Top 10 Gayest Cities in America

Are you dying to know which the top 10 gayest cities in America are? Are you sure? Are you rainbow-flaggedly, gay-paradingly, ass-less-pantedly sure? Then keep on reading to find out which cities are all in for the LGBTQ cause!

However much I love gay jokes -and messing with stereotypes in general- I’m glad we’ve reached a point as a society where saying “gay” doesn’t automatically remind people of nipple piercings and leather pants, or “lesbian”, of truck driver hats and bad tattoos. In fact, it’s not just about gays and lesbians anymore, instead, it’s all about LGBTQ. I know, you’re probably used to reading about LGBT, which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Trans, but what does the Q stand for? That would be Queer, and there’s a big debate inside the community on whether it should be included or not. Now, I’m neither of the previous (or maybe I am, only time will tell), but it I feel that Queer should be included as a part of the collective, denying it just yells “resentful”, it seems to me. Still, I’ll stick with the first, since it’s the most frequently used.

As for America, even though I thoroughly hate the fact that people automatically assume “America” means the  USA, I’ll play along this one time, but first, let’s start with a world overview on gay-friendliness:

The 3 Countries with the Biggest Gay Population in the World are (in order) China, the Netherlands, and Italy; the USA comes in sixth, right behind Canada and France, so if you’re looking for the Best Cities for LGBT Families, maybe you should look beyond “America”.

As I narrowed down on the map, I was surprised by some seemingly incoherent relations between states and the cities on our list. As explained on Quora when asked which are the gay-friendliest states, a user commented: “That is a harder question to answer than you would think. For example, you might say Texas is a terrible place for LGBT people to live, but Austin is wonderful.” So there you go, you can live in a lovely, friendly city, in the middle of a judgmental state that is prone towards discrimination, so don’t be surprised if the urban areas I mention don’t seem to add up with the States with the Biggest Gay Populations in America. These, by the way, are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Michigan.

To my disappointment, I found no stats post-2014, so just like The New York Times and Business Insider, I’ve based my article on Gallup’s survey data between 2012 and 2014, which ranks the population percentage that identifies with LGBT in metropolitan areas around the US. Nerd Wallet offers slightly different results that come from a profoundly interesting analysis that accounts for several other factors (such as the number of hate crimes) beyond the percentage of LGBT population. Even though it’s very much worth checking out, I find it to be about gay-friendliest cities, rather than gayest, so I’ll stick with Gallup and add some relevant data from the nerds mouth as I go along.

So, if you’re eager to learn about the gayest cities in USA and their surroundings, don’t hesitate to click next!

10. Hartford, Connecticut

Place number 10 in our list of top 10 gayest cities in America goes to Hartford (including both East and West), with a 4.6% of their population identifying as LGBT. This place is not only where Rory Gilmore’s grandparents lived, but also the capital of Connecticut, which was the second state to legalize same-sex marriage, after Massachusetts.

Considering the previous, it is no surprise that the city is also big on LGBT health (especially fighting AIDS) and art (it actually holds one of the most celebrated film festivals with this theme in the world).

9. Denver, Colorado

In coherence with Aurora and Lakewood, Denver that ranks 9th on the list of top 10 gayest cities in America is known to have an LGBT-identifying population of up to 4.6%.

Denver, and a couple of others on our list (no spoilers!) have the fame of being “socially progressive cities within states and regions that are much more conservative, perhaps making them regional hubs for the LGBT population”, as shown by Gallup’s analysis.

Basically founded by miners in 1858, amidst the famous “gold fever”, Denver wasn’t always one of the gay centers of America (although miners are pretty gay, total Village People vibe). However, if we jump many years forward, we’ll find that WW2 played a big role in the acceptance of homosexuality: “Bringing hundreds of thousands of young men and women together in same-sex environments and disrupting their traditional lives, World War II arguably made it easier for gay men and lesbians to identify and meet each other.” After that, insurgence was inevitable.

8. Los Angeles, California

Located in one of the most celebrated states for being just so goddamn cool, Los Angeles, the next one on the list of top 10 gayest cities in America (together with Long Beach and Anaheim) possesses a 4.6% of LGBT population, but it wasn’t always like that.

I will provide you with this paragraph featured in LA Curbed:

“When we think of LGBT culture and the movement for gay rights in Los Angeles, there’s a tendency to think first of West Hollywood. But LA’s rich gay history touches the entire city, from Edendale (now Silver Lake/Echo Park) to Huntington Park to “Ginger Rogers” Beach. From police brutality to the AIDS crisis, the city was often aggressively positioned against the queer community, but it made a space for itself.”

They also provide a map that helps you trace gay history by events, it’s pretty great. Click here for more.

7. Salt Lake City, Utah

While other cities in the ranking are scarcely mentioned in my main reference articles, every one of them seems to lose their shit over Salt Lake City that ranks 7th on the list of top 10 gayest cities in America. Let’s find out why.

