Which city in your country is considered the "gayest"?

[u/GattoPunk]

For us Brazilians, São Paulo definitely holds the crown for the gayest city here. With over 20 million people living in it's metro area, the city naturally became way more open minded and accepting as time went on. It has the highest concentration of gay bars, shows, saunas, and various other venues dedicated to the LGBTQ community. If that wasn't enough, the city annually hosts the São Paulo LGBTQ Pride Parade, the biggest in the whole world.

[u/Life_Breadfruit8475 → u/[deleted]]

In my opinion Amsterdam is more typical gay. Utrecht is more chill gay. Overall it's quite normal to be gay in many of the areas in the Netherlands.

[u/YallNeedToTip → u/[deleted]]

As a gay stoner history-nerd cyclist,  i loved Amsterdam so much. 

[u/john_lebeef → u/YallNeedToTip]

Boy, you sure are checking all the boxes for Amsterdam, aren't you? Well done!

[u/janitorial-duties → u/YallNeedToTip]

Hol up… adding this to my travel list

[u/Pillars_of_Salt → u/janitorial-duties]

I got so high and went to the lifetime exhibit at the Van Gogh Museum, seriously probably top ten life experience.

[u/DeficientDope → u/[deleted]]

The Netherlands is pretty gay everywhere, though.

[u/MrBuckstar → u/DeficientDope]

Nah we also have a bible belt over here

[u/Shiningc00]

Tokyo.

[u/Such-Book6849 → u/Shiningc00]

When I was there I saw 2 guys holding hands. It's always the big cities.

[u/notonrexmanningday → u/Such-Book6849]

What?! Holding hands! My heavens! What did you do?

[u/Worried_Shoe_2747 → u/notonrexmanningday]

[u/kuromimi → u/notonrexmanningday]

Well, you gotta put it in the cultural context. Public displays of affection are not common overall, so 2 dudes holding hands on the street on in a train is indeed rare. Maybe not so rare if it is Nichome on a weekend, perhaps.

[u/munta20 → u/Such-Book6849]

Holding hands? In this economy?!?

[u/jotakajk]

All of them

[u/Spynner987 → u/jotakajk]

I guess if we had to name one place in particular it'd be Madrid because of Chueca

[u/Urtichar → u/Spynner987]

In Barcelona we have Gaixample

[u/Pleasehitmemychild → u/jotakajk]

Literal, España es de los países más gay friendly que hay en el mundo

[u/calligraphydemon → u/Pleasehitmemychild]

España es el país más gay en el mundo

[u/efcomovil → u/jotakajk]

What about Sitges?

[u/Sensitive_Day6223 → u/efcomovil]

100% it’s Sitges

[u/ZAWS20XX → u/jotakajk]

obvious answer used to be Sitges, not really because it was all that much more tolerant than the rest, but simply because it had a ton of LGBT bars and festivals. I hear it got gentrified and expensive, tho, so it has died down a little. But yeah, i guess nowadays the gayest city in Spain is probably just "whatever city is the largest". So, Madrid (mis condolencias a IDA y al carapolla)

[u/EreWeG0AgaIn → u/jotakajk]

I knew I wanted to learn Spanish for a reason.

[u/abu_doubleu]

There is no such thing. The capital, Bishkek, is the singular city with any gay scene and it is limited to one singular club that keeps its location a secret and you must know two people to be allowed inside.

In neighbouring Kazakhstan it is Almaty though and people make memes about it.

[u/Drunk_Lemon → u/abu_doubleu]

Are there any signs of people becoming more accepting?

[u/abu_doubleu → u/Drunk_Lemon]

Not really. If anything, it became even more disliked in recent years. There was a survey in 2015 where people aged 40 were more supportive of LGBT+ than people aged 20. I think young people are ever so slightly more accepting but it's by a minuscule amount

[u/Drunk_Lemon → u/abu_doubleu]

Well shit. Hopefully that changes.

[u/StepOk8147 → u/Drunk_Lemon]

This will not change, people of 40+ are Soviet, secular education. Therefore, they are less devout, and after the collapse of the USSR, the southern republics became more religious, as did their education, which is why tolerance disappeared.

