Gay Life In Birmingham (Homewood, Cleveland: 2013, apartments, condos)

[bhampride]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Atlanta's very large and very visible LGBT community most certainly helped make it the city that it is today, and contributes mightily to the cultural fabric that is Atlanta's brand. But an obvious question might be which came first? Gays or Atlanta's acceptance for gays?

Reality is that as far back as the 1950s, when Atlanta was emerging as a progressive, business-minded and tolerant city "too busy to hate," gays and lesbians began flocking there in large numbers because it was one of the few places in the South where they could live and socialize in anonymity. By the 1960s, when the AA Civil Rights movement was raging across the South, Atlanta already had gay nightclubs. And in 1971, two years after the Stonewall Riots in NYC, Atlanta staged it's first gay pride parade -- one of the earliest (and now oldest) in the country.

The gay club scene in Atlanta continued to grow and flourish throughout the 1970s, and by the 1980s Atlanta was indisputably the "gay Mecca" of the South -- the South's San Francisco. Though the arrival of AIDS in the early 1980s decimated much of the community, it also galvanized it, politicized it and brought Atlanta's ay community from the shadows to the forefront. Thanks to the presence of the CDC, which housed the team of doctors and scientists who first identified and established early treatment for HIV, Atlanta has always been very much at the center of the battle against the disease. Further, it was an Atlanta court case that led to the US Supreme Court overthrowing sodomy laws in all 50 states -- effectively making gay sex legal.

Again, all this is as much a part of Atlanta's history as is the Civil War, MLK, Coca-Cola, CNN and the Olympics. Dozens of Atlanta neighborhoods, beginning with Midtown, have seen gentrification and are thriving inner-city neighborhoods today thanks almost exclusively to gays and lesbians. And that fact is not lost on the city's business and political circles, which embrace the LGBT community for the invaluable role it plays in making modern day Atlanta. Thus, the city promotes itself as a gay destination -- not just to visit, but to live and do business.

Birmingham leaders -- any Southern city's leaders -- would only be wise to do the same.

Thanks you, Newsboy for your input! Your point that the LGBT group has sort of helped lead the way with gentrifying and revitalizing Atlanta is the whole point of this post. How can city leaders ignore the importance of a strong LGBT presence among other minorities? And what steps should be done to achieve that? I think an endorsement of the pride parade by the city would be a great start.

[NormadNYC]

Originally Posted by Tourian

We touched on this in a couple of threads here. What I think we all seemed to take away from it was:

1. Birmingham has a tolerant population with mostly a live and let live attitude.

2. Gay people seem to have founded a community of sorts in an around southside, Avondale and east lake.

3. People outside of the area that have hang ups about what does or does not go on in the hearts and minds of Alabamians can kick rocks. There's no real reason for us to spend time trying to change what people say who have no basis of experience with what they are hating on.

lol don't lie to yourself

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by bhampride

Thanks you, Newsboy for your input! Your point that the LGBT group has sort of helped lead the way with gentrifying and revitalizing Atlanta is the whole point of this post. How can city leaders ignore the importance of a strong LGBT presence among other minorities? And what steps should be done to achieve that? I think an endorsement of the pride parade by the city would be a great start.

Well, it has to start from within. I'm getting pretty old now LOL ... but I remember from my younger days how the boys from Alabama would complain about how bad the gay scene was in Birmingham. And my reply to them was always, "Why don't y'all stay and try to make it better?" Generations of gays and lesbians found it much easier to just leave their hometowns and go to the big city after they came of age. They never seemed willing to build a strong community back home, and I understand that -- then. But this is now and times have changed. Homosexuality is pretty much tolerated if not downright "ok" accepted throughout most of the country. Every town of any size in America has at least one gay bar, and you'll find some in places that surprise even me. So yes, now more than ever there's no reason why Birmingham's gay community shouldn't be thriving.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised the few times I've been out in Birmingham. Five Points South is very gay friendly and the clubs there are fun, if not particularly flashy. Birmingham has nothing to be ashamed of in that regard. Didn't some late-night TV hacksend a camera crew down to B'ham one time to capture "bigots" reacting to two boys kissing and holding hands in public? I think it totally backfired. People instead cheered them on!

