Wondering if the Tyler and Lindale area are gay friendly, or have much of a gay community? (Houston: neighborhood, to live in)

[Soy Capitan]

I'm an openly gay woman. I was born in Tyler, and lived here for 35 years. Spent two years in Houston.

You look around here now, and see sprinklings of openly gay people here and there. And yes, there does seem to be a small pocket of openly gay folk living in the azalea district, especially the area near Bergfeld park.

It has changed a bit. The population has grown, and people here in general are less hung up about gays. It's still a conservative city, and you will know it the first time you tell someone you're gay. And yes, there is the occasional jerk that wants to make trouble for you because you are gay, but not as many as there used to be. It's becoming more and more 'citified' as well, which sucks IMO. And the traffic has gotten progressively worse over the years. But it's an okay place to live, if you don't have to live in an area where your neighbors are shooting at you, and they aren't hassling you about the paint job on your house.

There is a club called Outlaws which has a gay night (can't remember which night, though). There is also a church called Saint Gabriel Community Church which has a mostly gay congregation. St. Frances Episcopal church has a few gay members. There is also a very liberal but very small church called St. Dismas, or The Order of Christian Workers. They have some gay folks in their congregation, mostly AIDS victims.

There are also a few gay Tylerites involved with Myspace, if you're into that.

That's pretty much all I can think of right now. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

[Graywolfm2m]

Hello ,

In response to the question: on being gay-friendly. What I have noticed since being back here, since April, is that there are more businesses that "do not discriminate for sexual orientation". This could be due to the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn the sodomy laws in all US states (though in Austin there were already gay-friendly businsesses doing this, before the decision - also in Portland, OR). It could also be due to many companies, that are based in other states, are doing this here do to company standards (which may or may not be the ideas of local management and employees - be careful ). And yes, this is "The Bible Belt" - known for overly judgemental hypocritical nosey christians, who will never change their attitude toward us ("hate the sin and not the sinner" does not count as a positive attitude change ).

As to how to find other gay/lesbians in the area. There still is a gay club in Longview called Decisions, that is on Hwy 80 East. The straight "gay night" club that was mentioned is called Outlaws, and is located South of Tyler on Troup Hwy. It still has the one "gay night" per week. There are several single and coupled gay/lesbian people living in the area. But, as mentioned here in this forum, they are not that easily noticeable/found. Many tend to work in the healthcare field (which actually fits, due to their caring and understanding nature - of how they would also like to be treated by other people). There was also a MCC church here in Tyler, at least back when I was last living here in 1993, assume it is still here. I recently found a local website for gay/lesbian people at: tridd.com which is also known as Project TAG (Tyler Area Gays). There is also a website: MeetUp.com, where you can either start up your own group or join an ongoing group (that communicates online and actually has face-to-face meetings). Some of the interested topics for possible gay groups are:
Gay People of Activisim, Gay Men of Color, Gay Athletes, Gay Outdoors, Gay men.
Unfortunately, no one has started a "gay" based group connected with this website. This does not mean that there are no gay members in any of the other meetup groups, of varing interests (ghost hunters, book club, paganism, metaphysical/spitirtual [psychic abilities], etc.).

Hopefully this will be helpful.

Good luck,
Graywolfm2m
graywolfm2m@gmail.com

[bman15470]

Man its hard to know where to begin with a thread like this. The tone is automatically judgmental and stereotypical of Church goers (read that Christians). Christians to a large extent simply view the practice (read that behavior, read that sexual conduct) of homosexuals as odd, strange, weird or abnormal based on century's of historical documents. Homosexuals to a large extent base view the practice of sex with someone of the same sex as normal based on secular humanistic trends and are too close minded to consider the conviction of the Christian faith as being as important to those individuals as being homosexual is to the homosexual. Kinda funny in a way. Christians just want to be left alone and freely worship their God with out being told that unless they love someones homosexuality they are close minded and that there is no place for them in society. Homosexuals want to practice their homosexuality with out harassment. If thats what you want go for it, but if others do not hold your same view of sexual behavior let them be, thats all.

[Poltracker]

Well-stated bman.

