Is Charleston safe for gays? (friend, live, people)

[mtnwannabe]

I was born in WV and want to come home to Huntington. I was searching for a gay question before posting one. Lots of encouragement. Sounds like it may work for us.

[Moonpie]

Check out the wv paper alternative:

Graffiti: West Virginia's alternative source for news and information

[citybilly]

RE: Safe for gays??
After reading about the Huntington beating that left a gay man in a vegetative state, by 2 local maniac ex-wrestlers who are obsessed with eradicating gays, and who are also politically connected and do little jail time.Law enforcement was minimal here...2 things come to mind. First, that this is why gay people flee to LA or Ny, so maybe things haven't changed all that much; second, ...hmm.....2 "wrestling buddies" that rage against gay people. Wouldn't these 2 be the very definition of "homophobic"? Can you say "latent homosexual"?
I'm trying to find this story again in case anyone is interested. The guy was attacked after leaving a gay bar in Huntington at 3 am.
I can't really advise anyone not to move to WV if you are gay, because I do not live there. Just use caution before you jump into it. More input from locals, please?

**found the story, was actually from Jan 2002, on a site called gaypeople'schronicles.com- an Ohio gay news site which could be helpful in researching.

[GottaHerdOn]

The guy they did that to, wasn't even gay. But he was leaving a gay bar, and what happened they followed him to one of the underpasses and yelled *** at him, and he flipped them off, and they then got out of their truck and beat him.

[Ceezer]

I'm sorry to hear that, but can you really say something like that hasn't happened in NY or LA?

I know I'm late to the thread but I didn't hear any mention of Parkersburg. It's admittedly a smaller city than Charleston (probably close in size to Huntington and Morgantown), but growing up around there I always heard they were 3rd in the US for gay population. I don't know how accurate that information is.

[GottaHerdOn]

Things like that probably happen a lot in LA or NY too, you're right, I wasn't saying that Huntington is that bad. I personally think its pretty lax and open minded because of Marshall. Parkersburg actually in my opinion is a mini gay mecca. Its actually closer in population size to Morgantown without the college students. Huntington and Charleston are about the same size population wise. However I think Huntington and Morgantown are the more open minded cities when it comes to gays and lesbiens because of the universities. It is becoming (THANK GOD) less of a big deal among the younger generations, and college kids and people from college towns being more accepting

[citybilly]

Ceezer, you are correct, I have known of cases in the Hollywood area of LA, which is like the promised land for gay people, where men have been jumped by young gang bangers from a barrio nearby.. Maybe the key is to avoid dark, lonely streets late at night.

[GottaHerdOn]

but thats where the fun is ha ha

[CLUCAS]

Look at Columbus OH, atleast you will be able to have a night life and meet more people on the move. much more positive city out of the tri state...
I moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL. but was born in Charleston, its a very depressing place, no jobs, no energy.. As for Huntington I belive a city should be a place thats on the move with the times, when you get to WV look around and you will see what i mean. makes you say to your self (what happend here wheres the young people wheres the economy and the drive to do better)......

My heart goes out to the young people that are stuck there... at least theres the internet for them...

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Ceezer

I'm sorry to hear that, but can you really say something like that hasn't happened in NY or LA?
.

I'm originally from Charleston and live in Atlanta now. From what I've read, Atlanta has something like the third largest gay population in the U.S. (in sheer numbers, not per-capita), and yet you hear of gay attacks now and then here. "Midtown" is the Atlanta version of West Hollywood, where many gay people here live and there are lots of gay nighclubs, etc., and people cause trouble for them there, too. Now the police here are usually on top of hate crime stuff, because frankly, the gays here are so large in number (and have $$$) that they don't wanna tick off the voters (of which they make up a measureable percentage), but still, here it happens, too.

I have to be honest, I think that since 9-11 many people's priorities have changed, especially people living in medium to larger cities. I really think people are more concerned about crime, terrorism, and gas prices rather than who is sleeping with who. There will always be people here and there who hate everyone who will go out of their way to harm people who aren't like them, but that's everywhere. I don't think I'd necessarily recommend to a gay couple that they move to Cooterville, Alabama, even today, but I think many mid-to-large cities as a whole are very tolerant of most folks (Charleston included).