Is Raleigh/Durham Area Gay Friendly?

[Francois]

Originally Posted by aks1950

I'm looking for lesbians in Raleigh. I will be moving from SAn Francisco where I have lived for 40 years of my life. My partner and I lived here for 20 of those 40 years. She has relocated to Raleigh because our daughter lives in Fayetteville. I am really scared of this change and want to connect with other lesbians in Raleigh to get an idea about the environment. Living in San Francisco I have been out for 35 of these 40 years. I grew up in Indiana and moved to SF in 1972. I am 62, just retired from the University of California as a Research Services Analyst. I have to admit I am not too happy about having to move to Raleigh. But in reading about Raleigh it seems like a progressive city. We want to live downtown near all the cafe's. What streets would that be? I want to start looking at apartment or loft living. Many thanks

I'm answering this as a gay man who grew up here and has been in the Community for 30+ years.

Yes, Raleigh and indeed the whole Triangle area are generally live-and-let-live for GLBT folks. Now, it is a far, FAR cry from San Francisco, but you should have no worry of being bothered although you will likely want to be a tad more discreet about public display than people get away with in San Francisco (rampant hetero PDA is kind of frowned upon in the South, too).

Best thing to do is go by the LGBT Center of Raleigh when you get here. I volunteer with them and they have numerous programs, including a woman-specific program and a regular Lesbian Book Club, that I would recommend joining to meet some very friendly gals right off the bat, but mostly because they have so many resources there about the area. Since you mention being older, there is also a "Gay & Gray" group just for seniors that meets on Thursday mornings to address issues specific to your age group. Lots of things going on there. This week is the 17th annual NC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which is something like the 10th largest GLFF in the US, I believe. So it is not "the middle of nowhere", but again, it's not The Castro either. Nearby Durham also has a thriving community that is slightly more Lesbian-weighted than Raleigh's is.

Living downtown should be easy although most who do are much younger than you. Can't really give street names because there are condo and apartment places all over the downtown area, which is very small compared to most cities (I'm not sure what you mean by "near all the cafe's--Raleigh is not particularly known for a "cafe' scene"). You might look into the Cameron Village area and there is an older-than-usual demographic living in some of the buildings. The newer high-rise residences downtown will probably have mostly 20- and 30-somethings in them.

There is a very supportive community here despite state politics that are conservative and getting much more so recently. But it takes tapping into due to the aforementioned low-key nature of here compared to larger cities. The LGBT Center is an excellent first step.

You can also PM me with specifics.