[Hipster Duck]

Hipster Duck, who are you kidding? I've seen you, on two different occasions, tell people to not express their discontent for other cities. Despite the fact people were offering up valid opinions about other cities, you told them they they were out of line. That to me, sounds like an attempt to hush other peoples opinions.

I never told them to shut up or get banned, I told them (you) that their (your) opinion was misinformed stereotyping.

I notice that on this forum, in particular, people will nitpick certain ideas just for the sake of disagreeing. It's a generally accepted fact that the Southern region of the US is not open to diversity. Yet some of you pretend that I am telling a straight-up lie.

That's not a fact; that's an opinion. PS: from where I stand (a Southern US city), knowing gay people here and being an ethnic minority myself, I can tell you from my experience that that's a straight-up lie.

BTW, here's an idea: why don't you try living in a Southern US big city as gay person and tell me what you think about it? While you're there, you may want to befriend other gay people who willfully live in cities like Houston, Dallas, San Diego or Atlanta. Not people with a chip on their shoulder, but people who genuinely stay there because they have found a life there and enjoy it. You might be surprised by what you hear.

There's a difference between a random attack on the subway in the middle of the night and a police force invading a gay bar for no apparent reason. Hate crimes are a fact of life, and they are not a representation of anything. However, when homophobia is so ingrained in society that law enforcement is staging phony raids on gay bars, that is a reflection on the city's homophobia.

The reason was drugs. You can probably offer a valid case for the US' draconian drug laws, but that's another story.

 

[adma]

Can you imagine the uproar if a gay bar was raided in Toronto?

As per Hipster Duck, if it had something to do with illicit activity such as drugs, why not? At that point, it's no longer a "gay bar", but simply a bar that just happens to be gay.

Sure, there might be a token uproar, at least among the professional grievance-mongerers...

 

[Eug]

Well, I've never been to Dallas, but have been to Atlanta several times for business and family reasons. Despite the supposedly relatively large gay population in Atlanta, it just never struck me as particularly gay friendly in attitude. It reminded me of Calgary which isn't particularly gay friendly in attitude either IMO. OTOH, New York, Toronto, and Montreal seem much more accepting of it.

No, I can't cite statistics, but it's just a general gestalt feeling I get about Atlanta and Calgary. Maybe I'm outta the loop because I'm not gay, but nonetheless that's the impression I get from those cities in a very general sense. Places like Toronto just seem more inclusive to me.

 

[Cooool]

I wouldn't imagine Atlanta to be very gay-friendly, despite the fact it may be considered a liberal city within a highly conservative state. I really have a hard time believing that the second you enter city limits all of a sudden the city becomes gay-friendly, which is what a lot of people seem to be suggesting about certain sunbelt cities. When I go to downtown Toronto, there are people in the streests from all ends of the GTA whether it's Mississauga, Oakville or Pickering. So how can a city be one of the most gay friendly cities in the world if it's suburbs consist of bible-thumping, gun wielding Obama haters?

All I asked was which cities were the most gay-friendly cities based on their experiences, and many people on here seem to believe a large gay population somehow equates a gay-friendly city.

And Hipster and adma, the Dallas gay bar got raided for the police to see if they had a liquor liscence. But apparently they were wearing ninja masks to hide their identity.

I don't know if you guys are being PC or just trying to defend an unpopular city, but the facts remain. The US is not very gay-friendly with only 41% of individuals saying it is okay to be gay. And the heart of conservatism is in the bible belt. So how are you guys going to tell me Dallas and Atlanta are some of the most gay-friendly cities? The evidence just isn't there.

 

[Hipster Duck]

The US is not very gay-friendly with only 41% of individuals saying it is okay to be gay. And the heart of conservatism is in the bible belt. So how are you guys going to tell me Dallas and Atlanta are some of the most gay-friendly cities? The evidence just isn't there.

Wow, Coooool, I'm bowled over by your counter-evidence. Does a 29% "anti-gay population" let you sleep any sounder at night than a 59% "anti-gay population"?

 

[adma]

I don't know if you guys are being PC or just trying to defend an unpopular city, but the facts remain. The US is not very gay-friendly with only 41% of individuals saying it is okay to be gay. And the heart of conservatism is in the bible belt. So how are you guys going to tell me Dallas and Atlanta are some of the most gay-friendly cities? The evidence just isn't there.

Well, maybe you're tying your "gay-friendly" belt way too tight, by being the queer equivalent to whiteys who lock the car door whenever they see darkies...

 

[Eug]

I think if you actually go to Atlanta you'd see what I mean. Yeah, it's more liberal than rural Georgia, but still way less inclusive than Toronto.

 

[adma]

Yeah, and that extends to more than just gay-friendliness. So? Using your internal "Richard Florida" index, prepare accordingly; and bear in mind that within a Toronto context, you're spoiled silly.

And again...why get so boxed in by queerness, when there's so much more to life and so much more to these places? Ultimately, a self-consciously overwrought search for "gay-friendliness" in much of the US can be but the inverse version of going to Paris and only eating at McDonald's...

 

[Cooool]

I never suggested I would not visit these places because they are not as gay-friendly. But seeing as that was the whole theme of this thread, it just makes sense to stay on course.

Truth is, I wouldn't visit those places, much less live there, because they are terrible cities overall with very little appeal.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Truth is, I wouldn't visit those places, much less live there, because they are terrible cities overall with very little appeal.

And you know this, how?

Truth is, Cooool, I probably wouldn't even bother replying to you except that you don't realize the supreme hypocrisy of your posts.

I mean, you rail against people who are prejudiced against gays but you form your own prejudices against entire cities and the people that inhabit them.