Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

« Tacoma Is to Blame | That's Entertainment! »

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Homo The Gayest City in America?

Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 2:20 PM

Go ahead—guess which city.

FacebookShare

Comments (36) RSS

Newest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Madison, WI as number 8. I can see that.

But... Scottsdale as number 16 and Richmond, VA, as number 19: What?? What!?

Posted by Sandiai on January 9, 2013 at 11:51 PM

Not defending the Advocate's metrics (roller derby pish posh, etc.), but have a feeling that most must have missed the "DIVIDED BY population within city limits" with a minimum pop. of 150,000 required.

Posted by Judith on January 9, 2013 at 11:07 PM

"The center of LGBT life in Tacoma is the St. Helens District, where the nightlife is plentiful, with some venues rivaling nearby Seattle’s."

Are they sure they mean Tacoma? Because I've been to Tacoma. And this is not it.

Posted by Andy on January 9, 2013 at 11:06 PM

Spokane beats Seattle? Okay, noted. Now fuck off Advocate and stop trolling.

Posted by delirian on January 9, 2013 at 10:34 PM

Obviously no one has visited Hammond, Indiana, the gay capitol of the universe.

Posted by Juan Alfredo on January 9, 2013 at 9:49 PM

I like Tacoma fine, but there is so much more gay community of every stripe in Seattle.

Posted by fletc3her on January 9, 2013 at 8:30 PM

The Advocate has done this list for the past few years and it's just stupid "controversial" or "counter-intuitive" link-bait bullshit every time. Last year or the year before, they put Vancouver, Washington in the top 10 — but not Portland. No way in hell is Vantucky gayer than Portland is. I think the magazine calculated a gayness-per-capita score by counting up all the gay amenities within a certain radius of a city, then dividing it by the city's population. So Vancouver got to count Portland's gay bars and LGBT associations as their own. Or something. It would be like saying Richmond, California is a super gay city because there are so many gay bars on Folsom Street in San Francisco across the bridge. I used to like Mike Albo as an author, but after writing that stupid article he's on my shit list now.

Posted by john t on January 9, 2013 at 8:20 PM

Gentrification spawns its own demise. You see, when an area first begins to gentrify, it's still cheap, so the creative-but-broke types can afford to live there. Then these creative folks start to make everything pretty. They make public art, music and fun. Its only after this happens that the hipsters show up.

Hipsters are not creative change agents-they are the uncreative mob that has money and wants to buy cool. Creative geniuses populated Seattle in the early 1990's, and then the hipsters came and crashed the party. They also drove up the price of everything and started copying the real bohemians,. repackaging their faux-cool and reselling it, creating a bubble that inevitably bursts when the area becomes so expensive that real artists can't afford it anymore.

Seattle has jumped the shark. the very people who made Seattle cool were priced out of Capitol Hill long ago-that's why the gay community is no longer centered on Cap Hill, and now Seattle Pride is a massive commercial blitz sponsored by Macy's and Amazon.com rather than the small community free-for-all it once was circa 1995. Seattle Pride used to be about GLBT people. Now, it's almost entirely straight people who want to prove that they are not bigots.

Olympia is dead for much the same reason. When you think of an Olympia gay bar, what do you think of? Jake's? There isn't a gay person in Jake's besides the bartending staff. The Urban Onion? Where a tequila sunrise costs 15 bucks and everybody's a middle-aged state employee in a nice suit?

Tacoma is gritty, raw, energetic, creative and alive. The hipsters are here too, but they are fewer in number. My apartment is in the heart of the gay district and I pay 650 a month. With a view of the water. And it's big. How are you doin, Cap Hill?

I can see live music every night of the week at any of a dozen bars where dinner for two with drinks is less than 20 bucks. The door charge at both the Silverstone and the Mix on New Year's Eve? 5 dollars, including champagne. There's a public festival within a few blocks of me twice a month. All my neighbors know each other and we call each other by name. every business in my neighborhood except Tully's and Thriftway is independently owned by somebody that lives in my neighborhood. There's public art all over the place.

So yeah, Tacoma's the gayest city in America.

More...

Posted by Tacoma Traveler on January 9, 2013 at 7:38 PM

I'm more shocked that Tacoma qualifies as a city.

Posted by raku on January 9, 2013 at 7:36 PM

Wow. Well, I'm from Tacoma, and I'd like to say that we didn't petition to be #1 or anything. Wish that we hadn't won, honestly, because it just gives all you assholes another excuse to shit on my city.

Posted by Rev. Adam McKinney

on January 9, 2013 at 7:27 PM

It's okay. It may mean more straight women, who knows? (LOL)

Posted by gman5541 on January 9, 2013 at 6:27 PM

Was there a typo in the headline? Should it have said Most closeted gay city?

Posted by hifiandrew on January 9, 2013 at 5:35 PM

Well there wouldn't be much point to doing the same list, year after year, with San Francisco, New York, and West Hollywood also the top three. Of course, they shouldn't do a list like this at all.