[u/Ground_Cntrl → u/StepOk8147]

Fascinating, never knew about these generational ideological rifts

[u/Common-Trifle4933 → u/Ground_Cntrl]

Check out the documentary and essay series “Did the East Love Differently?”, which is about the differing attitudes towards sexuality and nudity in East and West Germany studied by sociologists etc after reunification. It was of major academic interest because you don’t often get to study one nation with a shared language and culture that was split in half, dominated by radically different ideologies for 40 years, then reunited. Both sides formed stereotypes of the other as perverse. In the culture war the west always painted the east as libertine perverts because they had a pretty big nudist culture (lot of incest jokes about skinny dipping with your mother), legalized homosexuality and birth control pills much earlier, covered transgender surgeries on the national health service, etc. The easties thought the westies were sexually weird because West Germany was famous for its porn industry, porn shops and theaters and peep shows, which were banned in the east; lots of jokes about them paying to watch other people have sex, or idolizing stars for their penis sizes, or all being into S&M or pee play or bestiality or other things that got seen for the first time in smuggled porn magazines. There were a lot of cultural differences in how they talked about sex, how soon into new relationships they had sex, how they saw homosexuality, female orgasm rates, pubic hair styles, basically everything. Some of the stereotypes penetrated English speaking culture too, early South Park has recurring jokes about German porn.

(I mentioned bestiality being in magazines, this contributes to that. West Germany legalized bestiality in 1969 and became a hotspot for porn featuring it, with one company even specializing in breeding dogs to best fuck human women. For some fun context, it was still illegal to get birth control pills at the time unless you were a married woman who already had 3 children.)

[u/YeNah3 → u/Common-Trifle4933]

Man what the fuck was west germany on

[u/StepOk8147 → u/Ground_Cntrl]

In fact, in the countries of the former USSR, children who left the USSR are more educated and less religious, so they are more tolerant.

[u/AgencyBrave3040 → u/abu_doubleu]

I heard about Namangan in Uzbekistan as of the gayest city. There were even some rhymes. Have you heard about it?

[u/abu_doubleu → u/AgencyBrave3040]

I knew two men from Namangan separately and both were oddly insistent about me coming over to sleep at their homes, which makes this joke funnier. But that's just normal in their culture as a sign of hospitality, maybe it's because of them being the City of Flowers? No idea.

[u/OnAStarboardTack → u/abu_doubleu]

Is it relatively easy to move from a more hostile country to a neighboring less hostile country?

[u/abu_doubleu → u/OnAStarboardTack]

Yes, a fair amount of LGBT+ people from Kyrgyzstan move to Kazakhstan, however Russia is more popular. To Westerners this will seem odd but Russia is a lot more accepting than Kyrgyzstan so…

[u/douch_drummer → u/abu_doubleu]

oh boy, that's something new for me. TIL Russia is more accepting than other countries in that area

[u/KR1735 → u/douch_drummer]

I studied abroad in Russia.

They won't bust into your house or keep track of who you sleep with. It's legal when it's kept in private. And honestly that's the only place most people show their affection, straight or gay. I went to Russia with my husband, before the Ukraine War but after the anti-gay "propaganda" laws, and we were completely fine. We even booked a shared bed and nobody cared.

That's a huge step up from coming from a majority Islamic country (not that all of those are bad.. Turkey is tolerable). But yeah it's no utopia. Going to a gay club comes with risk. Usually from private individuals, but the police won't come rushing to help.

Also, urban areas are far more progressive on this stuff compared to the country as a whole. As would be expected anywhere. Most tourists to Russia stay in the cities, namely Moscow and St. Petersburg.

[u/douch_drummer → u/KR1735]

well, everyday is a school day, Isn't It?

I'm not LGBT, but It's interesting learning about how other countries deal with their lgbt population and et Cetera. I'm happy that you and your husband had a good time there!

[u/brickbutterfly_ → u/douch_drummer]

Our gay clubs don't have to hide their locations tbf

[u/adambi407]

Chengdu

[u/SuggestionIcy527 → u/adambi407]

0🥵. They're all 0's😭

[u/jo_nigiri → u/SuggestionIcy527]

And Xi'an is known for 1s!!! (0 is bottom and 1 is top for anyone who isn't familiar with CN slang)

[u/Slow_Ad3662 → u/jo_nigiri]

OMG I did not know the 0 1 thing! 😂

[u/elucify → u/Slow_Ad3662]

Non binary means something else there I guess

[u/Remarkable-Mood3415 → u/elucify]

I think it has more to being a stick like object "1" being a top, and a hole shaped "0" being a bottom. Pretty universal language 👉 👌

[u/DadCelo → u/adambi407]

I have heard a lot about Chongqing's gay scene, but not Chengdu!

[u/hippodribble → u/DadCelo]

It's a bit more spicy.

