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"Gay Friendly" cities

Ahlevah

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The link below showed up on my Google feed, so I was curious to see where the stylish, trendy people are going:

If we’re going to get out there and travel no matter what, where should we go? Matthieu Jost, the chief executive and a founder of misterb&b, a website that helps travelers find gay-friendly bed-and-breakfasts around the world, said Santiago, Chile, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia :shock:, have been popular searches on his site recently.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/travel/6-lgbt-friendly-places-to-visit.html

So with a couple of exceptions (Key West, Austin?), the American South has pretty much been written off while Kuala Lampur, Malyasia is "gay friendly"? Really? I'm floored.
 
The link below showed up on my Google feed, so I was curious to see where the stylish, trendy people are going:

So with a couple of exceptions (Key West, Austin?), the American South has pretty much been written off while Kuala Lampur, Malyasia is "gay friendly"? Really? I'm floored.

It also mentions Nashville and Birmingham, Alabama.

This is a list of places most people might not think of as being LGBT friendly off the top of their head, like they would with, say, Berlin and San Francisco.

It's actually saying what you've just said is incorrect and that there are many LGBT-friendly Southern cities. It's trying to dispel that belief.
 
The link below showed up on my Google feed, so I was curious to see where the stylish, trendy people are going:



So with a couple of exceptions (Key West, Austin?), the American South has pretty much been written off while Kuala Lampur, Malyasia is "gay friendly"? Really? I'm floored.

I would never had even imagined that any city in Malaysia would be gay friendly, given that Malaysia (unlike the USA) has an official religion, and that religion is Islam. Plus, sodomy is illegal in Malaysia, and Human Rights Watch says that "Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people is pervasive in Malaysia."

I'm straight, but I've been to Kuala Lampur and I would have to say that unless you're a Muslim and Asian/Pacific Islander, there's nothing very friendly or welcoming about that city... at all.

As for the US South, here in my state, we have a few cities that are VERY friendly and welcoming to the LGBT community - Asheville (which has a large, active, and influential LBGT population and is considered by many to be the San Francisco of the East), Boone, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Carolina Beach, and Wilmington. Not that the other cities and towns are unfriendly, it's just that the ones I listed are ones that I know for sure are proactive in being open and friendly to ALL people with a conscious effort toward LGBT's.
 
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The link below showed up on my Google feed, so I was curious to see where the stylish, trendy people are going:



So with a couple of exceptions (Key West, Austin?), the American South has pretty much been written off while Kuala Lampur, Malyasia is "gay friendly"? Really? I'm floored.

Why the hell is Malaysia up there? They aren't gay friendly.

That's like saying Saudi Arabia is pro-women's rights.
 
Why the hell is Malaysia up there? They aren't gay friendly.

That's like saying Saudi Arabia is pro-women's rights.

Apparently, some enterprising souls run B&Bs there that cater to gays. :shrug:
 
It's actually saying what you've just said is incorrect and that there are many LGBT-friendly Southern cities. It's trying to dispel that belief.

Kind of hard to do that when entire states are blacklisted.
 
Kind of hard to do that when entire states are blacklisted.

Where did they do that? What they said about the South is this, in its entirety:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers may be tempted to write off the entire American South as a stretch of homophobic red states that simply must be tolerated (or flown over) en route to the gay-friendly environs of Fort Lauderdale, South Beach and Key West, Fla. But there are a number of cities that are very L.G.B.T.-friendly in that swath of red, said Jim Werner, co-owner of a website that focuses on United States travel from a gay perspective. Nashville; Asheville, N.C.; and even Birmingham, Ala., he said, deserve consideration.

Other than that, it just goes on to talk about how Nashville is a good spot to visit, which last time I checked, is in the South.

Where did they blacklist any entire states?
 
Where did they blacklist any entire states?

You misunderstood what I'm saying. I'm saying they've got their work cut out for them when there are politicians and entertainers initiating boycotts of entire states, regardless of how many gays or "gay friendly" cities there are within their borders.
 
You misunderstood what I'm saying. I'm saying they've got their work cut out for them when there are politicians and entertainers initiating boycotts of entire states, regardless of how many gays or "gay friendly" cities there are within their borders.

So... what does that have to do with your OP?

The link in your OP is doing the exact opposite of that. You should be applauding them, and yet your OP seems to be admonishing them for supposedly leaving out the South, despite there being a handful of Southern cities mentioned. That's quite a lot, considering this is an international list.
 
So... what does that have to do with your OP?

I was just responding to your comment.

The link in your OP is doing the exact opposite of that. You should be applauding them, and yet your OP seems to be admonishing them for supposedly leaving out the South, despite there being a handful of Southern cities mentioned. That's quite a lot, considering this is an international list.

My intent was not to pick nits with the website. It's just that I was under the impression that this monolithic gay army was going to teach the bigoted South a lesson. In light of that, I found it odd that gays would come to the conclusion that surf's up in Malaysia.
 
I was just responding to your comment.

My intent was not to pick nits with the website. It's just that I was under the impression that this monolithic gay army was going to teach the bigoted South a lesson. In light of that, I found it odd that gays would come to the conclusion that surf's up in Malaysia.

Uh, why the hell would you think that? You do realize gay people are just human beings, right? And that gayness is a natural trait, not the name of some secret society?

Also, lots of gays, like, live in the South themselves?
 
