District of San Francisco for many years. My partner and I are considering a move to some place else for retirement.
It will be culture shock after living here for so long. I would like a gay friendly medium sized town or suburb that is close to good medical services. Your priorities change when you get older. We're still a few years
away so there is a lot of time to contemplate. I've thought about Las Cruces,NM. ..Boise,Id. ..Walla Walla,Wa. ..The Woodlands,Tx. ..Kent,Oh.
Any other suggestions or comments are welcome.
There are many liberal, gay-friendly towns of various sizes...it really depends on what you're looking for and what region you'd prefer.
baton bob was not "thrown out" of st. louis because he was gay. he was not always well received because he was a jerk. he would verbally abuse people for no reason at all. he used to walk right in front of my apartment and everyone loved him, but if you happened to walk to close to him, he would flip out. he weaseled his way into march in a parade that he didn't register for and the cops threw him out (they threw several others out as well). that's when he got pissed and said st. louis doesn't tolerate him. there are always three sides to every story. st. louis is a very, very tolerant city for gays, and has among the highest per-capita numbers of same-sex couples in the united states. just because one homosexual who happened to be very moody didn't always feel welcome here doesn't mean the city is intolerant. st. louis liked him a lot more than atlanta does. this is the city that made him famous in the first place. he's an ingrate. st. louis is a city where gay and lesbian couples can and do walk hand in hand down the street with absolutely no problem whatsoever. brent6969, your gross generalizations make you sound very narrow-minded. gay or not, baton bob is a jerk.
baton bob was not "thrown out" of st. louis because he was gay. he was not always well received because he was a jerk. he would verbally abuse people for no reason at all. he used to walk right in front of my apartment and everyone loved him, but if you happened to walk to close to him, he would flip out. he weaseled his way into march in a parade that he didn't register for and the cops threw him out (they threw several others out as well). that's when he got pissed and said st. louis doesn't tolerate him. there are always three sides to every story. st. louis is a very, very tolerant city for gays, and has among the highest per-capita numbers of same-sex couples in the united states. just because one homosexual who happened to be very moody didn't always feel welcome here doesn't mean the city is intolerant. st. louis liked him a lot more than atlanta does. this is the city that made him famous in the first place. he's an ingrate. st. louis is a city where gay and lesbian couples can and do walk hand in hand down the street with absolutely no problem whatsoever. brent6969, your gross generalizations make you sound very narrow-minded. gay or not, baton bob is a jerk.
OK, maybe I am wrong, but when you say St Louis liked him more than Atlanta does, how do you know that? That is were your credibility goes in the toilet. He is totally embraced by all here. I have been to St Louis many times I like the city, I just do not see couples walking down the street hand in hand.
Where is St Louis?
Same-sex couples per 1,000 households
1. San Francisco County, Calif. 33.41
2. Hampshire County, Mass. 22.93
3. Monroe County, Fla. 21.75
4. Multnomah County, Ore. 19.36
5. Manhattan, New York City 19.32
6. Washington, D.C. 19.29
7. Santa Fe County, N.M. 18.44
8. DeKalb County, Ga. 18.42 This is Atlanta.
9. Sussex County, Del. 18.28
10. Franklin County, Mass. 17.33
st. louis ranks a rather impressive #11 in that ranking, well ahead of cities such as chicago and los angeles. i never said st. louis is any more tolerant for gays than atlanta, i just stated that it is generally a very, very tolerant city for homosexuals, dare I say perhaps moreso than my hometown of philadelphia. nobody can make a credible claim that st. louis is not a welcoming city for homosexuals.
more people in st. louis loved baton bob than disliked him, even though he was often a major jerk.
i never said st. louis is any more tolerant for gays than atlanta, i just stated that it is generally a very, very tolerant city for homosexuals, dare I say perhaps moreso than my hometown of philadelphia.
I like St Louis. That said, I have found Philly to be pretty tolerant. Rather than being defensive, can you explain why you find SL more tolerant that Philly. Thanks.
St Louis is not tolerant at all. Just by you saying "them" is a negative slur like some sort of alien. They basically threw a well know street performer called Baton Bob out of the city. He moved to Atlanta.
Press reports indicate the public in Atlanta either highly appreciates Baton Bob or quietly tolerates him.[3] Though he was appreciated by some, he annoyed others in St. Louis as well. Several exceptional events precipitated his departure.
