Gay couple moving from Connecticut to Orange County (San Diego, Long Beach: condo, crime)

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by NewEnglander62

BVitamin: Re the religious piece, do they keep to themselves regarding their religions or do they try and " convert" you at every opportunity?? We are not used to that in New England. We go to church maybe 5x per year ( including Christmas!) and it is usually Unitarian ( VERY gay friendly)

Originally Posted by NewEnglander62

Re the religious piece, do they keep to themselves regarding their religions or do they try and " convert" you at every opportunity??

The only ones who do that are the Jehovah Wits and the door-to-door Mormons. But they're like that wherever they are. Other than that, nobody will ask you what church you attend, or if you do.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by BVitamin

Fontucky and Mach50 seem to have different feelings of gay acceptance in Orange County.

Reading Comprehension 101 time: Nowhere did I address gay acceptance. Other than stating the obvious (you'll find more gays in Laguna Beach), I might as well blather on about how it feels to be black in OC. I'm not black, I'm not gay, so I don't have a clue.

[Scott5280]

When I was living in Newport Beach, I had a friend who came out. Without revealing his identity; his father is pretty well known in local OC politics, and his family was very unhappy with him. I would hear a few comments from others, even his own friends that could be considered inflammatory. People would say things like "Laguna ***** is three miles South of here." Others like myself couldn'care less one way or the other...I was dating a black girl in 2000, when she used to come down to hang out from LA , we would occasionally get some less than approving stares, but it was ironcially from Asians and hispanics...don't ask me why?.. The one time I really got upset though was when her and I went to a Asian run restaurant, and they avoided seating us, eventually offering a table in the corner.

The racial thing against blacks seemed more prevelant from Asians and hispanics then whites. These however were isolated instances and not reflective of OC as an entire county. I spent half my time growing up in Boulder(as liberal as anywhere in CA) so the conservative thing was a bit different, not bad just different..Find a solid group of friends in an area that you find beautiful, and enjoy Southern California. "Yes, it is more conservative, but the whole
gay/minority hating retoric people claim is ridiculously exaggerated.

I read some of these posts and thought to myself..I have never seen gays or blacks beat up or threatened. If anything the people I know back in Newport would generally stand up against gay bashing or racist skins. There is a very small number of skinheads in Newport though; there is skin bar one block East of Jacks surf on Balboa about 29th or 27th and "Blackies by the beach" would not be a place I would go if I was not straight and white..
Other than that..Last time I heard there were gay people in Orange County..some of them even happy.

[californio sur]

My sense is that the anti-gay sentiments in Orange county seem to be expressed in things like Prop 8 where a person can decide in the privacy of the voting booth. I do know that there is a sizable Mormon population in and around Temecula and when the names of the supporters of Prop 8 were made public that a good number were from both Orange and San Diego counties. The anti-gay people resented that the list was made public and the resulting demonstrations\ boycotts. Some companies desperately tired to back peddle and all of a sudden embraced gay rights. What I have not heard of is overt discrimination against gays in Orange county. One can be sure that if there is discrimination that the California courts would jumped all over it. A fertility doctor in Oceanside [San Diego county] wouldn't inseminate a lesbian by saying he wouldn't perform the procedure on any unmarried woman. The state supreme court ruled that the doctor did in-fact discriminate against the lesbian had to pay a settlement to the woman.

[BVitamin]

Quite right Fontucky. I took it in conjunction of the OP, sorry to tread on your personal soap box moment.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Mach50

1) Gay
2) Want to meet nice down to earth people

Well those 2 criterions just threw "South OC" out of the game. I would NOT recommend this move.

Long Beach is a much better choice. Sorry if it seems I am bashing OC again, but racial or sexual tolerance is not OC's strong suit.

I woud tend to agree with that statement. I lived in mission viejo for 2 years and felt that it was wall to wall married couples with kids. You will find a smattering of gay couples in laguna niguel. One of my best friends in Laguna Bch laments how "all of the gays have disappeared". South Laguna used to have a gay dance club called the "Boom Boom Room" and a more casual club called "woodys". They are both gone. I'm not sure if the one piano bar is still there or not. Long Beach has a more positive vibe for gays than the OC, imo.

[BVitamin]

BVitamin: Re the religious piece, do they keep to themselves regarding their religions or do they try and " convert" you at every opportunity?? We are not used to that in New England. We go to church maybe 5x per year ( including Christmas!) and it is usually Unitarian ( VERY gay friendly)

From my experience, they don't try to convert you in a direct way which isn't to say to any degree of certain denominations are known to do. They just bring it up every now and then and if you have a question regarding something in moralistic nature or even making a decision, they give you an answer which seems to be derivative of that book, suggestive if you will. I suppose you can sum it up by calling it 'Existential Christianity'. If one thinks about it, having this belief or any other belief will ultimately permeate in every facet of one's life and there are some who compartmentalize it. Of course this is a generalization and there are groups out there in Orange County that are literal, fundamental, or just social (meaning they are religious for the community aspect); if I may assume you belonging to the latter. And you can consider how much you want to take in from what I'm writing knowing that I roll my eyes to the moon at the notion of religion.

If I may ask, why the move?

[NewEnglander62]

You are correct. We would not conssider ourselves religious at all. Rick Warren is a very scarey person to us! We just like being part of an open minded community. We are considering the move mainly because of the weather ( no snow, less humid etc). Spring and fall are nice here, but winter is a DOG. This forum helps in that we can hear different perspectives from people who know the area well.
I can remember in the late 1980's visiting the Boom Boom Room and the likes, and thought Laguna waas cool, but I have heard it has changed. Neither my partner or I are bar people, but an occaisional place to go and meet friends would be nice. Do you live in OC?

[californio sur]

I think actually the opposite has occurred. Once gay people were ghettoized and stuck to themselves. Now gay clubs have as many hetero people as gays because they have the best music. Members of the Lakers frequent gay clubs in West Hollywood; that would have never happened in the past. I think the mixture of people is more common today.

[BVitamin]

No, I don't currently live there. Though I visit because of family, less and less as of recent. I was raised there and lived there for about 23 years. I would suggest a long visit out here first (if finances permit), rent a place and go to different areas (might want to visit Long Beach as well) to feel it out. If you do decide on Long Beach, Los Angeles will be that much closer to you for better museums, if you're into that.