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Yes, I agree about Maplewood, and also its sister town South Orange, where I live. We have met several gay couples and we've only lived here for 2 months. I also agree about more upscale towns being gay-friendly and having many gay residents, especially if they are on an easy commute to NYC.
i do not find any gay people with a strong presence as a community anywhere in NJ so i would have to say there are no gay friendly towns in NJ. sorry but it is true. I also do not consider gay bars in populated areas a postitive gay presence.
I also do not consider gay bars in populated areas a postitive gay presence.
I would be inclined to agree. Having been to a gay bar before on an especially lonesome night a few months ago, all I know is that I had more hands grabbing random parts of my body than I would have liked! Where are all of the gay intellectuals in PA? (Or is yours truly the only one?!)
Try Saddlebrook...NJ is a verrrrrry tolerant state...also Hackensack....Bergen County is verrrrrrry gay orientated...Union City is also verrrrrrry gay. West Caldwell and Little Falls too...
i do not find any gay people with a strong presence as a community anywhere in NJ so i would have to say there are no gay friendly towns in NJ. sorry but it is true. I also do not consider gay bars in populated areas a postitive gay presence.
Maybe it's me, but for some reason I find this post offensive. What does a town have to do to be gay friendly? I have a gay couple around the corner from me with 3 children they adopted, they moved in and that's it, no one had signs out welcoming them because they were gay, nor do they have welcoming signs out for anyone who moves into town. If you're a single person who's gay or a committed gay couple, I don't know of anyone who really gives a hoot. People are too busy with their everyday lives to even give a gay couple a thought, no one cares. Seriously, this is NJ not the Bible Belt. If you're gay then move wherever the heck you want to move, none of my neighbors care.
I agree, I found keep the fear's post odd as well. I don't think the bulk of a town's population has to be gay for the town to be gay-friendly. NJ is very diverse, and it embraces its diversity. We have a little of everything and everyone, and we like it that way.
Maybe it's me, but for some reason I find this post offensive. What does a town have to do to be gay friendly? I have a gay couple around the corner from me with 3 children they adopted, they moved in and that's it, no one had signs out welcoming them because they were gay, nor do they have welcoming signs out for anyone who moves into town. If you're a single person who's gay or a committed gay couple, I don't know of anyone who really gives a hoot. People are too busy with their everyday lives to even give a gay couple a thought, no one cares. Seriously, this is NJ not the Bible Belt. If you're gay then move wherever the heck you want to move, none of my neighbors care.
Why do you find this "offensive?" Growing up in an upscale, Conservative area where I was "gay-bashed" quite frequently and became suicidal and depressed because of it, I'd consider "gay-friendly" to be like calling a hotel "pet-friendly"---They're tolerated in order to make things easier for many people. I don't ask for a welcome wagon. All I want is to be able to move into a home without the neighbors talking about me behind my back, putting burning crosses on my front lawn, or distributing flyers to other neighbors about the "neighborhood falling apart" just because my partner and I moved in down the street. Perhaps living in a tolerant area such as NJ has jaded you all from the reality that areas just 90 minutes to two hours to your north and west (Scranton, PA, Binghamton, NY, Williamsport, PA, Elmira, NY, Lancaster, PA, etc.) are still living in a "lynch mob" mindset. I attribute this mostly to there not being many college-educated people in my area, as the college experience tends to open your eyes to differences among others and make you more apt to accept them, but the very strong right-wing Christian mindsets also can't help matters much either.
Whatever the case, it's possible that the original poster is moving FROM one of these "lynch mob" areas such as Scranton to NJ and doesn't realize that the vast majority of people in the Garden State just don't care about whether you're black or white, gay or straight, as long as you don't bother them, unlike in the Keystone State where people make it THEIR mission to tell you how wrong you're living your life and how you don't belong in their community!
Why do you find this "offensive?" Growing up in an upscale, Conservative area where I was "gay-bashed" quite frequently and became suicidal and depressed because of it, I'd consider "gay-friendly" to be like calling a hotel "pet-friendly"---They're tolerated in order to make things easier for many people. I don't ask for a welcome wagon. All I want is to be able to move into a home without the neighbors talking about me behind my back, putting burning crosses on my front lawn, or distributing flyers to other neighbors about the "neighborhood falling apart" just because my partner and I moved in down the street. Perhaps living in a tolerant area such as NJ has jaded you all from the reality that areas just 90 minutes to two hours to your north and west (Scranton, PA, Binghamton, NY, Williamsport, PA, Elmira, NY, Lancaster, PA, etc.) are still living in a "lynch mob" mindset. I attribute this mostly to there not being many college-educated people in my area, as the college experience tends to open your eyes to differences among others and make you more apt to accept them, but the very strong right-wing Christian mindsets also can't help matters much either.
Whatever the case, it's possible that the original poster is moving FROM one of these "lynch mob" areas such as Scranton to NJ and doesn't realize that the vast majority of people in the Garden State just don't care about whether you're black or white, gay or straight, as long as you don't bother them, unlike in the Keystone State where people make it THEIR mission to tell you how wrong you're living your life and how you don't belong in their community!
I find it offensive because a few towns are mentioned and my town and surrounding towns aren't mentioned and to me that says those towns aren't gay friendly and that's simply not the case.
As for bashing, kids are bullied even today in schools for many reasons, I was bullied when I moved to NJ from Brooklyn when I was in 6th grade and they would say that it was because I was from Brooklyn. Kids bully for numerous reasons and those reasons are wrong in all cases not just in cases of bullying someone because they're gay.
Also my politics are Conservative Republican and again I say I don't give a hoot if my neighbors are single gay people or committed couples. And I also think it's wrong to paint such a broad brush and give kudos to college educated people as being the ones with open minds, I'm from a blue collar family and have had the pleasure of always living in blue collar areas and those people are some of the best people you'd ever find, they'd literally give you (even a gay person) the shirts off their backs, and they don't look down on others. A College education doesn't guarantee that you have an open mind, it's how people are raised that have the most influence on how people act in their later years.
I think the term "gay-friendly" is quite subjective. To one person, it can mean an area with a high concentration of gay-owned businesses and gay bars, or an area with a large gay population where people will think nothing and say nothing of two men or two women being openly affectionate with one another. To another person, it may mean an area by which gay people are afforded more rights and protections under the law than they are elsewhere; places with domestic partner benefits and such. To yet another person, it may mean something more basic as others have stated, which is just the desire to be treated the same as everyone else. There's no desire to be treated specially, just to not be harassed simply for being gay which is basically, just common courtesy. I think if the latter viewpoint applies, most all of New Jersey is gay-friendly. Most people don't care and they're not going to distribute anti-gay flyers or try to "save" you or refuse to let you near their children and those sort of things. Similarly, from a legal standpoint, New Jersey is one of the most gay-friendly states in the nation in terms of the protection it offers and polls have shown New Jerseyians to be more accepting of homosexuality and gay rights than the majority of Americans elsewhere.
I agree with dullandboring..i took it to mean where there were alot of gays..
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Where are all of the gay intellectuals in PA? (Or is yours truly the only one?!) 