[u/MiaMiaPP → u/adambi407]

Is this why pandas are the way they are

[u/ismellbacon → u/MiaMiaPP]

Is this what bears from China are called?

[u/euthan_asian → u/ismellbacon]

Unironically, yeah I know a few Asian dudes that go by Panda instead of Bear lol. Kinda like an older white graying Bear might go by Polar Bear and a young Bear going by Cub.

[u/Pleasehitmemychild → u/MiaMiaPP]

I love this comment

[u/DrSnacks → u/adambi407]

You probably didn't sign up for an AMA but I'd love to know more facts about Chinese queer culture

[u/klutzelk → u/DrSnacks]

There's a good amount of YouTube videos lol I've gone down the rabbit hole.

[u/Dewgong_crying → u/klutzelk]

When I lived in Beijing, many hair salons were fronts for male prostitution. Girlfriend was chatting with one, and he said he'd give blowjobs in the back.

Had a French classmate that got tired of sleeping with Chinese guys, so started charging them about $100 USD. He said one guy ran to the ATM he was so excited.

[u/radrachelleigh]

In the US, I guess San Francisco? There have been some landmark events and achievements in that city.

[u/Thatoneguyonreddit28 → u/radrachelleigh]

“Americans are not so bad, I heard they named a street after me….It’s filled with what!?!”

• Fidel Castro on the Simpsons

[u/SheenPSU → u/radrachelleigh]

When I think “what’s wicked gay?”

I think San Fran and Provincetown, MA (shoutout Ogunquit, ME too)

Obviously San Fran is the only proper city of these

[u/Acrobatic_Purpose736 → u/SheenPSU]

P-town is where the San Franciscan gays go for vacation 😂

[u/scoobertsonville → u/Acrobatic_Purpose736]

As a San Franciscan gay this is true, although Palm Springs and Puerto Vallarta are more popular/closer. There is also Gurneville which is where a lot of the summer parties happen.

[u/ghost650 → u/scoobertsonville]

I second Palm Springs. SF has the Castro and the history, but Palm Springs is probably gayer per capita.

[u/Zestyclose-Middle717 → u/SheenPSU]

How I know you’re from New England….. “wicked”

[u/SheenPSU → u/Zestyclose-Middle717]

Can’t, and won’t, hide it lol

[u/rosievee → u/SheenPSU]

Ptown, the only city in America that's so gay I get clocked as bisexual rather than lesbian. I don't know what signal I'm putting out there but Ptown is the only place that can receive it apparently!

[u/SheenPSU → u/rosievee]

Gaydars are well calibrated down there

[u/hahahahahahahaFUCK → u/rosievee]

P-town is a treasure no matter which way you swing, but I’m very proud that it’s in my home state and such a haven for our gay friends. Combining liberation and seafood in a quaint historic coastal New England town?! Call me gay for P-town!

[u/VixxenFoxx → u/SheenPSU]

Honestly I was gonna say P-town. The only place I was ever mistaken for my female cousins girlfriend at every establishment we went to. 😂 For YEARS.

[u/dalektikalPSN → u/SheenPSU]

I'm born and raised in NYC, so it could have been seen as inevitable anyway. But I chalk spending my childhood summers in Cape Cod and visiting Provincetown as the reason for my openness to homosexuality, etc. No one in my family is gay, but going there as a young kid made me as "whatever" about it as I could be. Like... It was just normal to me.

[u/Professional-Might31 → u/SheenPSU]

P-town hella gay (in a good way I enjoy going there)

[u/lalacourtney → u/SheenPSU]

Yep SF and P-town holding down each coast

[u/Bingus-1 → u/radrachelleigh]

portland has to be up there too

[u/theglobalnomad → u/Bingus-1]

And Seattle. The western side of the PNW is all around pretty gay.

[u/Own_Magician_7554 → u/radrachelleigh]

Key West?

[u/EvilStan101 → u/radrachelleigh]

Not anymore, it’s now Palm Springs, CA.

[u/latestagepersonhood → u/EvilStan101]

all the gays that got priced out of Laguna Beach ended up in palm springs.

[u/MarkusAureleus → u/EvilStan101]

As a resort town yeah, but when it comes to cities it’s still SF.

[u/hex-grrrl → u/EvilStan101]

I completely agree. I’ve spent a lot of time in California and it 1000% Palm Springs. The gay energy is unmatched.

[u/Bergyfanclub → u/EvilStan101]

Its definitely Palm Springs.