Posted by ian on January 9, 2013 at 4:49 PM

Something is wrong with my computer. It's showing Tacoma as #1. Probably a virus of some sort. Damn computer.

Posted by NotYourStrawMan on January 9, 2013 at 4:27 PM

Yeah, the methodology is flawed. It's just another stupid list meant to generate page views and arguments. I learned a long time ago that qualitative or pseudo-quantitative best-of or worst-of lists are total bull, zero informative, the print equivalent of a Pringles chip. Dom shouldn't have even hooked the bait on Slog. I took the bait and looked, but that's where it's ending for me. This isn't making it to my Facebook.

(Okay, fine, Dominic. It was a fun little diversion. I'm not taking it too seriously.)

Posted by floater on January 9, 2013 at 4:06 PM

UNACCEPTABLE.

Posted by Adrian Ryan on January 9, 2013 at 3:55 PM

@14 - That makes sense. I think the fact that a friend opened a cool little coffee shop there a few years ago had me convinced of something that probably isn't.

@16 - Exactly. I guess a proper list wouldn't really have been talking. Thank god anyone young and naive enough to believe this list probably doesn't have the money to travel.

Also, I see they chose to ignore the all-important "impending sense of doom you feel every time a car slows down while you're walking" index. That'd pretty much take Spokane off the list.

Posted by Dougsf on January 9, 2013 at 3:55 PM

I laughed so hard I peed a little.

Posted by Simply Me on January 9, 2013 at 3:47 PM

No, Spokane makes no sense. And Dempsey's closed a while ago. Good research.

Posted by Spokan't on January 9, 2013 at 3:33 PM

While heteros can feel comfy in most modern gay bars, (Seattle's) delightfully small, speedy dive bar Pony is just for the gay guys.

Is that legal now too?

Posted by Fred Casely on January 9, 2013 at 3:23 PM

@5 And oh it's way worse than that. They are clearly just leaving SF and NYC off for the hell of it. If they followed their criteria to the letter, NYC has 50 HRC100 business "headquarter". SF had 9. So the real "located" numbers for both cities should be much much higher. Still NYC starts with a base 50 in a fair measure.

Posted by LukeJoe on January 9, 2013 at 3:16 PM

Aaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

ahahah

ahah

ah.

Thanks for that.

More...

Posted by jnmend on January 9, 2013 at 3:13 PM

@6 Tacoma is still too close to Seattle's hipster/arts/gay gravitational field--most everyone so inclined moves to Seattle if they can, because I-5 traffic is too shitty to take advantage of cheaper housing and commute.

Posted by tiktok on January 9, 2013 at 2:55 PM

Well they kind of admit that they set up a ridiculous standard, and one that makes it impossible to believe that they screened all that many cities to begin with. It's super stupid. 1 point for every Scissor Sisters concert since 2009? Why doesn't Gaga bring a point? Most gays would rather see her given the choice. And how many points does SF get every time Jake Sheers drops in to pretend to be a DJ...for like 25 minutes?

Posted by LukeJoe on January 9, 2013 at 2:52 PM

@5 You're missing the last step in their methodology:

DIVIDED BY
Population within city limits
(population of >150,000 required)

NYC doesn't make the list because the city is too big to be Gay (or something).

In short, their list heavily favors mid-size cities, which explains my biggest WTF, Colorado Springs.

Posted by This List Makes "Totally Gay" An Insult on January 9, 2013 at 2:48 PM

i vote leavenworth , bishes ..

Posted by reverend dr dj riz on January 9, 2013 at 2:48 PM

This is the dumbest thing The Advocate has ever written.

Posted by very bad homo on January 9, 2013 at 2:45 PM

How in the hell did Spokane end up rating higher than Seattle? If this was true, why did Terry move to Seattle? Dan and Terry really need to head back to Gay Friendly Spokane.

Posted by SeattleKim on January 9, 2013 at 2:45 PM

Gasp. That is all. Tacoma deserves no further response.

Posted by R-Snarkinson on January 9, 2013 at 2:42 PM

I'm in Lesbians with Seattle.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on January 9, 2013 at 2:41 PM

Semi-tangent:

I was just in Tacoma for the first time in 15 years. I was absolutely convinced it must have become into one of those cities, like Oakland or Portland, where the low cost of living allows folks to start all sorts of interesting new bars and restaurants. If that's the case, I couldn't find any sign of it.

I ended up having better luck in Olympia.

Posted by Dougsf on January 9, 2013 at 2:39 PM

Ok, I actually read that dribble (You owe me Dom) They skewed the hell out of their report by throwing in random shit like roller derby teams and scissor sister concerts. NYC isnt on the list so you know the list is bullshit. Tacoma wins with 17 points, by their own math NYC would be #1 as it has at least 17 different gay roller derbys. And hello, gay rugby teams? NYC has a ton of those, what a shit list.

Posted by Fenrox on January 9, 2013 at 2:38 PM