Gay couple moving from Connecticut to Orange County

[portlanderinOC]

Originally Posted by californio sur

Frankly, any community in Orange county or San Diego county will be totally welcoming of gay couples. The conservatism of the area is generally limited to fiscal issues.

while that may be true in some areas, much of Orange County contains a lot of Christian fundamentalists who are quite socially conservative.
If you're going to be gay and live in here, I'd recommend Dana Point or San Clemente. After that there's not too many other places I'd go. Laguna Beach used to be liberal but prices went up and most of the artists left, leaving it with mostly conservative folk.
Trust me, I'm gay and I've lived here since I was 12, I was constantly bullied in school and many people told me I was going to hell for liking guys. I'd recommend Long Beach as well, and maybe some areas of San Diego.

[certsevtxert]

You should stay in Connecticut.

[LuvSouthOC]

As a gay person, I want to make a few observations and points about this thread and the topics discussed. First, I want to make clear that gay people do exist in OC. My partner/spouse of 19 years and I are testament to this fact. We moved to Laguna Niguel last year after buying a house here. While it's true that we have not gone door-to-door to introduce ourselves to anyone except our immediate neighbors, I think many neighbors have figured out that two middle aged men live there. And although we have not been invited to neighbors' homes during their many pool parties, we have not exactly mingled with them or invited them either. I don't feel any compulsion to know my neighbors intimately nor to divulge anything about myself other than pleasantries. Besides, we have our own pool and in any case, these same neighbors always wave when seeing us doing dooryard outside, and that alone is fine by me. I can't say whether our being gay causes my neighbors any upset. After all, we keep the outside tidy and have dramatically improved the house albeit on the inside. We are quiet and don't mind kids; we love entertaining my nieces and nephews. Thus I cannot say we have had any problems here in our neighborhood.

With respect to the lack of gay bars as a supposed barometer of acceptance of anything, we have no use for bars of any kind as we do not drink much. So I can't say I have looked for any such gay establishments here and I suspect they do not exist. As a young man, I used to drive to LB to go to the Boom Boom Room, but that was 25 years ago. I have no use for such a gay dance club now.

With respect to the supposed coolness of LB and uncoolness of "inland" areas, all I have to do is laugh. I have a great house for awesome private BBQ/pool parties with my visiting friends and close-by family members, enjoying great hiking trails, feeling the sunshine, avoiding high crime, proximity to San Diego, LA and Palm Springs for when I want/need to go to these. And anyway, what is cool now in this post-modern world?

Oh and on food, if your idea of eating out is not a quick pizza slice from say, Whole Foods, dinner at perhaps Souplantation etc., and you instead make it a habit of spending 200 dollars per person sitting Santa Monica style at an Italian restaurant from which you leave hungry and a little poorer, than decidedly upper middle class Laguna Niguel is not for you. We have fiscally secure but prudent neighbors -- we are no different.

This area is about people wanting to a high quality of life.That's what we were looking for too. And for the many residents of OC who have children, it's understandable that they would want them to live in an area that is fairly sheltered for those children. (We have mainly middle aged empty nesters on our block.) I hardly see anything wrong with that for those parents. We don't flaunt our homosexuality and get by just fine. And even if we did flaunt it, I doubt we would experience too many problems. And we love living in a fiscally conservative, clean place! LAguna Niguel offers an amazing quality of life!

As for friends, we are seeking quality ones in the area. Let us know if interested.

[sua2017]

I don't know if you have decided or made your move yet but I would like to offer another plug for Aliso Viejo. I am a young gay (19 years old) living in Aliso Viejo, moving from the heart of Austin, Tx. I would advocate for Aliso Viejo for y'all for a few different reasons. Many people do not know this but Aliso Viejo does have a University, Soka University, and it is a small liberal-arts school founded by Buddhist. It is the University that I attend, and the community LOVES Soka. The community is so open and accepting of Soka University, you find people walking the school all the time. We have a gorgeous campus but the the community always gets it wrong and calls it a "Buddhist University", despite being a secular school. So for the Christians that can accept that they share their community with a "Buddhist University" (and over 50% of the college is Buddhist) they will easily accept gays. For those who dislike our university, gays are not the biggest enemy to them it would be the college. Our University has some of the most progressive student body in the nation, and so if Soka feels safe to locate to Aliso Viejo, y'all should be able to as well. Secondly Aliso Viejo is also home to Unity of Aliso Viejo, which is very similar to the UU. I attend Unity of Aliso Viejo, Unity being another new thought movement and VERY gay friendly, and it is another great community. This is just my two cents on Aliso Viejo! Again Aliso is very close to Laguna Beach! Laguna Beach has one gay bar left and it is mostly an older crowd and not a huge dance place, which might be something right up your alley. I tend to make it to hollywood 3 or 4 times a month to meet up with friends, but if that isn't your forte there is pleanty to do in Aliso or near by.

[scgali]

Laguna Beach/Dana Point or the Hillcrest area of San Diego is super fun and very gay friendly. Many parts of OC are pretty conservative and personally I would stay away from the more inland suburban areas (ladera ranch, mission Viejo,etc). Definitely stay coastal for more liberal attitudes.

[JadesandRoses]

I moved back to CA a few months ago and chose Orange County near Huntington Beach area. I am against any form of discrimination and a Gay ally. I lived in Santa Monica for 7 years (and hated it) and moved to NV twice before deciding to move back to CA. I'm probably going to move again in a year maybe to Oregon or somewhere in Northern CA. To say Orange County is conservative and old fashioned is an understatement. Anything they don't consider "norm" they gawk at and boy do they gawk. For the most part Orange County people are way more laid back and friendly than Los Angeles people by far. But this is an insiders kind of town. They do not take to outsiders very quickly although they are respectful for the most part. I'd think twice about moving down to Orange County as a Gay couple. Whoever said it is liberal must be blind. The lack of diversity is disturbing and lonely as it's mostly segregated. Although the young population tends to be more accepting and open. Most businesses, colleges and schools have a strict no discrimination, anti-bullying and anti-sexual harassment policies which is the only comfort you have. There aren't many people of color in Orange County and when they walk around or show up you'd think they fell out of sky with the way the people gawk around here and this is supposed to be the 21st Century wow.

As a side-note no one will bother you as a Gay couple but you'll be hard pressed to find places to go as a Gay couple and feel comfortable. You want a city where you don't stand out or feel out of place.