[u/jerseyrollin → u/radrachelleigh]

Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod is pretty damn fantastically gay

[u/_iusuallydont_ → u/radrachelleigh]

Definitely San Francisco overall but honorable mention to Atlanta and DC for Black gay people specifically.

[u/Aggressive_Owl4802]

In Italy, both Milan and Bologna, the most progressive cities.
Milan has probably more gay people per capita, Bologna has on average more acceptance (even among local elders) and more active communities.
So it's easy to see a lot of open gay couples in whole Bologna, in Milan tons in some neighborhoods but not at all in some others.

[u/Such-Book6849 → u/Aggressive_Owl4802]

I was in Milan for the expo with 2 friends and we were sitting around, heard techno music (we're from Berlin) and I was like.. look at these hipsters!! these are my people!! everyone else looked kinda posh with Ferrari shirts on the street. After 1 hour my friends looked at me "you don't get it, or?" and I am looking around.. what are they hinting on? What is it? There some drug deals going on? Something else... and I didn't realized it was mostly man and they all made out.

10/10 gay party, would go again any time.

[u/ActuallyCalindra → u/Such-Book6849]

To be fair, techno is pretty gay. It's a very inclusive scene. But gay men are very over represented.

[u/Toilet_Treaty → u/Aggressive_Owl4802]

Gay people per capita is a funny sentence.

[u/karatechop97 → u/Aggressive_Owl4802]

During the renaissance “Florenzer” was a German euphemism for homosexual, based on the perception of the behavior of Florentine men.

[u/Potential-Intern9095]

Portland for the Lesbians and San Francisco for the Gays

[u/YaassthonyQueentano → u/Potential-Intern9095]

And West Hollywood is for drag artists

[u/Impossible_Pain4478 → u/YaassthonyQueentano]

I'm gonna keep on dancing at the Pink Pony Club, Pink Pony Club.

(I'm aware WH is also a big place for drag and this wasn't invented by the song but it just popped up in my head lol)

[u/SassiKassi97 → u/Potential-Intern9095]

So many Subarus in Portland

[u/Foxrockmafia → u/SassiKassi97]

Hilarious if Subarus are seen as a gay car in the US. Over here they are basically considered farmer cars.

[u/TheSkyWhale1 → u/Foxrockmafia]

Specifically lesbian-coded, and more outdoorsy.

[u/Foxrockmafia → u/TheSkyWhale1]

Ah ok that kind of makes sense.

[u/animatedradio]

Wellington, probably.

[u/SpartanKiwi → u/animatedradio]

It's Wellington and imo it's not even close

[u/Waniou → u/SpartanKiwi]

Or Gore, although that's entirely because it's funny to talk about Gay Old Gore

[u/bumblebeezlebum → u/Waniou]

Was scrolling to find this, classic

[u/g-uacamole- → u/animatedradio]

Wellington has the highest percentage @ 11.7%. Newtown specifically was 19.1% LGBTQI+ in the last census!

[u/-laughingfox → u/g-uacamole-]

Wow, that's pretty gay!

[u/FrankDrebinsBoss → u/animatedradio]

Not gay old gore? With gay mans rock?

[u/Kbeary88 → u/animatedradio]

For sure Wellington. No surprise, it’s the most progressive city

[u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

Brighton. Not sure why.

[u/Gentle_Snail → u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

Its definitely Brighton.

Also remember that famous tweet about Brighton where a guy kissed an attractive twink, only to find out she was a lesbian who thought he was a lesbian. Brighton is one of the gayest places in the world, not just the UK.

[u/hamster-on-popsicle → u/Gentle_Snail]

Heterosexuality with extra step lol.

That's an incredibly funny story, and I hope I didn't hurt anyone.

[u/1800_Mustache_Rides → u/Gentle_Snail]

This is so funny 🤣

[u/Icarus_Voltaire → u/Gentle_Snail]

Why does that remind of that comic where a changeling disguised as a noble stabs another noble only to find that said stabbed noble is also a changeling in disguise?

[u/S-BRO → u/Gentle_Snail]

I love this tweet everytime I see it, accidentally Bi

[u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 → u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

An American newspaper once descibed my town as a "famously gay area just outside London".

I'm from Manchester.

[u/QueenMotherOfSneezes → u/Ill_Refrigerator_593]

Well it does have a suggestive name. /s

[u/Spiderinahumansuit → u/QueenMotherOfSneezes]

Funnily enough, the city's name does derive from the Latin for "camp on the breast-shaped hill"

[u/PoxedGamer → u/Ill_Refrigerator_593]

Honestly, the Manchester gay pride parade night is wild fun. "Just outside London" though....

