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A post sharing some of the most Gay friendly cities in conservative states. Some of those cities lie within the range of the Appalachian Mountains. Huntington, West Virginia is mentioned near the end of the post.

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Updated on 6/10/2022 at 2:22 PM

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The state of the LGBTQ+ nation-much like the state of the rest of the nation-is quite precarious these days. On one hand, we've got swathes of motivated young elected officials and organizers committed to popping the over-inflated balloon of structural inequality by any means necessary. But on the other hand, we've got powerful lawmakers coming out against LGBTQ+ rights at an alarmingly rapid clip, throwing around bills that threaten to destroy all the progress of the Civil Rights Movement with a single signature. What a time to be alive.

Breaking things down into red states and blue states, especially at a time when the country is so politically and socially split, might seem like we're reinforcing that ol' problematic us vs. them, good vs. evil binary. But in reality, using hard numbers provided by the Human Rights Campaign's 2021 Municipal Equality Index to determine the most LGBTQ+ friendly city in each state that went for Donald Trump in 2020 can only help to strengthen the idea that we're all in this together. Did you know that Norman, Oklahoma, population 124,086, scored higher than Baltimore, Maryland, a city that hasn't voted to elect a republican presidential candidate since 1988? Maybe those divisions aren't as deep as they seem.

States are hardly monoliths. In every one, cities are ahead of the curve in making life more welcoming-and more safe-for all residents regardless of sexuality or gender identity. "Cities are the most immediate iteration of democracy that we have," says Xavier Persad, senior legislative counsel for the HRC in Washington, DC. The trench work for equality is happening in cities many blue-staters couldn't pinpoint on a map.

The cities on this list are strategically positioned to lead deep-red states toward overdue changes. It's easy to sniff at the slow progress in Mississippi, but who in America is fighting the good fight like Jesse Pandolfo, who runs the only gay bar in Jackson? Likewise you might fault Iowa for flipping from blue back to red in 2016, but almost no one is pushing harder for broad civil equality than the people of Iowa City.

These 25 cities represent the most LGBTQ+ friendly locale in each of America's republican-majority states, according to the HRC's most recent Municipal Equality Index. And if your city didn't make the cut, now's the time to get to work. Talk to your city leaders-you never know how far that momentum will take you.

Population: 210,928
Municipal Equality Index score: 100+
Birmingham has a solid infrastructure of support for its LGBTQ+ population, even though gay sex was illegal in Alabama until 2014. In 2017, the state legislature moved to ban gays from adopting needy children, and the owner of a movie theater refused to show Beauty and the Beast because of a gay-coded character. Until 2019, state law dictated that teachers must tell students "that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public." And a slew of anti-trans legislature is now making its way through state government, banning trans kids from playing sports, mandating that school children only use the bathroom associated with the gender listed on their birth certificate, criminalizing gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, and barring teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in any context deamed developmentally or age-inappropriate. So that's where we're at with Alabama.

Regardless, all hope is not lost. Gina Mallisham, a member of the Pride advisory board in Birmingham, says wryly, "Adversity is nothing new to disenfranchised people in the South." Birmingham, she says, " is a very affirming city," with an LGBTQ+ community big and active enough to support a 10-day tri-county Pride celebration, a gay softball league, and a chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (a protest/performance art troupe of queer "nuns"). There are also LGBTQ+ book clubs, church groups, and youth centers-check out the Magic City Acceptance Center, which hosts a number of affirming youth groups, particularly for QTPOC and trans kids under 14 along with their parents. B'ham's main queer bars- Al's on Seventh, Our Place, and Quest Club -all have their own cast of drag queens. "Showtimes are strategically launched," Mallisham says. "So if you want to catch all three in one night, you can!"

The city regularly observes Transgender Day of Rememberance, and in 2016, they were the second major city in Alaska to pass a non-discrimination ordinance protecting LGBTQ+ citizens, after Anchorage. In a statement, SEAGLA chair Jenny Jahn, "This sends a clear message to Juneau residents, visitors, and those who are considering moving here: In Juneau, you will find a community that respects and values diversity, where you can attain whatever you dream, and where you will be judged based on your character, your behavior, and work ethic, not on the color of your skin, your age, or who you love." Amen.

