Cities can't be gay or straight they don't even have genitals or feelings.

13. Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN

So that's why I have so many problems getting dates!

Are these lipstick lesbians or chapstick lesbians.

1. Northampton/Amherst, MA

Knew this was going to be number one before I clicked the link...

Great towns, by the way. Amherst is a bit more Frat Boyish, but I loved living in this are when I was attending UMass Amherst. I lived out in the sticks in Sunderland, but Northampton was a 20 minute bike ride away.

Ryan2065: 13. Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN

So that's why I have so many problems getting dates!

HAR!

Sarcastica75: Cities can't be gay or straight they don't even have genitals or feelings.

I don't know about that. Gainesville, Florida is one big huge gaping vagina.

I grew up in Northampton, so I'm sort of getting a kick out of this.

I already knew that Austin was full of vaginas.

/or was it uteruses

16?
C'mon Atlanta, let's get it together!
I got cargo shorts and flannel shirts with the sleeves cut off for ALL you ladies!

Buffalo has a large lesbian population, several dyke bars, Pride, gay papers/magazines, etc. For the sake of all the carpet-munchers here, including my ex-wife, they deserved a nod from Autostraddle.

kwame: Sarcastica75: Cities can't be gay or straight they don't even have genitals or feelings.

I don't know about that. Gainesville, Florida is one big huge gaping vagina.

And then there's Tallahassee...

Rev. Skarekroe: kwame: Sarcastica75: Cities can't be gay or straight they don't even have genitals or feelings.

I don't know about that. Gainesville, Florida is one big huge gaping vagina.

And then there's Tallahassee...

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Tacoma has a single breast.

Nice to see the Gorges mentioned.

One of the things that make Northampton a great town is not that it is actively PRO-GAY! in a LOUD! PROUD! GET USED TO IT! fashion, but that it's not a big deal.

No one cares.

You're out with your girlfriend, or boyfriend, or partner or whoever, you get a menu, or asked about the weather, or a chatted with.

That's the ideal. Not some sort of utopia where guys and gals swing from chandeliers, with rainbow flags and Ani DiFranco blaring from all the speakers, but that folks just don't give a rat's butt, and you live a normal existence.

Can you be a loud and strident? Yup. It's often considered sort of déclassé, but there are issues where it's fine. Can you just be with your wife and shopping for housewares? Not "accepted" but considered just normal. You don't assume someone's sexual preference right off, but the closet is an odder choice and folks just live. Not "Out" but normal. Everyone accepts you.

The town is a little less happy with trans folks, but even they are considered fairly normal. Join the Unitarian Society and the only thing folks are going to ask is if you can bring a casserole or something to the pot luck.

Lived in or around NoHo for a while. It shouldn't be considered a haven, but rather what we work towards. Normal life, dogs, cats, living together, without the MASS HYSTERIA!

clancifer: Are these lipstick lesbians or chapstick lesbians.

This is important.

hubiestubert: One of the things that make Northampton a great town is not that it is actively PRO-GAY! in a LOUD! PROUD! GET USED TO IT! fashion, but that it's not a big deal.

No one cares.

You're out with your girlfriend, or boyfriend, or partner or whoever, you get a menu, or asked about the weather, or a chatted with.

Exactly... it's just an amazingly tolerant place, and with all the colleges in the area, it's a pretty educated place.

As an old lesbian coworker once told me "Portland is where you go to be an activist. Eugene is were tired old lesbians come to retire."

Portland represents

hubiestubert: One of the things that make Northampton a great town is not that it is actively PRO-GAY! in a LOUD! PROUD! GET USED TO IT! fashion, but that it's not a big deal.

No one cares.

You're out with your girlfriend, or boyfriend, or partner or whoever, you get a menu, or asked about the weather, or a chatted with.

That's the ideal. Not some sort of utopia where guys and gals swing from chandeliers, with rainbow flags and Ani DiFranco blaring from all the speakers, but that folks just don't give a rat's butt, and you live a normal existence.

Stop interjecting common sense into this debate . . .

That's pretty much the situation in Durham, NC - which is a lot more gay-friendly than either Chapel Hill or Carrboro down the road. Durham has a huge gay population but they are part of the everyday scenery, no one really notices or gives a shiate any longer. If a straight person wanders into the Power Station or Cherry Pie and gets a beer, it's not a big deal either. I've noticed that gay friends who live in Chapel Hill tend to go to Durham for their night life. Plus, the regional Pride Parade is in Durham every year - but you'd never know, since it tends to feature people walking along with their kids, and the floats tend to carry choirs and bands, not painted-up idiots taunting the cops.

Back in the 80s I can remember visiting gay activists criticizing the locals for being "lipstick lesbians" and such. Well, I think the lipstick crowd won out, as they lead quiet lives like everyone else. And I think that's what they wanted in the first place - to go home to their partners and kids and not be bothered.

In the mid-90s Duke University extended spouse and family benefits to the partners of gay employees. All the "experts" predicted a huge and negative backlash from alumni and locals. And the reaction was - nothing. Maybe a few letters. The occasion came and went without much notice. The local clinics adapted their forms to reflect the new reality and that was about it.

To be fair, heading to Immorality at Smith you may be confronted by Jello wrestling girls at Talbot, but then again, Smith IS an all girls school.

What is fun when gals from other cities land in NoHo, and are disappointed that the culture is laid back. Then they realize that NoHo is sort of what folks are looking to get to. Equality.

Which means that if you're a lesbian and you're an asshat, the community won't fall in to defend you just because you're a gal who likes girls. Which shocks some newly arrived folks who are still in the Teamthink grounds. It is kind of refreshing.

And NoHo has great restaurants and the Northampton Brewery is damn fine.