Saturday, August 8, 2009

Open Forum: Best Place to be Queer

Queers traditionally have been well known to be travelers and people who re-locate around the country and the world for a new life. Many LGBTQ young men and women pack their bags and move out of their small (minded) towns for the big city life where they can be accepted for who they are and meet other like minded individuals.

There are many gay friendly cities and countries around the world from San Francisco the hub of LGBT activism and abound with rainbows, to Greenwich village New York where the modern gay rights movement kicked off. There are places like the Netherlands where same-sex marriage has been legal for nearly 20 years and gays enjoy an open and affirming life. Chicago houses Boystown, a gay village made up primarily of gay men who created a beautiful town, and the worlds biggest LGBT community center. Then there's South Beach Florida where the weather is nice and the bodies are even nicer!

With all this competition out there, where do you think the best place to be queer is and why?

9 comments:

Queers United said...

While I have never been to the Netherlands it appears from videos and stories that this is the best place to be gay. Not only do they have all the rights, the people seem happy and content with their governments and their neighbors. Even in places like San Francisco and heavily gay areas there are hate crimes, but the Netherlands has very low hate crimes. They are generally accepted there and I think that's great.

Anonymous said...

I think Stockholm..

Clarissa said...

Brighton Brighton Brighton!!! The gay capital of Europe :)

Cerberus said...

I rather like Denmark as they're really open and in many ways the culture is "after we won" with couples openly walking all neighborhoods and gay clientele in every bar.

But I must admit, it comes at the price of very few gayborhoods, as there is less of a need for them and I really miss having a gayborhood so I might have to say somewhere like Amsterdam or SF.

Anonymous said...

Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto Canada. All these cities have established gay neighbourhoods. Marriage is also recognized for everyone.

Anonymous said...

Boston! The first state to pass a Same Sex Marriage Law, the first state to official sanction a GLBT Gay Youth Commission in 1993 under a GOP Governor, the State with singularly one of the finest Health Care systems for those with HIV/AIDS and the home to the Largest GLBT centric Health Care Center. Affordable neighborhoods (JP, Dorchester, Hyde Park etc) and located on the water, near dozens of vacation spots and states. Easy travel to anywhere, Europe, Canada, and home base to Cruise Ships, Airlines and manageable highways in every direction. Good employment ops all the way around. Some of the nations best Health Centers, University systems, public sector jobs.
Home to a diverse and politically active GLBT community, which is home to Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank. Lastly, great accents!

Nox said...

My bedroom... someone had to say it =)

Anonymous said...

My family lived in San Francisco before the "gay movement." We actually experienced the migration of the "Anglo-Gay hordes" to the city, and how much they hated the people who lived there. ESPECIALLY the Italian-American community. Holy shit did they hate Italians! Probably due to the traditional family orientation of the culture. I don't think that it had anything to do with "leftism," but was much more Fascistic the way they marched in and ordered us out.

Anonymous said...

Suprisingly, Salt Lake City, Utah is really gay friendly. There is a huge gay community there (I lived there for three years, it was great). Plus, it's kind of like being on the front lines in a war. Yeah, you can protest anywhere and make a point, but when you can get right on the steps of the institution that is trying to opress your rights and hold a sign that basically says "Fuck you!" it is kind of a good feeling.

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