The link below showed up on my Google feed, so I was curious to see where the stylish, trendy people are going:



So with a couple of exceptions (Key West, Austin?), the American South has pretty much been written off while Kuala Lampur, Malyasia is "gay friendly"? Really? I'm floored.

Probably because American tourist destinations are friendly...period. I guess I just don't understand the need for preferential treatment.
 
Probably because American tourist destinations are friendly...period. I guess I just don't understand the need for preferential treatment.

Preferential treatment?

They just got shot up in one of their own clubs, and you don't understand why they might like to know if the general culture of an area is friendly to them?
 
Preferential treatment?

They just got shot up in one of their own clubs, and you don't understand why they might like to know if the general culture of an area is friendly to them?

So did people in San Diego and other places. They don't go out looking for special recognition. If you want to be equal, to be treated equally in every respect, don't segregate yourself to some place that caters esp to a minority.
Mingle, be yourself, be respectful, be...human.
 
So did people in San Diego and other places. They don't go out looking for special recognition. If you want to be equal, to be treated equally in every respect, don't segregate yourself to some place that caters esp to a minority.
Mingle, be yourself, be respectful, be...human.

How is it "special recognition" to look for places that might treat them relatively similarly to how they treat straight people?

Well, they don't have that luxury all the time. A lot of gay and queer people don't pass for cis/straight, even those who do obviously won't pass if they're with a partner and don't feel like pretending to be siblings (and why should they have to?), and some percentage of the majority might assault them if they're in the wrong kind of town. A lot of places in the world have specific laws that make their existence a criminal offence.

If they feel like getting tipsy and dancing or flirting, 95% of people in the general populace won't reciprocate and, again, some percentage of those people will assault them. How is it "looking for special recognition" for them to try to go for places where they are least likely to be assaulted?

Even if we lived in a world where gays were fully accepted for who they were and the worst reaction they'd ever get is, "Sorry, not into it," it would still make perfectly good sense for them to have spaces of their own due to the overwhelmingly bad odds of them meeting people by chance. It's just simple math.

Plenty of minority communities composed mostly of straight/cis people have their own spaces too, for the exact same reason: every kind of hobby, various religions with certain rules about dating/sex, polyamorous folk, certain kinds of disabled people, minority language speakers...

I'm someone who has to find specific spaces for myself due to overwhelmingly bad odds of meeting people by chance, despite that I can date people of the opposite sex. I wouldn't move to a place where those spaces don't exist, because it would just make life kinda hard for me, even though I'm not in physical danger. That's a big part of why I live where I do. No one thinks that means I'm "looking for special treatment" -- I'm just someone who's doing the math and seeking out the like-minded. So why does everyone think it's different when gay people do it?
 
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Uh, why the hell would you think that? You do realize gay people are just human beings, right? And that gayness is a natural trait, not the name of some secret society?

Illuminati always sounded like a gay dance club to me. :shrug:
 
Also, lots of gays, like, live in the South themselves?

So a former gay coworker of mine runs an art gallery here in South Mississippi. I've worked with many more over the years in the casino industry in Biloxi. But apparently they can all just **** off and take a boycott because their governor signed a bill into law that allegedly discriminates against them. They're supposed to "take one for the team," as it were. I guess they're supposed to tell that to their landlords? :confused:
 
How is it "special recognition" to look for places that might treat them relatively similarly to how they treat straight people?

Hey, where I live we don't have "Straight Pride Month" or a "Straight Pride" parade, at least not yet.
 
Hey, where I live we don't have "Straight Pride Month" or a "Straight Pride" parade, at least not yet.
The pride parade commemorates the stones stonewall riots. Which is where LGBT people fought against marginalization and harassment from the police.

I don't recall straight people having to do that. However, start a straight pride parade. That's awesome.
 
The pride parade commemorates the stones stonewall riots. Which is where LGBT people fought against marginalization and harassment from the police.

I don't recall straight people having to do that. However, start a straight pride parade. That's awesome.

So what's up with people wearing the giant penis and vagina costumes and such or carrying blowup versions of the same? Is that how gay people commemorate and honor rioters?
 
Hey, where I live we don't have "Straight Pride Month" or a "Straight Pride" parade, at least not yet.

I don't think you understand what Pride is, dude.

It's the anniversary of probably the single biggest moment in civil rights for LGBT people in Western history, and it's about political activism. Every Pride is lined up with charity work, medical resources, etc. Don't let the rainbows fool you.

Straight people already have all their rights, and they never had to fight for them. What the hell do they need a Pride for?
 
So what's up with people wearing the giant penis and vagina costumes and such or carrying blowup versions of the same? Is that how gay people commemorate and honor rioters?

I didn't see anything like that today, and I live in a ridiculously gay city. I saw some awesome drag, but no penises or vaginas.

However, if I had to wager a guess, I'd say they're likely to be connected to the medical stations. I've seen similar costumes for testicular cancer awareness campaigns.
 
Mingle, be yourself, be respectful, be...human.

They've been trying that for years and in many cases it led to name calling, being spat at, being physically abused and in some cases, ending up dead. Hence the need for gay space and identified gay-friendly services was vital. We may have greater acceptance of gays now, but there's still hatred out there (witness Orlando, or the nut-job bakers that don't want to do their wedding cakes), hence I still see the need for gay friendly space to be well identified. And if you can't, either you don't understand how discrimination works, or you yourself simply don't like gays for some reason.
 
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