Gay Friendly Suburbs (Chicago, Naperville, Evanston: school, living in, gay-friendly)

[drss01]

Frankfort. I have many gay friends and there is a gay couple across the street. They'll ever it here.

[ThePianoMan]

Thanks for the suggestion. Anything closer to the city? Frankfort seems really far away.

Originally Posted by drss01

Frankfort. I have many gay friends and there is a gay couple across the street. They'll ever it here.

[chet everett]

I suspect there are now gay couples living in pretty much every town in the region. Seven years have seen lots of changes in attitudes toward gay marriage.

I would also add that towns like Skokie have attracted lots of Muslim immigrants and may not be ideal for single gay men.

[ToriaT]

There are a lot of gay couples in Berwyn who live in historic bungalows. The city is known for being gay friendly.

[drss01]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I suspect there are now gay couples living in pretty much every town in the region. Seven years have seen lots of changes in attitudes toward gay marriage.

I would also add that towns like Skokie have attracted lots of Muslim immigrants and may not be ideal for single gay men.

Muslims are literally everywhere

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I suspect there are now gay couples living in pretty much every town in the region. Seven years have seen lots of changes in attitudes toward gay marriage.

I would also add that towns like Skokie have attracted lots of Muslim immigrants and may not be ideal for single gay men.

I suspect you're right. Gays now have a "positive stereotype" of enhancing overall property condition and raising property values, which probably stems from their involvement in the revitalization of some Chicago neighborhoods, most notably Lakeview/Boystown.

Many communities are even actively try to target them, as ToriaT points out. Berwyn, which once famously excluded gays from protection in its human relations ordinance after some major political drama, is one example which jumped on board late. It is really going after this demographic with a marketing campaign. There are others which are more subtly trying to attract them I'm sure.

In any case, I think the vast majority of middle and upper middle class suburbs in Chicagoland would welcome a gay couple at this point, without having to spring for Oakparkevanston "progressiveness."

[Lookout Kid]

I would definitely say that gay adults are underrepresented where I live in Glen Ellyn, but I do still know several and believe they are mostly accepted by the community at large. I did recently hear a story of an eighth grader who was bullied a little bit in Wheaton, but that's Wheaton. I personally would like to see more gay couples and parents out in our neck of the woods. Gay kids grow up in literally every corner of the world, and it would be nice to have more positive gay role models around--though I understand the appeal of clustering in "gayborhoods"--or even the idea of safety in numbers, which was once essential for survival before gay rights became more recognized.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I would definitely say that gay adults are underrepresented where I live in Glen Ellyn, but I do still know several and believe they are mostly accepted by the community at large. I did recently hear a story of an eighth grader who was bullied a little bit in Wheaton, but that's Wheaton. I personally would like to see more gay couples and parents out in our neck of the woods. Gay kids grow up in literally every corner of the world, and it would be nice to have more positive gay role models around--though I understand the appeal of clustering in "gayborhoods"--or even the idea of safety in numbers, which was once essential for survival before gay rights became more recognized.

Haha! I wonder how long it will take Hollandsworth to respond to that one. In any case, I still think the gayborhood is obsolete at this point, at least in Chicagoland. If he was going to move to a suburb of, say, a big city in a Bible Belt state, I could see the concern. Heck, maybe even in 1995 Chicago, I could see the concern. But today, I think the vast majority of communities worth iving in would accept a gay couple with open arms.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Haha! I wonder how long it will take Hollandsworth to respond to that one. In any case, I still think the gayborhood is obsolete at this point, at least in Chicagoland. If he was going to move to a suburb of, say, a big city in a Bible Belt state, I could see the concern. Heck, maybe even in 1995 Chicago, I could see the concern. But today, I think the vast majority of communities worth iving in would accept a gay couple with open arms.

That a jab? I haven't heard the story and couldn't find it after a quick search. Bullying is an issue everywhere though.

Regardless, there are gay adults living in Wheaton too. Even Wheaton College a vocal community of LGBTQs that is generally supported by the community at large -- despite being labeled one of the least friendly colleges for gays. A couple churches around town fly the colors. Prolly not right to pigeonhole a community of 50,000 because of the actions of a few moth-eaten knuckleheads....

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

That a jab? I haven't heard the story and couldn't find it after a quick search. Bullying is an issue everywhere though.

It's not a news story. It's an incident that was brought up among some parents I know as a reason they quit their church in Wheaton and started attending a "gay-friendly" church in Glen Ellyn. It occurred in a public middle school on the north side of town, and several kids used religious justification to tell a student he was going to hell for being gay. Multiple straight students did stand up for their gay friend, however.

It wasn't a serious incident of violence or "bashing", but it was enough for some parents to be concerned and for a child to feel ostracized. I was happy to hear that he had some friends to have his back.