Population: 12,582
Municipal Equality Index score: 100+
Scientists are still parsing through data to determine the gayest strip mall in America, but we're going to go ahead and call it: the Shoppes of Wilton Manors. This plaza is home to Java Boys, Hunters Nightclub, and Georgie's Alibi. (Sadly, Humpy's Pizza closed a few years back.) There are no full-size hotels in Wilton Manors, but there is the clothing-optional Cabanas Guesthouse & Spa. Other evocatively named watering holes nearby include the Ramrod.

The double entendres are part of the fun in this small, subtropical city where queer households make up 14% of the population -that's the second highest percentage in the country. A walkable mile and a half along Wilton Drive is the main attraction, says Gary Resnick, Wilton Manors's longest serving member of the City Commission and longest serving mayor. "We made a point of supporting independent businesses and not having chain stores or big-box stores. Every night it's packed."

The annual Boise Pride Festival-which celebrates its 32nd anniversary this year-rallies large crowds each summer, while drag performance group LipsInc has kept the Pride party perennial for decades with regular shows in town. Steve Martin, the community engagement officer for Idaho's Pride Foundation, explains that LGBTQ+ support extends beyond the entertainment scene. "Most high schools here, and even at least one junior high, have a gay-straight alliance club," he says. "Boise State University also has a GSA called Pride Alliance, as well as a very active Gender Equity Center."

Wine and Cheeseburger

Wine and Cheeseburger: Harley and Lara Pair Falafel with Wine

"When we first assessed ourselves years ago, our score was around 35," Mayor Michelle De La Isla told local network WIBW upon the assessment's release late last year. "Today, our city is a beacon of inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community in Kansas, and I am proud of that."

Kansas, with its broadly conservative voting record, sparsely populated rural areas, and unfortunate association with the vehemently anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, has never had a reptuation as a gay mecca ( Dorothy and co. excepted, of course). But Topeka is hoping to give the Sunflower State a sparkly makeover, stocked with an arts-heavy entertainment district, a rising tide of queer-owned businesses, a rainbow-hued advocacy nonprofit called Equality House, and, until 2016, the legendary Topeka Skivies Bar (RIP). To boot, Topeka's Shawnee County is the only one out of Kansas' 105 counties boasting a full set of anti-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation and gender.

Population: 322,200
Municipal Equality Index score: 100+
Lexington, with its thriving arts scene and large university, has long been a magnet for LGBTQ+ Southerners from around the region. The fabulously eccentric 20th-century painter Henry Faulkner, gay rights advocate John E. Fryer, award-winning multidisciplinary artist Marlene McCarty, queer teen actor Miles Heizer, and Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in any major Christian denomination, have all called Lexington home. In 2010, the city made waves when it elected Jim Gray, its first openly gay mayor, a move that fell in line with more than a decade of pro-LGBTQ+ and anti-discrimination legislature dating back to 1999's groundbreaking Fairness Ordinance. All that contributed to Lexington's impressive Municipal Equality Index jump, rising from a score of 53 in 2013 to 106 in 2021.

Visitors to Lexington can immerse themselves in the city's queer history by following along the self-guided Pride of Place tour, available at the Visitors Center. The informative trek winds through 200 years of progress, including a three-story high mural depicting local Black trans icon Sweet Evening Breeze. The Lexington Pride Center takes care of advocacy, education, and Pride festivities, while LGBTQ+ nightlife abounds at local haunts Soundbar, Crossings, and the Bar Complex, which has been thumping away since 1980.

Population: 163,778
Municipal Equality Index score: 80
Based on past precedent, it seems that if Mississippi legislators had their way, queer sex, queer adoption, and same-sex marriage would all be illegal. They're not-only because federal court decisions have superseded the discrimination that locals officials sought to codify. Jackson, though, is a bright spot.

