Straight friendly places in and around SF? (San Jose, Oakland: neighborhood, schools)

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Sophiasmommy

Who is Jaysus? Are you mocking us for no reason? That's kind of the hostility that I was referring to in my op and makes me wonder how tolerant the bay area is to conservative Christians.

Yup--mocking-not you, but how people that need to exclaim what religion they are. I'm not a Christian so I can blaspheme without fear of going to hell.

But anyway, you can be whomever you like in the Bay Area. Whether gay, married, transgendered, hetero, adulterous, or married to someone of the opposite gender, like myself. Even Christians have a place amongst the non-believers. Gay Christians, too. Being white and Christian is nobody's business but yours.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Sophiasmommy

Not usually, in Australia we were. We were visiting Sydney back in '05 and an Aussi said, "Oh, you're American you yanks...." and I thought he was gonna bring up something political like Bush, or Iraq and he finished his statement with, "...sue everyone". I couldn't argue that point. lol Thanks for your kind reply, btw.

Unless you're coming here to preach or have some obnoxious political/religious message on a t-shirt, you're going to get treated the same as everywhere else imo. SF is full of tourists from all over the country and world.

At the very worst might run into someone that might make some stupid comment based on stereotypes about where you're from (i.e. The South) but I've dealt with that in other states when they realize I'm from CA. All of it pretty harmless and really no need to entertain.

Regarding your last point, the poster above you, referring to Jesus as Jaysus is an example of intolerance and open hostility that I was referring to; it was uncalled for.

Honestly it just comes off as an odd and somewhat argumentative question because unless you were doing something yourself to bring attention to who you are and your beliefs, nobody will care or pay any special/extra attention to you. Some might have assumed you were coming here to preach or do something to make your beliefs known. But the SF forum can be a bit defensive because of some of the threads we see on here lol.

[Sophiasmommy]

Originally Posted by clongirl

Yup--mocking-not you, but how people that need to exclaim what religion they are. I'm not a Christian so I can blaspheme without fear of going to hell.

But anyway, you can be whomever you like in the Bay Area. Whether gay, married, transgendered, hetero, adulterous, or married to someone of the opposite gender, like myself. Even Christians have a place amongst the non-believers. Gay Christians, too. Being white and Christian is nobody's business but yours.

Why bring race into the conversation? We're a bi-racial couple with mixed race children. You seem to have some latent anger issues.

[gummybear11]

OP hasn't even arrived in the bay area, and i loathe her already.

not for her religious beliefs, but rather her over-defensiveness, overbearing presumptuousness, and ideological insecurities.

[pch1013]

Originally Posted by gummybear11

OP hasn't even arrived in the bay area, and i loathe her already.

not for her religious beliefs, but rather her over-defensiveness, overbearing presumptuousness, and ideological insecurities.

As evidenced by the very title of this thread. And her ongoing unsuccessful attempts to prove that she does not actually have a persecution complex.

[krmb]

Well, I'm not from California, but I thought I might weigh in. It really depends on how religious you are already. Around here, preaching in the streets is pretty normal, and so is blessing the food openly in restaurants, blessing people in Jesus' name when you write a letter or formal correspondence, praying in public, etc. It's also pretty normal to openly express homophobic sentiment and leave everyone seemingly unfazed. (There is a gay community here, but it remains mostly hidden.) I imagine one of the more conservative residents of this place would be in for serious painful culture shock if he or she tried anything like that in San Francisco.

Then, there's also just a matter of adjusting to the culture. I imagine that your social life will depend largely upon your socio-economic status back home, whether you are male or female, single or married, your ethnicity, etc. Again, it boils down to how conservative you are. I know of a few people who would not be welcome by the gay communities of San Francisco. We actually have Ku Klux Klan and members of Westboro Baptist (well, their Southern cousin, anyway) close to this place, so that may give you an idea. They would also bring all of their beliefs and convictions to wherever they visited. At least they give me the idea they would, so let's hope they don't decide to move to San Francisco, although am I the only one who finds the thought of the ridiculous amount of culture shock they would experience hilarious? Now, that sounds like a new movie.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Sophiasmommy

Why bring race into the conversation? We're a bi-racial couple with mixed race children. You seem to have some latent anger issues.

Why exactly would you need to start your original post with such ignorance? Really? Are you actually stupid enough to think that married hetero people are being discriminated against in the Bay Area? You set yourself up for silliness from the get go. I'm just telling you that the Bay Area is a very accepting place for people---just people-- I am not bringing race into the conversation. Just giving you many examples of the multitude of people that live in this mega region of 7 million people.

..and if it makes you feel better, I apologize for referring to your savior as "Jaysus". When I lived in Ireland we'd say "Jaysus" a lot.

[pch1013]

Originally Posted by kmb501

Around here, preaching in the streets is a pretty normal, and so is blessing the food openly in restaurants, blessing people in Jesus' name when you write a letter or formal correspondence, praying in public, etc.

Here in SF there's a guy who always shows up at big public events, including gay ones, carrying a sign that reads simply, "JESUS LOVES YOU." And no one objects to that at all - because it's such an innocuous message.

However, someone who constantly invokes god or Jesus in public, in a way that could be construed as proselytizing, would probably encounter the occasional eye-roll or perhaps even an angry glare. Because here in the Bay Area, we believe in keeping our beliefs to ourselves.

Namaste.

[SIJ95]

Originally Posted by kmb501

Well, I'm not from California, but I thought I might weigh in. It really depends on how religious you are already. Around here, preaching in the streets is pretty normal, and so is blessing the food openly in restaurants, blessing people in Jesus' name when you write a letter or formal correspondence, praying in public, etc. It's also pretty normal to openly express homophobic sentiment and leave everyone seemingly unfazed. (There is a gay community here, but it remains mostly hidden.) I imagine one of the more conservative residents of this place would be in for serious painful culture shock if he or she tried anything like that in San Francisco.

Then, there's also just a matter of adjusting to the culture. I imagine that your social life will depend largely upon your socio-economic status back home, whether you are male or female, single or married, your ethnicity, etc. Again, it boils down to how conservative you are. I know of a few people who would not be welcome by the gay communities of San Francisco. We actually have Ku Klux Klan and members of Westboro Baptist (well, their Southern cousin, anyway) close to this place, so that may give you an idea. They would also bring all of their beliefs and convictions to wherever they visited. At least they give me the idea they would, so let's hope they don't decide to move to San Francisco, although am I the only one who finds the thought of the ridiculous amount of culture shock they would experience hilarious? Now, that sounds like a new movie.

Where do you live? I would like to live there

[LuvSouthOC]

I am dating myself here I know...I loved when Margaret Cho used to use the line about her brother in her stand up routines.

Brother: Yo Margaret.

Margaret: Yeah?

Brother: Have you accepted J as your personal lord and savior yet?

Brother: Hey, where are you going?

Brother: B*&%^!