[EckyX]

Over dinner last night my wife and I were discussing my brother, and got on the topic of LGBTQ+ folks in Michigan, where she grew up. To my understanding the Midwest doesn't have a great reputation for acceptance of ***** folks, but this may be outdated, or may never have been true - I was surprised to hear from my brother how much better Minneapolis was treating him than Florida.

With regards to Michigan, I know Douglas/Saugatuck have a reputation for being a gay vacation spot for Chicagoland, but Allegan county doesn't otherwise strike me as being all that accommodating.

I imagine Ann Arbor takes 1st place. Ferndale likely ranks well, as well as East Lansing. Any others?

How would these rankings differ for a gay couple trying to raise a family?

How about trans friendliness in these places?

How do they compare with a place like, say, Minneapolis? Or big west coast cities, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland and L.A. ?

[mjlo]

Michigan is not a bad place for LGBT+ folks. It doesn't have very organized communities which may be a bit of a drawback, but on the whole the population even in more remote areas tends to be largely ambivalent to what happens in other adults bedrooms. Ann Arbor, Lasnsing/EL, Royal Oak, Detroit are going to be tops I'd imagine. Grand Rapids is fine as well and with a growing community. Though I'm sure a few people who haven't visited in 25 years, or have never visited will throw out the pre 90s "religious" stereotype for it. That's simply hasn't been the case for a while, and even then people are still live and let live. Saugatuck is a for folks in a several state region not just Chicago, and the residents of Allegan County appear to be unaffected by it.

[MI1287]

Ferndale, Royal Oak, Ann Arbor, Lansing. Saugatuck has a large gay resort but that's mostly a summer thing. As others have mentioned the communities are more spread out compared to other areas. Gay bars are also spread out as opposed to being centralized in one area, like in Chicago. From an acceptance perspective it's fine for the most part, everything is just on a smaller scale.

[EckyX]

How accepting would you say the culture in Michigan's cities is, as far as being accepting of two adult men (or women) raising a child or children? Would these children be more or less likely to face bullying and discrimination? Are the adults more or less likely to be excluded from community?

It's easy enough to read about protection laws, but culture is a lot harder to quantify.

[Coldjensens]

Ferndale, Ann Arbor, Saugatuck, and Palmer Park or Woods (I forget) neighborhood in Detroit are all LGBTQ etc accepting and populated.

Other places are hit and miss In part it depends on whether the couple wants to just live their lives together like anyone else or they want everyone to know they are LGBTQA. . . and try to get a reaction out of them. The former will have a wide variety of Michigan cities that they can live comfortably in with little likelihood of any problems. The former - fewer cities. There are some places they are more likely to have problems regardless, and in any city anywhere, there can always be incidents. No matter where you are, or who you are, there is always someone around who wants to determine how other people should live their lives.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by EckyX

How accepting would you say the culture in Michigan's cities is, as far as being accepting of two adult men (or women) raising a child or children? Would these children be more or less likely to face bullying and discrimination? Are the adults more or less likely to be excluded from community?

It's easy enough to read about protection laws, but culture is a lot harder to quantify.

I've known several same sex couples over the years in Michigan that had children either biologically or adopted. My observation has been that the children live very normal lives and I'm unaware of any instances of them being singled out or treated differently for it. It's quite common to see same sex couples and their children in public around the state, I don't think there's really a stigma about it. To be fair while I have extensive experience being gay and living in Michigan, I don't have children. Really would need someone in that specific situation to give the best insight.

[ram2]

Traverse City area.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by EckyX

Over dinner last night my wife and I were discussing my brother, and got on the topic of LGBTQ+ folks in Michigan, where she grew up. To my understanding the Midwest doesn't have a great reputation for acceptance of ***** folks, but this may be outdated, or may never have been true - I was surprised to hear from my brother how much better Minneapolis was treating him than Florida.

With regards to Michigan, I know Douglas/Saugatuck have a reputation for being a gay vacation spot for Chicagoland, but Allegan county doesn't otherwise strike me as being all that accommodating.

I imagine Ann Arbor takes 1st place. Ferndale likely ranks well, as well as East Lansing. Any others?

How would these rankings differ for a gay couple trying to raise a family?

How about trans friendliness in these places?

How do they compare with a place like, say, Minneapolis? Or big west coast cities, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland and L.A. ?

In my opinion, Royal Oak is right up there with Ferndale and would say they together probably well exceed Lansing/East Lansing and Ann Arbor in terms of LGBTQ+ population density and overall numbers. For sheer scope and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community coupled with a more educated population overall, Lansing-East Lansing wins there versus Ann Arbor I would suspect. Saugatuck-Douglas is a different stripe but if inclined toward a more laidback and rural setting Allegan County is a nice choice. The county seat of Allegan and neighboring Fennville both have a visible LGBT presence. Lastly trans-friendliness is sadly still far off for most locations in the US and while some fully post-op individuals find widespread acceptance it is MUCH more difficult and unforgiving outside the most enlightened places.

[beachmouse]

Royal Oak has better schools than Ferndale. You can live in Ferndale and send your kids to Royal Oak because of schools of choice but being in Royal Oak proper would probably put the kids closer to their classmates, which is nice in the elementary years.



Ann Arbor is pretty much Berkley (CA) on the Huron River but you pay a pretty significant price for that in higher housing costs compared to other parts of the state.