"The crowd is much bigger than what you would think for a Southern area," says Jesse Pandolfo, who owns the LGBTQ+ dance club WonderLust. "I can't go to the mall without running into 15 gay people I know." Pandolfo's bar has become the de facto headquarters for the queer community. She also recommends visitors check out the walkable neighborhood of Fondren, "a super-kitschy, hippie, gay-friendly shopping and restaurant area"-especially coffee hangout The Bean and Saltine Oyster Bar. There is charm here, even if it has limits. "Most people smile to your face," Pandolfo says. "They just vote against you behind your back." Meanwhile, local groups like the Jackson Pride Center ensure the least represented members of the LGBTQ+ rainbow-namely youth, trans, veterans, and seniors-have access to healthcare and community-building resources.

However, things aren't always peachy in the Cornhusker State. In February 2022, the Lincoln City Council voted to extend equal protection laws to include sexual oritentation and gender identiy as a part of the game-changing Fairness Ordinence-only to be met with fierce and well-funded opposition from powerful area conservative groups. While the future of that bill remains uncertain, Lincoln does have another recent W under its belt by way of a February 2021 City Council ordinance banning conversion therapy, making it the first city in Nebraska to pass such legislature. And it just so happens that three of that same City Council's seven members identify as LGBTQ+.

"There are folks who are still struggling with their identity watching this victory in Lincoln. Struggling not because of what their heart tells them, but because of the fear imposed on them by society," out gay council member James Michael Bowers told the Trevor Project shortly after the motion passed. "Let this progress be a message to our brothers, sisters, and siblings still in the closet-we will fight for you while you are in the closet and we will be here to love you when you decide it's time to come out."

Population: 294,395
Municipal Equality Index score: 100+
Of the North Carolina cities Human Rights Campaign rated in 2021, Greensboro ranked highest for gay-friendliness (though strangely, they didn't rate Asheville). A University of North Carolina campus breathes life into the post-industrial city, alongside happening bars like Chemistry Nightclub. Mellower attractions include the Greensboro Arboretum and the Antique Market Place-nearby High Point is the "furniture capital of the world," after all, and there are rumors that the gay population spikes-from 14 points below the national average to 200 points above it-when big furniture shows come to town. Elsewhere, the Guilford Green Foundation's LGBTQ+ Center serves the local community with movie nights, "Gay & Gray" events targeting folks aged 55 and over, and youth drop-in events that create affirming spaces for young people, while Greensboro Pride is the force behind September's annual Pride Parade celebration.

Columbia embodies this tug between entrenched Old South sensibilities and modern progressive influences. The city is home to plenty of conservative elements, but also more forward-thinking destinations, like the Five Points area near the University of South Carolina, and the Vista, a waterfront arts and entertainment district. Of course, groups like the Harriet Hancock LGBTQ+ Center, named after an early SC pride activist, are trying to change hearts and minds.

Since parts of South Carolina still seem to dwell in the 1960s, an era when "blue laws" regulated alcohol sales, some bars operate as private clubs that only admit members and their guests. This allows them certain privileges, like the ability to decide who can enter. This holds for the city's 42-year-old "genteel" establishment, The Capital Club. Call ahead, and getting in shouldn't be a problem.

Nashville dropped the most points in the realm of non-discrimination laws, a fact that holds true thoughout the historically conservative state. While city employees have access to anti-discrimination policies, domestic partner benefits, and inclusive worksplace measures, there's nothing protecting the rest of Nashville's LGBTQ+ population from suffering bias at work, in public, or when trying to secure housing. Municipal services gave Nashville a bump, thanks to LGBTQ+ youth programs, as did the presence of law enforcement liaisons and openly LGBTQ+ elected or appointed officials.

Unfortunately, all that might not be enough to curb several anti-LGBTQ+ bills currently moving through the state legislature, including Tennessee's own version of the "Don't Say Gay" motion, which would prohibit any materials that "promote, normalize, support, or address controversial social issues, such as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) lifestyles" from being discussed in public schools. That's exactly why Nashville-based organizations like the Tennessee Equality Project, Nashville Pride, and Nashville Black Pride are so vital right now, alongside out-and-proud community spaces like Thrillist's ShiftChange star the Lipstick Lounge, one of the country's few surviving lesbian bars.