During the summer of 2003, an observer mooned the character. Both men mutually escalated the situation until the unidentified observer struck Baton Bob in the cheek, an injury that required five stitches. The observer was later arrested by St. Louis detectives and prosecuted.[4]
The following summer, when he marched with Missouri NARAL in a suburban 4th of July parade, police manhandled him in an attempt to remove him from the procession. Though the police allowed Baton Bob to remain in the parade, the incident prompted a complaint that alleged the police also swore and called him names.[5]
Later the same summer, Baton Bob was arrested while participating in a Kerry/Edwards rally at St. Louis Union Station. He swore at a police officer who stepped on the train of Bob's $500 wedding dress, prompting an arrest for trespassing. The arrest proved to be the proverbial last straw, as Baton Bob left St. Louis for Atlanta soon thereafter.[2]
Seriously? Virtually all the trouble that guy got in was brought upon himself. He's one of those people who walks around being extremely loud and demanding attention, but then if anyone tells him to cool it down a bit or stop being loud, he throws a fit and suddenly it's all cause he's gay. As a gay person those people annoy me. They be aggresive and loud and annoy everyone, but then when you tell them to shut up you're suddenly just doing it because they're gay.
Then people walk away thinking that's how gay people act normally. People are born gay, it really doesn't change who they are as normal human beings. Most people just see the stereotypical gay activities because they're the only ones people actually see. They don't see the boring everyday lives of going to work, going to a baseball game, going out to eat and doing yard work, etc. That's a normal gay person's life.
i think phila is a tolerant city as well, i have just heard more anti-gay slurs there than in st. louis.
Thanks slengel. Although that has yet to happen to me, I can understand how that would impact your impressions. The reason I ask is that I have found Philadelpahi to be more than tolerant as a gay man. I have found it welcoming.
Many years back (long before I had an idea I would be living here), I noticed Philly was aggressively marketing in national publications to glbt travelers with a campaign theme titled "Get your history straight and your nightlife gay" (Philadelphia - Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay). While the city was not on my radar, I found the campaign clever and it stuck in my mind.
A few years back, my partner and I began visiting cities on both coasts to decide where we wanted to re-locate. Without a clear sense of the city, we came to Philly on a whim for a long weekend. We took one of those open air bus tours to get the lay of the land. As we turned down Pine Street, I noticed the rainbow-striped street markers. The tour guide said something like "We are now entering what we in Philadelphia call the "gayborhood.' On your left, you see the second oldest continuously operating gay bookstore in the US." Including Giovanni's Room right up there with the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross's house and the Rocky statue left another impression.
Another tidbit: We knew PA did not offer any sort of legal recognition to domestic partners (nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future). Upon investigation, however, we learned City Council enacted a domestic partner registry in 1998.
Since living here, I have noted print media, live media and city government regularly report on and promote glbt events and gatherings. An example is the promotion of the annual Equality Forum with banners that line Broad Street, Philadelphia's signature boulevard:
It reasons such as these I consider this city welcoming, not just tolerant, of its glbt citizens and visitors.
Philadelphia is a city that flies under the radar of many people. Despite the image many of us regular and overzealous posters from Philly may have created, most people who live here are not prone to braggadocio. It may be that the city's Quaker roots and sensibilities discourage such posturing. Instead, most us us quietly go about enjoying the many great amenities this city offers, not caring if outsiders know about them or not.
I find it is the same with my glbt life here, as well. Will Philly ever be considered a glbt mecca, on par with places such as NYC, SF and South Beach? I seriously doubt it. Have I ever heard any gay friends lament this fact? No. Just because one is not living life in the limelight doesn't mean that one is not enjoying a great life. Sometimes flying under the radar can be a good thing.
I have lived in The Castro District of San Francisco for many years. My partner and I are considering a move to some place else for retirement.
It will be culture shock after living here for so long. I would like a gay friendly medium sized town or suburb that is close to good medical services. Your priorities change when you get older. We're still a few years
away so there is a lot of time to contemplate. I've thought about Las Cruces,NM. ..Boise,Id. ..Walla Walla,Wa. ..The Woodlands,Tx. ..Kent,Oh.
Any other suggestions or comments are welcome.
May be a bit boring after San Francisco but you may want to add Davis, CA to the list. Liberal university town, great medical care at the UC med center and easy to get back to The City for visits.
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