st. pete...conservative? (Miami, Orlando, Delray Beach: crime, credit, neighborhood)

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by silvio

Asheville is an interesting place. Most Appalachian mountain cities/towns are the exact opposite. I like the Art Deco buildings in downtown, kinda like South Beach except no beach and a few other things. I'd like to go back up there sometime in the near future. The last time I was there, was about 10 years ago, I'm sure it's changed ALOT. Atlanta is allright to...a little slice of reality in the midst of the Georgia. Never been to Charlotte, but I don't think I'm missing much.

Silvio, Asheville has really grown and changed a LOT in the last 10 years, downtown really has the urban vibe of a much larger city. Fabulous restaurants, quite a bit of entertainment and many new condos built/being built there. For such a small city, it really has a lot to offer, especially with the food scene - and that goes for groceries, bakeries, tailgates as well as all the restaurants. Never seen so many restaurants of all types in a small city, and for the most part, standards are high. If you go back you will be impressed.

[FireballFL]

Originally Posted by wolfpacknc

I love how you make it seem that gay and Christian are like black and white...that you have to be one or the other? This is EXACTLY why "Christians" get a a bad perception, so as a Christian thanks a lot.

That said, I am also gay and I think the Pride Parades are ridiculous and do nothing to help the gay community. I actually attended the parade in St Pete and was disgusted by most of the participants. Hey everybody... those terrible stereotypes we see of us on tv are all true!!! I would like to see a parade of 70k gays wearing what they would wear to work or to their moms house and not stinking WIG or chaps!!!

BTW. I think St Pete is a good mixture of Conservatives and Liberals but leans toward the liberal side.

Hey Wolfpack, I did not attend Gay pride in St. Pete, last month. For one, I was out of town. For two, if I was here, I would probably not attend it. I enjoy heading off to the bar for a few drinks and talk to a few friends, but the parade thing is just not my thing. I do not have to go into a parade to announce my sexuality. All my heterosexual friends, family members, and co-workers are more than aware of this. If I wanted to attend the pride events, I would have just came in regular clothes. I have never fully understood why people must dress in chaps or in drag? Does it make one anymore gay if they do that?

[silvio]

I already gave my thoughts on pride parades but here ya go. I think they significantly feed into stereotypes, look no further than this very board and that's pretty evident. It frustrates me that hetereosexuals think all gays are like the ones you see in a pride parade. I see the other "pro-parade" side wherein it's about freedom, not having to hide anything, etc. I personally just go because it's a fun event. I don't wear anything I wouldn't wear on other day. i.e no "I DO ANAL" t-shirts...thats so trashy. I can't speak for folks that do, I can only say my friends and I just see it as a social event with friends, sometimes they support a cause, but we mostly just go because it's a fun event. However, I do agree that they hurt the gay community more than help it. I don't know... pride parades are divisive (sp?) even within the gay community. I guess I like to think that folks are intelligent enough to not base their opinions on a particular group based solely on the antics they see in a pride parade. I didn't formulate opinions on young straight men and women based on Mardi Gras, Girls Gone Wild ads, or college spring breaks. Although.........hmmmm......where was I going with this?

LOL.

~peace

[FireballFL]

Originally Posted by silvio

I already gave my thoughts on pride parades but here ya go. I think they significantly feed into stereotypes, look no further than this very board and that's pretty evident. It frustrates me that hetereosexuals think all gays are like the ones you see in a pride parade. I see the other "pro-parade" side wherein it's about freedom, not having to hide anything, etc. I personally just go because it's a fun event. I don't wear anything I wouldn't wear on other day. i.e no "I DO ANAL" t-shirts...thats so trashy. I can't speak for folks that do, I can only say my friends and I just see it as a social event with friends, sometimes they support a cause, but we mostly just go because it's a fun event. However, I do agree that they hurt the gay community more than help it. I don't know... pride parades are divisive (sp?) even within the gay community. I guess I like to think that folks are intelligent enough to not base their opinions on a particular group based solely on the antics they see in a pride parade. I didn't formulate opinions on young straight men and women based on Mardi Gras, Girls Gone Wild ads, or college spring breaks. Although.........hmmmm......where was I going with this?

LOL.

~peace

Precisely. I believe most straight people are smart enough now to know what they see on television or on news reports are not what is the real life stuff. In a lot of cases, someone either works with someone professionally that is gay or they have a family member that is gay. It is rather disingenious to assume that someone is a certain way by what a few people do. I have never dressed in drag and never intend to do so. Anyone who wants to do it, then more power to them, but I also will not be compared to these individuals either.

Anyway, I think I am agreeing with you on this part, but I did my gay pride thing when I was in my 20s. Now that I am in my 30s, it is like BFD! LOL

[blueoktober]

Originally Posted by FireballFL

Precisely. I believe most straight people are smart enough now to know what they see on television or on news reports are not what is the real life stuff. In a lot of cases, someone either works with someone professionally that is gay or they have a family member that is gay. It is rather disingenious to assume that someone is a certain way by what a few people do. I have never dressed in drag and never intend to do so. Anyone who wants to do it, then more power to them, but I also will not be compared to these individuals either.