Queer Austinites are working hard to get the Lone Star State back on track, teaming up with organizations like Out Youth, The Q Austin, Central Texas Transgender Health Coalition, Austin Gay and Lesbian Pride Foundation, and Equality Texas to aid in their efforts. They're playing hard, too, making good use of local LGBTQ+ institutions like Cheer Up Charlies, Coconut Club, Barbarella, Rain on 4th, and more.

" Prop 8 [passing] in California-and knowing that millions of dollars in protest money from the Church of LDS was flowing to California-was actually what led us to start protesting, but also reaching across to find common ground," Williams says. Since then, the LDS and LGBTQ+ communities haven't found middle ground around issues of sexuality or marriage, but they have found a powerful agreement in believing that people should not be discriminated against in housing or employment.

In 2015, a statewide anti-discrimination bill made it through a Republican super-majority in the state legislature. In 2019, the Utah Supreme Court ousted a law that previously barred same-sex couples from entering into surrogacy agreements, avowing that "same-sex couples must be afforded all of the benefits the state has linked to marriage." Also in 2019, the state Senate passed a bill criminalizing hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender, while in 2021, the state's Supreme Court voted 4-1 to give trans citizens the right to change their name and gender on their birth certificates. Most recently, Governor Spencer Cox vetoed a looming trans sports ban in March, 2022 -sadly, the state legislature overrode the veto and the bill is set to go into effect this July.

Salt Lake City, meanwhile, just cranks right along. In 2016, the city council unanimously rechristened 20 city blocks as Harvey Milk Boulevard (between Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks streets). There's an active queer nightlife scene, too, centered around places like Club Try-Angles, M I L K +, and The Sun Trapp. "We're a state of contradictions," Williams says. "We're a red state but not a redneck state-this is a place for unexpected victories.

Population: 32,515
Municipal Equality Index score: 72
Wyoming is not an easy place to be anything but heterosexual, but there's one decent, however complicated, respite amid this deeply red terrain: Laramie. Still known to many as the site of gay college student Matthew Shephard's horrible 1998 murder, Laramie is a surprisingly bohemian college town tucked 7,200 feet up in the Snowy Range-and in 2015, the town rallied to become the first city in Wyoming to pass an ordinance to protect LGBTQ+ citizens from job, housing, and service discrimination.

Erin Clingman, executive director of Wyoming Equality, says they plan to push for protective laws city by city in the coming years, while also acknowledging the uphill battle that lies ahead. Case in point? In early 2022, the state Senate passed a bill in favor of defunding the University of Wyoming's Gender and Women's Studies program, dubbing it "an extremely biased, ideologically driven program" with no "academic legitimacy." And while Laramie still retains much of the state's "Cowboy culture" that can often foster hostility toward queer people, the 2015 ordinance was a moving, momentous accomplishment for the city, and those who fought so hard to make it happen.

Laramie has no out-and-proud gay bars per se, but a number of local watering holes are welcoming and openly queer-friendly. Pop into Front Street Tavern -attached to Sweet Melissa's vegetarian cafe next door-on any given night and you'll find amiable Laramigos drinking the night away with anyone and everyone who walks through the door. Being out in Wyoming takes a measure of gumption, but like so many places across America, there are plenty of people fighting to make life better for folks representing all corners of the gender and sexuality spectrum.

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The Most LGBTQ+ Friendly City in Every Red State in America

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Updated on 6/10/2022 at 2:22 PM ‌ The state of the LGBTQ+ nation-much like the state of the rest of the nation-is quite precarious these days. On one hand, we've got swathes of motivated young elected officials and organizers committed to popping the over-inflated balloon of structural inequality by any means necessary.

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An article about 2 gay men and what they experience (adversity/criticism) while writing, playing, and singing blue grass songs in Appalachia.

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From Appalachia with Love: A Conversation with Sam Gleaves and Tyler Hughes - The Bluegrass Situation

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When you begin to unpack Sam and Tyler’s perspective, you begin to fully appreciate the subtlety, the thoughtful care, and the love that they’ve put into curating and recording this set of tunes.

