Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Atlanta's Gay

Atlanta wins! ... the 'gayest city in america' rated by Advocate mag. (Don't miss the great pic at the end of this post.)

Their take on Atlanta can be read on Page 6 of this site:
http://www.advocate.com/Print_Issue/Travel/Gayest_Cities_in_America/

Atlanta is probably the best place in the South to be gay, Miami doesn't count. I'm told that's Northern Puerto Rico (or maybe it's Cuba). Don't get me wrong, I love Puerto Ricans and would vote for a 51st state. It's just that, as far as a lot of people in the South are concerned, Floridabama is the closest Florida gets to "The South." I'm a Yankee so this is all hearsay.

Anyhow, I feel that the Advocate has been misled in some ways, but dead-on in others. Here's my 5 point critique of their view of Atlanta (quotes are taken from the Advocate article).

5. "Georgia isn’t the most gay-friendly state" I completely agree. Outside of midtown Atlanta and a seldom few spots in Georgia, holding another man's hand in public might get you a preach'n to.

4. "29 gay bars" It's true, Atlanta has a good selection of gay bars. We lost one recently, the Sizzler ... I mean the Sizzler turned into the gay bar called Stage Door in Tucker, GA. :'( Their Friday karaoke dj did them in or the fact that it was in Tucker. We also gained one, Mixx. It was hot the week before the grand opening. The grand opening weekend was good too, but I haven't been back since. I wish them luck. The most unfortunate part about the gay bars in Atlanta is that everyone is looking for Backstreet, the 24hr bar that closed in 2004.

3. "one of the nation’s largest Prides in October" I hope that it's the largest Pride in the us in October. Let me know if there's another. The only reason Atlanta has Pride in October is because of a drought and city politics that kept Class A events out of Piedmont Park until November 2009. The Dogwood Festival, the Peachtree Road Race and Pride competed for one slot that would be allowed to return to Atlanta. The Dogwood Festival, an arts festival in the park that I love, was granted the one Class A event in the Park for 2009. But then, the Peachtree Road Race was also allowed to end at the park during their normal date of July 4th. The gays in Atlanta were also granted some lenience by letting Pride return to Piedmont Park on October 31st. We'll see if Atlanta can afford the normal June Pride date in 2010. I'm told it will most likely be in the Fall.

2. "MondoHomo" ... ? ... I guess I'll have to check this out this year. Along with Bear Weekend in Atlanta.

1. Cause I didn't feel uncomfortable dressed like this:

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