“Utah is known as a conservative state with deep Mormon roots, but Salt Lake City has often been a bastion of liberalism and progressiveness.” (…) “In the Salt Lake City metro area, about 9,000 residents identify as LGBT out of a population of just over 191,000”, states Nerd Wallet. This proportion translates as 4.7% of the residents identifying with LGBT.

Mormons firmly believe that sex and marriage are things that should stay between men and women, HOWEVER: even though many of those who were raised Mormon felt rejected by their loved ones for belonging to the LGBT society, it is true that family and community conform a big aspect of this religion’s culture, therefore making sizeable the idea of gay acceptance.

6. Boston, Massachusetts

Along with Cambridge and Newton, Boston, the number 6 on the list of top 10 gayest cities in America holds a 4.8 percentage of LGBT population, but that should not surprise you, since this city is worldly renowned for its colleges and all-around high education standards. I will come back to this further on in our list, but it does make sense, doesn’t it? By this I am not saying that college graduates are gay, but pointing out that education is the best tool against discrimination. It’s funny, even their website on LGBT history is well organized in a textbook style.

5. Seattle, Washington

In 2012, the state of Washington passed the same-sex marriage law, making this city and its surroundings (Tacoma and Bellevue) even more accepting than it already was, since the road leading up to this event had commenced many years before:

Seattle -as a Nerd Wallet enthusiastic gay male resident commenter states- “was the second city, after San Francisco, to pass anti-discrimination laws (in the early 70’s) that included sexual orientation as a protected class and the first city in the U.S.”

Needless to explain why this is one of the top 10 gayest cities in America.

4. New Orleans, Louisiana

For some reason both the New York Times and Business Insider seem to have forgotten about beautiful New Orleans, the number 4 on the list of top 10 gayest cities in America (and the neighboring Metairie), but the fact is -according to Gallup- that this metropolitan area holds a percentage of 5.1 when it comes to LGBT population. How the city that originated Ellen DeGeneres was left out baffles me, but it seems New Orleans has a pretty big gay heritage.

“The Gay Liberation movement was slower to develop in New Orleans than in many other cities. This was due in part to local politics. (…) Nevertheless, a small group of activists founded the Gay Liberation Front of New Orleans in late 1970.”

The 70’s were pretty tough on gay in New Orleans, and even though the 80’s were better, it was the 90’s that brought the biggest changes: “In 1991, the New Orleans City Council passed a gay non-discrimination ordinance. Shortly afterwards, Gov. Edwin W. Edwards issued a far-reaching executive order, prohibiting discrimination in state employment and services. In 1997, Louisiana earned the distinction of being the first state in the Deep South to pass a hate crimes law that covered sexual orientation, and New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial extended domestic partner benefits to city employees. And, in 1998, New Orleans became one of the earliest cities to add gender identity to its list of groups protected from discrimination.”

Pretty impressive for a Southern state, is it not?

3. Austin, Texas

Surprised to find Texas here? Probably not, since I mentioned it in the intro, but you would be if I hadn’t.

In spite of being one of the largest cities in a renownedly bigot state, Austin (and Round Rock), that ranks third on our list of top 10 gayest cities in America show that 5.3% of the population identifies as gay. Why? Well, there is a clear reason for which the NYT has bagged Boston and Austin together in their article (even though the two are far from being alike) and this is it: Austin is a well-educated city, with good colleges, which adds up to a large amount open-minded people. We could debate all day whether (good) education makes you tolerant or not (I think it does), but the fact that for “some reason”, most of the LGBT community in this huge state that’s anti-same-sex-marriage has decided to move to Austin speaks for itself.

2. Portland, Oregon

Hand in hand with its next-door-neighbors, Vancouver and Hillsboro, Portland has become one of the strongest spots for LGBT-rights activism, holding a 5.4% share of the population. The reason for this city’s outspoken attitude is that that the state hasn’t precisely been gay-friendly so far, and has actually passed many anti-gay laws. This has pushed LGBT population out of the rural areas (which are more conservative) and into the cities. This migration made the “political division on gay civil rights” progressively evident, thus encouraging the community to fight back.

1. San Francisco, California

Along with the rest of the metropolitan area constituted by Oakland and Hayward, San Francisco accounts for the highest rate of LGBT population in the USA, with a baffling 6.2%. The fact that the population in 2014 of Cisco alone was of 852,469, would mean that –at the time- there were 52,853 LGBT living there at the time. That’s a whole lot of gay, and it also makes this city n°1 in our top 10 gayest cities in America list.

According to the New York Times, “Historians often trace San Francisco’s role as a gay refuge in part to World War II, when the Navy discharged gay sailors, because of their sexuality, at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Many stayed in the city, which already had a reputation as a welcoming place for refugees and free spirits. Other gay people, in search of a safe place, followed“. The famous saying “build it and they will come” has never sounded truer – or dirtier.

So, are you packing your bags yet? Let us know how you like that big fat San Francisco Treat… or not.