While New York, Los Angeles and Provincetown may immediately come to mind when you think “gayest cities in America,” they’re nowhere to be found on this year’s list by The Advocate.
Using a (rather dubious) set of criteria, The Advocate‘s “Gayest Cities in America, 2013” purports that there’s more to LGBT life than “fabulous soirees and mimosa brunches,” and put considerable consideration into marriage equality victories and the wave of LGBT elected officials from the recent election cycle.
That being said, they also included such criteria as “concerts by Scissor Sisters, Uh Huh Her (uh, huh who?), Girl in a Coma (girl in a what?), and cast of Glee“; “fabulous shopping” which apparently encompasses Whole Foods, West Elm and Pottery Barn (#eyeroll); gay rugby; and roller derby.
…Right.
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We assume they were trying to avoid stereotypes while running, or skating, headfirst into them. While transgender protections, marriage equality, bisexual resource groups and the HRC’s Municipal Equality Index were also factors, we can’t help but question the veracity of this ranking. Especially since you can’t get gay married in the majority of these cities.
Here’s the full list, and by the looks of it the state of Washington is basically shitting glitter:
1. Tacoma, WA
2. Springfield, MA
3. Spokane, WA
5. Seattle, WA
7. Eugene, OR
8. Madison, WI
9. Atlanta, GA
10. Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN
11. Oakland, CA
12. Providence, RI
13. Colorado Springs, CO
14. Salem, OR
15. St. Louis, MO
Honorable mentions:
16. Scottsdale, AZ
17. San Francisco, CA (there she is!)
18. Anaheim, CA
19. Richmond, VA
20. Long Beach, CA
21. Peoria, IL
22. Denver, CO
23. Cincinnati, OH
25. Sacramento, CA
We will say, however, it’s nice for some smaller cities to get their due. But New York can outgay Tacoma any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
frenchjr25
What would be more helpful is a study on the areas of the country with the most LGBT people per-capita.
Calling a city the “Gayest” is far too subjective. No matter what they say everyone knows San Francisco is the gayest play on earth.
the other Greg
Not sure there is ANY shopping (let alone fabulous) in Springfield, MA!
Dot Beech
The most action Springfield, MA, has seen in years was just a few weeks ago when that titty bar blew up.
GordonSoleil
@frenchjr25: Yeah, I know. I live in Wilton Manors in Florida, and at times it almost seems like the majority of people who live here are gay. According to Wikipedia, we’ve got somewhere around 1,270% more gay people per capita than the national average.
LandStander
How does Salem Oregon beat Portland Oregon (which did not even list)? I’m 99% sure this list is 100% $hit
JDJase
Reason #1,472 to ignore The Advocate
Glenn
I agree with the comment above. I would also like more insight to miss Scottsdale, Arizona I’ve been dying to move there!!
Pitou
Springfield MA out-gayed Providence RI??? You’ve got to be kidding me..?
I’d love to know how it ranked that well. Im from the sticks of CT and Springfield is the LAST place I’d think/plan/decide to go. I prefer NYC over Boston, Boston over Providence, Providence over New Haven, New Haven over Hartford, and Hartford over isolation at home in the woods.
Bryan
West Hollywood, CA is NOT part of Los Angeles, CA and is the gayest, per capita, city in the country…
Oscar Raymundo
The Advocate claims there’s more to LGBT life than “fabulous soirees and mimosa brunches.”
Like Glee concerts and Pottery Barn shopping sprees…
redcarpet
A better article would be “City most likely for you to get your ass pounded like a veal cutlet”.
samuel88
@Bryan: If you combine both Los Angeles Country and OC gays population, it add up to 442,211. Los Angeles area does not have a single hub of gay life but rather an entire series of neighborhoods and adjacent places which are popular for their gay businesses and residential areas. Some of these are West Hollywood, Hollywood, Silver Lake, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Venice Beach, Laguna Beach, and Westwood.
robho3
Tacoma????? Are you kidding me???? I don’t know where that came from.
Loganboy
Not surprising about DC. They have the largest gay population per capita and the second largest gay population as a city and metropolitan area ranking. Their lifestyle is the way it should be everywhere…hopefully in our lifetime. No matter where you go in DC, there’s gay men just out and being themselves. The LA and SF gay hoods are all they have, just a strip where it’s uber gay. DC has set the standards for what we should all aspire to have.