[orbius]

You have to have lived in East Texas to understand this mentality. But on an individual basis if you're white and gay in that part of the country you're still white, if you catch my drift. Now you wouldnt want to bring up gay issues with strangers or take the risk of hitting on someone in a non-gay bar if you were looking to avoid confrontations or arguments. Also if you're out with another man in public you would not want to be overt at all for your own saftey in fact you want to act like friends and dress like friends. A gay man on his own in that area would attract 0 attention or scorn, however if two overtly gay men are together in public at the wrong place at the wrong time that could very well bring violence upon that couple. That all sounds horrible in this day and age but thats the raw truth about that area not that I agree with it or subscribe to that kind of thinking.

[bman15470]

I wonder how two Christian men would fare if they were to proselytize at a gay parade event in San Francisco? That all sounds horrible in this day and age but thats the raw truth about that area not that I agree with it or subscribe to that kind of thinking.

[nerdygirly]

Yes because white christian men are the minorty who get abused, beaten and picked on ALL the time let's feel bad for them Having been to a gay pride parade in San Fran I could say they more than likely be ignored for not dressing fabulously lol kidding! I just couldnt resist.

Oh and yes gay people grocery shopping in Tyler, Texas are all out to convert the masses that is their master plan jeesh!

To give my insight to the question at hand tho! Being gay in the south is still risky and you will be faced with a lot of criticism. I am in the Golden Triangle area and its even more narrows minded down here, but I have family in Tyler so I go there enough. I don't think your saftey would be an issue, you will just be faced with people who want to 'convert' you or you will be 'shunned' (yes very old school but people will do it I swear I've seen it happen! lol).

That being said I think its super great! We need new people in this area to mix it up a bit! It's easy to keep a closed mind about things you don't know, people's mind opens up as their world does.

[bman15470]

Originally Posted by nerdygirly

Yes because white christian men are the minorty who get abused, beaten and picked on ALL the time let's feel bad for them Having been to a gay pride parade in San Fran I could say they more than likely be ignored for not dressing fabulously lol kidding! I just couldnt resist.

Oh and yes gay people grocery shopping in Tyler, Texas are all out to convert the masses that is their master plan jeesh!

To give my insight to the question at hand tho! Being gay in the south is still risky and you will be faced with a lot of criticism. I am in the Golden Triangle area and its even more narrows minded down here, but I have family in Tyler so I go there enough. I don't think your saftey would be an issue, you will just be faced with people who want to 'convert' you or you will be 'shunned' (yes very old school but people will do it I swear I've seen it happen! lol).

That being said I think its super great! We need new people in this area to mix it up a bit! It's easy to keep a closed mind about things you don't know, people's mind opens up as their world does.

Since your so open minded nerdygirl I like to share some good news about Jesus with you!

[produrre]

I moved to Tyler nearly three years ago from Illinois and have been disappointed at the lack of "openness" in Tyler. In every-day life, I seldom see same sex couples treated or acting like regular couples. Though I hear there is a sizeable gay population here, it is not overly obvious. My hair stylists are life partners. They own Rage Salon downtown on the square, and I think very highly of them and suggest that salon. I donate my artwork every year for the Tyler Aids Services for a large auction that is a very cool event. Many of the gay community, as well as the straights, show up to support that organization and I am very pleased that it is an accepted event each year. When my husband and I moved here I was warned that Tyler is very, very conservative. With that said, I doubt seriously you'd have any openly ugliness, however. I do find Tylerites very cordial and kind, though very provential. However, we are still trying to adjust.

One thing you may be very interested in is a new organiztion downtown called the Downtown Tyler Arts Coalition. It has four subsets... fine arts, music, dance, and theater/film. I believe several screenwriters/film people are involved. I'm involved in the fine arts subset and we are opening a high-end gallery this month with the grand opening being the last Friday of the month. We are just now puttign together a website and there are only one or two pages created as of now, but the link is Downtown Tyler Arts Coalition so you can keep an eye on that. good luck!

[teatime]

Originally Posted by bman15470

Since your so open minded nerdygirl I like to share some good news about Jesus with you!

The funny thing is that they're not THAT open-minded.

Just for kicks, one of us should go post something to the tune of ..."Wondering if there are any Christian-friendly areas in San Francisco?" on the California forum and see what happens. I'm not a betting gal but I have a feeling we wouldn't see any shining examples of "tolerance."