bieng gay in chattanooga? (Savannah, Midtown: how much, hotel, house)

[mitch1156]

my partner and I are coming up in 2 weeks in hopes of finding an area of chattanooga thats suitable for us to buy a home if we like the city, however I am getting alot of bad stories about how backwards it is there and althogh I realize it won,t be like ft lauderdale can it possibly be that bad to be a middle age gay couple there? after all this is 2007

[Celsius]

I currently reside in the Brainerd area and in the house to the right of me, lives a lesbian couple, living in the house to the left of ours is a gay couple, and in the house across the street from me is a gay couple as well. Chattanooga is pretty tolerant of gays. Of course it's not New York, LA, tolerant, but pretty tolerant as far as southern cities go. There's going to be backwards people wherever you go. I'd say there's some in Ft. Lauderdale as well.

[Jon F Moss]

we're moving from Broward County up to Chattanooga at the end of the summer. Be glad to have you over for a meal anytime--we can talk about how much better things are in our new town! I never could understand the use of the word 'tolerance'. Doesn't that mean I tolerate, or "put up", with you? Wouldn't acceptance be a better word? As in...I accept you for who you are

[jkmewright]

Hey Mitch had to pipe in here as well. Sure you are gonna get some ppl who look at you twice "just to make sure" and possibly more. I would not suggest going to the dirt track races and laying a big one on your beloved but generally you will not feel ostracised. You are going to have a neighbor or two who will turn their faces from your yard as they walk past and such other nonsense but you will find another who invites you over to their Saturday night BBQ. I would however suggest you live in an urban area with more like-minded forward thinking ppl to surround yourself with. Now get your tail up here, we've got some things to show you

[Jon F Moss]

So when should we be over for the BBQ?

[jkmewright]

Originally Posted by TriDad

So when should we be over for the BBQ?

I don't have a grill lol but I am sure we can find a great local place downtown w/some stuffed pork potatoes and ribs!

[atlantagreg30127]

I think what you'll find is that in general, people here (as in the south) are more accepting of gay people than gay people from other areas of the country think they are. However, yes, if someone has an "in your face" attitude about it, people are less accepting. In other words, if you move into a neighborhood simply as a couple/partner household, I doubt many will do more than raise an eyebrow then move on with their lives. If however, they saw you marching in a gay pride parade wearing leather speedos and waving rainbow flags, then yeah, the reaction isn't as tolerant.

Most are not the type to do the speedo/flag thing, but it does happen. I'm in Atlanta - one of the "gayest" cities in America, and definately the largest gay population in the south. 99.9% of the time folks have no issues with it here (at least openly), but whenever the gay parade happens, that's when you see some negative reactions to it from the most bigoted people who do the "see see how they are???" stuff.

So my opinion based on reactions from coworkers and people I know when the topic comes up is that it doesn't specifically matter where it is down here. Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Savannah.... if you move in and converse with your neighbors like there's no big whoop about it, most folks aren't going to raise a fuss about it and hopefully have better things to worry about. If you cover the front porch with rainbow flags and have wild parties with drag queens falling off the porch drunk, then you might want to specifically aim for the more gay neighborhoods (Atlanta's Midtown, etc) to avoid potential conflicts with neighbors. That's not meant to rile anyone up - the gay community rages from blue collar workers all the way to drag queens and everything in-between just like any other community... some neighborhoods are more accepting of some types of folks than others, so just pointing out the who/what/how about when you can be gay in suburbia, and when you might wanna aim for something more intown depending on what type person you are.

[jkmewright]

. The fella in question is from FLORIDA not Atlanta and is headed to CHATTANOOGA so you did nothing in your post but show your b u t t s. At least now they know the type of people and attitude they might have to deal with IF they do come here. Yup, we are not all warm and fuzzy round these parts. That's for sure.

[Philagirl]

Hi,

I was raised in Chattanooga, have all of my family here, and visit several weeks out of the year. If you are gay, I recommend living as close as possible to downtown, or finding out about the gay community here, and asking other gays outright what their experience is like.

Yes, there are gay people here, but make no mistake, there are plenty of Chattanoogans that will be VERY VOCAL about their disapproval of you. Chattanooga is not Atlanta, or other large cities with a substantially large gay community.

Chattanooga is my favorite city in the country -- I'm not trying to knock it -- I'm just trying to be honest.

Chattanooga has changed a lot the past decade, and has become much more tolerant and diverse. I grew up here as a person of color, and my brother and I were called the N word quite frequently. The city has really changed (for the better). But personally, if I were gay, I wouldn't move to Chattanooga unless I had a really good reason (family in the city, fantastic job opportunity).

Or, you may just visit and fall in love with it, as many do, and not care...

Best of luck with whatever you decide...

[jboutte]

Nice to have some questions that my lover and I have had inadvertently answered. We are also planning a move to Chattanooga from New Orleans.

We have searched online and have found a few homes that we would be interested in buying. Of course we are concerned about being accepted in any area of the city that we may choose but less for being gay than just that we choose an area of the city with convenience, stability and little crime.

If anyone can help us out by putting us in contact with a gay realtor, we would greatly appreciate it.

I work in hotel management, he as a graphic designer. Steer us toward job prospects and we'd be indebted.

My e mail address is jboutte@gmail.com