Anyway, I think I am agreeing with you on this part, but I did my gay pride thing when I was in my 20s. Now that I am in my 30s, it is like BFD! LOL

I think you give straight people too much credit - especially southern ones. They still equate homosexuality with a mental illness, child molestation, murder, etc. Being gay is not a choice, but being a flaming sissy IS a choice.
So when a Christian couple in Nashville sees a flamer going by in a tutu, then yes, they will automatically categorize all gay people as the same flaming child molester.

What kills me is that gay people typically take scary real estate and make it sky rocket in value. They bring the arts, they take care of their neighborhood, they love to celebrate. In a state full of out of control crime, how is having gay neighbors a bad thing? How is being one's self and contributing to the world in very positive ways a bad thing?

My eyes have been opened to a few posters on here that I once thought highly of. You never know who is going to end up being a bigot.

[silvio]

Originally Posted by blueoktober

I think you give straight people too much credit - especially southern ones. They still equate homosexuality with a mental illness, child molestation, murder, etc. Being gay is not a choice, but being a flaming sissy IS a choice.
So when a Christian couple in Nashville sees a flamer going by in a tutu, then yes, they will automatically categorize all gay people as the same flaming child molester.

What kills me is that gay people typically take scary real estate and make it sky rocket in value. They bring the arts, they take care of their neighborhood, they love to celebrate. In a state full of out of control crime, how is having gay neighbors a bad thing? How is being one's self and contributing to the world in very positive ways a bad thing?

My eyes have been opened to a few posters on here that I once thought highly of. You never know who is going to end up being a bigot.

I'm glad I had some hand in enlightening this issue. That's what it's all about The gay community has been primarily responsibility for turning around Kenwood in St. Pete and Grand Central...but Rick Baker has yet to commend that. It's so easy for folks to stick their hands in the sand when it's not kosher to say anything nice about the gay community if you're a Republican and on the conservative side. Because being a Republican means you're anti-gay. I don't recall that being in the manifesto. Did Lincoln say that? Or Reagan? Imagine week or even a day if every homosexual in this country took a day off and stayed home, didn't work or anything. We all pack up and take a cruise with Rosie and Elton John. You thought this country depended on illegal immigrants to run...?? No Broadway, theater, talent, music, art, rennovations, decoration, financial markets, architects, etc etc etc.

Maybe we should do that. Conservatives like to erronously think the country would be "better without them qu#ers", let's see how that would work out. I don't want to ignite another firestorm of debate again but I had to briefly weigh in. And yes, the "flamers" choose that behavior but whatever, that's their business not mine.

Cheers!

[tonynorie]

Silvio, in the ininimitable words of Foghorn Leghorn, you're choppin' wood but no chips are flyin', son!.......what the hell do you mean??

[Jammie]

UMMM Silvio, I've got to disagree with you on that one.

[vilehelm]

Originally Posted by blueoktober

...What kills me is that gay people typically take scary real estate and make it sky rocket in value. They bring the arts, they take care of their neighborhood, they love to celebrate. In a state full of out of control crime, how is having gay neighbors a bad thing? How is being one's self and contributing to the world in very positive ways a bad thing?

BINGO! I can tell when a neighborhood is turning around when a florist opens up a shop ... I'm serious! :P

In Atlanta, gay residents were always the ones who turned neighborhoods around. I've got two gay neighbors who have singlehandedly started cleaning up an abandoned cemetery. It's mind boggling the amount of energy those two have.

[Mar1lyn27]

I've been reading many of the posts on this thread with a big chuckle. I'm a middle aged, middle class, Jewish hetero, divorced woman.

I'm in NY (lawnguyland) -- I'd like to sell my home now and leave NY.
Warmer climates, slower pace of life, etc, appeal to me, so naturally I thought of FLorida. My parents are in their 80s and live in Delray Beach.
I'm an only child and would like to be closer to them geographically, within 1-1.5 hrs of driving.

So I've been researching areas in FL that would appeal to me, and there is basically nothing, not a single place there, with the possible exception of St. Pete that fits my criteria, and that's too far from mom & dad.

I want a bohemian, artsy, liberal, progressive place. I begin my search by looking for places with a significant GAY population. Those are the places with the most tolerant, community-involved, interesting and progressive populations. They tend to welcome new ideas. These places tend to have many alternative health care practitioners (acupuncture, doulahs, holistic healers, etc), more bookstores, more culture. The status quo is often challenged.
Both of my daughters attended Cornell Univ. in Ithaca NY. I got to know the city and I fell in love with the place. It's been ranked the most liberal city in NY State. Not surprisingly, it has an enormous gay population. Its incredibly forward thinking, tolerant, energy conscious, progressive, liberal, rife with intelligentsia. If it weren't so brutally Siberia-like in the long winters there, I'd probably relocate there. It's also a wonderful place to raise kids.

As far as conventional marriage goes in our society today...between a man and a woman...it doesn't work as well as most would like to think.
The divorce rate is now over 50%, that to me is a huge social commentary. Additionally, the latest figures show that 51% of women live alone; that includes widowed, divorced, never-married women; also a huge social commentary.

At some point, our conservative, christian lawmakers are going to be required to address public policy issues to accommodate our emerging social trends; including health care coverage for gay spouses, equal earning for women, etc.

Sorry for the rant, this was just my 2 cents worth.

marilyn