[bhampride]

Originally Posted by NormadNYC

lol don't lie to yourself

Haha! I was thinking the same thing. I'm not aware of any real gay community in Birmingham... Especially not East Lake.

As far as a live and let live attitude... It only seems that way to straight people around here. The attitude of "I don't care who you sleep with as longas you don't shove it in my face" is not one of acceptance. Relationships are not about what's done in private. It's about sharing with family, taking your partner to work holiday parties, and holding hand when you want to.

The culture of Birmingham would never accept that as it stands today.

[bhampride]

People think that just because we don't have to worry about being lynched anymore that everything is peachy.

I can still be fired in Alabama for being gay with no legal protections.

I can still be gay bashed in Alabama and it isn't considered a hate crime.

I can't even have a domestic partner in Alabama.

Where's Birmingham's initiative to help with these concerns as the most progressive city in Alabama?

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by bigstick

From Raj "It is convenient because almost all other cities, (such as Tulsa, Atlanta, Little Rock, Memphis, Detroit, Greensboro, Cleveland, Chattanooga,,,,,,,well you get the idea I suppose), yes, almost all have had the same or similar histories concerning civil rights, especially in the South but oh yes, also in the North".

RAJ, HELL NO. No city had Bull Connor and the hoses that mowed down Negros on every block along with attack German Shepherds. Wake up man. ATLANTA, never came remotely close to the bigotry that consumed Birmingham and still does to this day. I am still embarrassed for Birmingham because of this and yes I do have family from Alabama. As far as Gays go, are you gay?

If I cared at all I would be most embarrassed for you, because you choose not only to live in ignorance but to spout it as fact.

Raj Nawaaf Kapoor

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by bhampride

Haha! I was thinking the same thing. I'm not aware of any real gay community in Birmingham... Especially not East Lake.

What a disingenuous statement. No there's no "real gay" anything in Birmingham. Except for the "real gay" clubs. We dont have any "real gay" suburbs or communities. However there are gays that live in higher concentrations then some other neighborhoods but they can freely live anywhere across the metro.

As far as a live and let live attitude... It only seems that way to straight people around here. The attitude of "I don't care who you sleep with as longas you don't shove it in my face" is not one of acceptance. Relationships are not about what's done in private. It's about sharing with family, taking your partner to work holiday parties, and holding hand when you want to.

The culture of Birmingham would never accept that as it stands today.

I have seen no evidence that it doesn't. Talking about an ex mayor stopping a parade years ago is not enough. Don't put words in my mouth. Saying that live and let live means don't shove it in my face is asinine.

[bigstick]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

If I cared at all I would be most embarrassed for you, because you choose not only to live in ignorance but to spout it as fact.

Raj Nawaaf Kapoor

I knew you would come back with a ridiculous reply as usual. What is not factual about what I said? You're the one who brought up the RACE card.

[bhampride]

Originally Posted by Tourian

What a disingenuous statement. No there's no "real gay" anything in Birmingham. Except for the "real gay" clubs. We dont have any "real gay" suburbs or communities. However there are gays that live in higher concentrations then some other neighborhoods but they can freely live anywhere across the metro.



I have seen no evidence that it doesn't. Talking about an ex mayor stopping a parade years ago is not enough. Don't put words in my mouth. Saying that live and let live means don't shove it in my face is asinine.

You guys are missing the whole original point of the discussion. I am just trying to promote a better awareness about these issues that are very real for people. Don't try to dismiss it as nothing if you aren't gay.

If anyone else would like to join the discussion on how we could improve, you guys, that would be preferable over arguing with the same folks.

[asiandudeyo]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

Well, it has to start from within. I'm getting pretty old now LOL ... but I remember from my younger days how the boys from Alabama would complain about how bad the gay scene was in Birmingham. And my reply to them was always, "Why don't y'all stay and try to make it better?" Generations of gays and lesbians found it much easier to just leave their hometowns and go to the big city after they came of age.

Thumbs up!