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This is a page from Belt Magazine. Empowering those who feel like they have no voice to speak up and out for themselves and others. I liked the background and what was done with the colorful mountians to resemble the colors/flag of the LGBTQ community.

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What initially grabbed my attention from this article was the word "fabulachains" in the quote from someone who was interviewed. Sharing humor with serious intent.

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1. LGBTQIA stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual. I use "queer" as an umbrella term to reference all of these identities (in addition to others not represented in this list such as: pansexual, two spirit, agendered, genderqueer, etc.). For more information about these terms, and the ever evolving process of naming identities and desires within queer communities, visit: http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2013/01/a-comprehensive-list-of-lgbtq-term-definitions/#sthash.cUWlFPec.dpbs.

2. Brandon Teena was a white twenty-one-year-old trans man who was murdered in Falls City, Nebraska, on December 31, 1993. Teena's murder was made famous through the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry; Matthew Shepard was a twenty-two-year-old white gay man who was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998; I don't aim to dismiss the very real history of violence towards queer folks in rural spaces, but the narrative that places violence and oppression in rural communities and safety and liberation in urban ones is simply false. In reality, queer and transgender people of color-in particular, trans women of color-are the most common victims of violent hate crimes in the United States, whether in rural or urban spaces. The national attention to Brandon Teena and Matthew Shepard's murders has worked to create a perception that rural areas are unsafe for queer people, but also has drawn attention away from the ways in which racism and homophobia coalesce to put trans and queer people of color most at risk for violence in the United States. For a list of the trans people murdered in 2016, see: http://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-transgender-community-in-2016.

3. Since 2008, the STAY Project has brought more than 200 different young Appalachians together at five regional gatherings to help build a brighter future for Appalachian youth. STAY's geographic reach extends to all regions of the five Central Appalachian states: Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. For more information about the STAY Project, see: www.thestayproject.com.

4. The goal of Country Queers is to document the diverse experiences of rural and small town LGBTQIA folks throughout the United States-across similarities in experience, as well as differences based on race, class, gender identity, age, religion, occupation, immigration status, ability, and other parts of our identities. Since 2013, I've interviewed 45 amazing country queers in 14 states. The project is ongoing. See more at www.countryqueers.com; The STAY Summer Institute is STAY's largest membership gathering of the year, where young people from throughout Central Appalachia come together to build community, participate in popular education and organizing trainings, and work toward a more sustainable and inclusive future. Because these interviews took place at the STAY Summer Institute, all of the following people are connected to one another through community organizing and social justice networks within the mountains. STAY was founded with support from Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee, Appalshop in Kentucky, and High Rocks in West Virginia. Additionally, all of the people presented in this collection of interviews have college degrees and have had the opportunity to leave the places in which they were raised. The Country Queers Project at large works to document rural queer experiences across a wide range of intersecting identities, including race, class, education, and geography.

5. In social justice and organizing spaces, many people refer to the collective work that organizers are doing across the nation and the world for justice as "the movement."

6. While I don't know which murders Elandria is referring to specifically, murders of transgender people-in particular trans people of color-continue to occur at alarming rates in the United States. The following article by the Advocate lists the known murders of trans people in 2013. Trans murders often go unreported as such due to the police mis-gendering the victim while filing reports. Actual numbers are likely much higher. See: www.advocate.com/crime/2013/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-those-weve-lost-2013.

7. In January 2013, Vicco, Kentucky, passed a non-discrimination ordinance, earning the town the title of "Smallest Town in America to Pass a Non-Discrimination Ordinance." Johnny Cummings, a hairdresser and the mayor of Vicco, Kentucky, gained national attention after he was featured on the Colbert Report on August 14, 2013.

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“Well, We’re Fabulous and We’re Appalachians, So We’re Fabulachians” - Southern Cultures

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Center for the study of the American South

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Members of the LGBTQ community attended Tri-Pride in the city of Bristol to show their support for another spread awareness on current issues/topics.