Minneapolis and Santa Fe ranked “gayest” cities in America
According to a travel piece
published in The Advocate,
Santa Fe is the second
“gayest” city in America.
The Advocate reports that RainbowVision , a retirement community for gays, lesbians and others in Santa Fe , “has raucous drag shows at the Silver Starlight Lounge.”
Mayor David Coss called The Advocate’s accolades fantastic. He said Santa Fe is a tolerant community and that includes being gay-friendly.
Ranked first on The Advocate’s list was Minneapolis. Las Vegas came in 3rd, followed by Orlando in 4th and Pittsburgh in 5th. San Francisco rated 11th.
WHAT? You would think SF would be at the top, right up there with New York City and perhaps Key West!
It’s the second year The Advocate has produced the list. Author Mike Albo writes that a “completely unscientific” but “still strangely accurate” method was used to generate the rankings. Using a statistical equation, The Advocate has come up with a diverse and surprising list of where gay people are living, loving, voting, and creating communities.
For each city, The Advocate added up numbers for Gay.com profiles, listed officiants for gay weddings within a 50-mile radius, openly gay elected officials, performances by lesbian sisters musical duo Tegan and Sara over the past five years, lesbian bars, gay and gay-friendly religious congregations and entries in YellowPages.com with “gay” in the business name or description.
The total for all factors was then divided by the city’s population.
A destination for gay and lesbian couples and singles, Santa Fe is home to many gay-popular and gay-owned shops, restaurants, and bars located throughout town.
Santa Fe received zeros for gay marriage officiants and Tegan and Sara shows, The Advocate says. But it made up for that with nine gay-friendly congregations, seven lesbian bars and four openly gay elected officials.
“Gay life in Santa Fe isn’t about being in a certain neighborhood or a particular part of town. The large gay lesbian population here is in every part of the city, throughout every business district, and fully integrated into Santa Fe life. There is no one place in which to find a gay-friendly hotel or restaurant or shop. Rather, gay and lesbian travelers are welcomed to Santa Fe as a whole. There are hotspots of course, but think of all Santa Fe as your destination with one place just as welcoming as the next.”
Santa Fe Travel
Bestowing the title of Gayest City in America on Minneapolis, could not have come at a better time. In early February, more than 2,500 participants are expected in Minneapolis to attend the 23rd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change . This conference is just one example of how a welcoming community can also serve as an economic engine.
Over the past decade, Minneapolis has become the gay magnet city of the Midwest. It makes sense: People here are no-nonsense, practical, and don’t deal well with hypocrites.
Read About More Gay Cities at the Advocate
