gay families in Tampa (St. Petersburg, Brandon: crimes, home, living)

[eaglema]

Hi my name is stacy, i live in tampa by temple terrace. we are looking to have a baby very soon, any advice i would be great. we also would like to meet with other gay lesbien families. its important to us for our children to be around other children with the same kinds of families.

[ferret111]

Tampa itself seems to be friendly, or at least alright; its Hillsborough County itself that isnt all that friendly, unless they've changed since Storms left office.

[Keeper]

I know several gay families who have get togethers who live in Hillsborough county. You might try meetup.com for groups.

[Aconite]

Originally Posted by bdedsb

Thanks for all your replies. I am slightly leaning toward St. Petersburg and Denedin. Can anyone tell how a gay family with a child would be accepted (or not) in Dunedin?

Depends. Are they nice people? <g>

Dunedin is pretty accepting overall. The city itself used to be (for want of a better word) gayer, but most of Pinellas has become more gay friendly so there's less of a tendency for people to cluster in small areas, if that makes sense.
I think for most people it's not a big issue, though. Maybe for the Saturday morning door-to-door God salesmen, but then, they think most of us are weird.

On a more practical note, though, try for Garrison-Jones or San Jose Elementary areas, because from what I hear Dunedin Elementary is a mess, even with its pretty new building. (All 3 serve the city of Dunedin.)

[PuterChickFL]

Keep in mind, while some areas may be more "friendly" to your situation, there still will be people out there that fail to see the beauty of your relationship, no matter what part of town you are in.

I have a few friends that live in the New Tampa/Westchase area and they like it there, no problems for them.

[kamorra2]

Tampa/St Pete in general is pretty liberal and along with that comes 'gay friendly'. Even in the burbs you shouldn't have any problems. The area is very diverse and people here are some of the friendliest I've ever met. You're family will love it here.

[seain dublin]

Tampa is hardly a liberal city. Everytime TBO runs a story on gay rights or marriage they have to shut down the boards to due to the nasty comments.

A liberal city is Portland, OR or Boulder, CO. Not a place where people are allowed to bring their guns to work and leave them in their cars.

Or a city that flies the largest confedrate flag for all to see.

[Aconite]

kamorra and seain are both right, depending on the part of town (and which town) you're in. The Bay Area is too balkanized to quantify one way or another. Old Southeast and Valrico are waaaay apart, and not just geographically.

In general, the further east you go, the further right you go.

[kamorra2]

Tampa is liberal considering it's in the South. Any city that elects a female democrat as mayor can't be all that conservative.

I've lived everywhere from the hills of KY to San Francisco so I've experienced both ends of the spectrum.
Yes, there are things about Tampa that scream redneck. But in the years I have lived here, I have not personally experienced intolerant people. I'm sure they're here and proudly sporting their "God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" bumper stickers, but if you stay in the city or near the city you'll find that's the exception, not the norm.

That has been my personal experience. I cannot say for sure you won't experience any prejudiced people but you can find that anywhere. Even in downtown San Francisco you'll have your Bible thumpers yelling that the 'homos are going to burn in hell'. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I feel Tampa is a pretty welcoming city to all types of people.

[Ecruboy]

Gulfport and St Pete proper.