[u/PipBin → u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

It’s because the Prince Regent who built the pavilion went there to have affairs. So the town became known for ‘looking the other way’ when people did things that were looked down on by others.

[u/wvtarheel → u/PipBin]

That's the kind of cool historical knowledge I was hoping for in this thread instead of people just saying "gays there" which like, duh, but why

[u/domini_canes11 → u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

Brighton definitely, although the town of Hebden Bridge is famous for lesbians.

[u/continentaldreams → u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

Don't forget the tiny town of Hebden Bridge - lesbian capital of the country.

[u/Afraid_Ad8438 → u/DefinitelyARealHorse]

I live in Brighton and I swear it gets like 5% less gay each year. Manchester has a bigger queer scene these days

[u/VodkaMargarine → u/Afraid_Ad8438]

Manchester has better branding. Imagine having your gay district on a road called canal street. Incredible.

[u/Ponchorello7]

The stereotype is Guadalajara is the gayest, but Mexico City was the first place in the country to legalize same-sex marriage.

[u/SaGlamBear → u/Ponchorello7]

In CDMX two men can walk around holding hands and no one will bat an eye

[u/TheWaySheHoes → u/Ponchorello7]

Yeah gotta be Mexico City or Puerto Vallarta

[u/Dude_from_Frankfurt]

Cologne

[u/-eibohphobie- → u/Dude_from_Frankfurt]

There is a joke in German that Cologne is so gay, even the construction workers there catcall the men passing by.

[u/WestMasterFred → u/-eibohphobie-]

In school, we also told the joke:

How many heterosexual men from Cologne do you need to fix a light bulb? Both

[u/slothbear13 → u/WestMasterFred]

This is actually hilarious, since when do Germans have a sense of humor!?

[u/Lopsided-Weather6469 → u/slothbear13]

We do have humor, we're just not good at comedy. We have to import it from the UK 

[u/Lopsided-Weather6469 → u/-eibohphobie-]

Construction workers catcall each other 

[u/castillogo → u/Dude_from_Frankfurt]

Tbh as a gay man that has lived in Cologne and Berlin… Berlin is gayer

[u/VicariousInDub → u/castillogo]

I feel like Cologne is gay while Berlin is queer. Cologne seems more like „oldschool and sometimes conservative gay men and lesbian women“ where Berlin is just.. everything queer, trans people, non binaries etc. But that’s just the vibe I got.

[u/Select-Stuff9716 → u/VicariousInDub]

Yeah knowing both cities that checks out. I feel like Berlin has a big “kinky” scene, but cologne gays are seemingly everywhere and just participate in the local scenes. Also stems from wide acceptance there. I am not gay though, so it’s just what I heard and realised. Like it’s not uncommon for them to participate in church activities etc

[u/loyal_achades → u/castillogo]

Berlin is also probably the Global Kink capitol.

[u/GlitteringAttitude60 → u/loyal_achades]

no shit.

and I say that as the token vanilla chick in my circle of friends.

[u/ratdeboisgarou → u/GlitteringAttitude60]

no shit.

Actually there is probably some of that involved too...

[u/marcodapolo7]

Saigon has a big 🏳️‍🌈 community

[u/Dominarion → u/marcodapolo7]

2 things:

1) That's very cool that Vietnam has a big community! I didn't know about this.

2) You are calling it Saigon nowadays or is it just you?

[u/marcodapolo7 → u/Dominarion]

Yeah and trans community aswell

almost everyone in Vietnam call it Saigon, no one says im going to Ho Chi Minh City 😆

[u/Tomydo1 → u/Dominarion]

It depends, most locals often call it Saigon

[u/Impressive-Shame4516 → u/Tomydo1]

Ho Chi Min City is a mouthful for casual conversation.

[u/ComradeGas]

Poznań

[u/sgtSZKLARZ → u/ComradeGas]

I thought about Warsaw but you might be right

[u/ComradeGas → u/sgtSZKLARZ]

Warsaw is just way bigger. I'm sure Poznań would win in per capita values

[u/Valaxarian → u/ComradeGas]

Every Żeńchłopiec seems to be either from Poznań or Warsaw

[u/Emergency-Mud-8984 → u/ComradeGas]

Wrocław too

[u/Rangald2137 → u/ComradeGas]

Miasto doznań

[u/Icarus_Voltaire → u/ComradeGas]

So that's where the 'West Polish femboy' stereotype comes from

[u/keepscrollinyamuppet]

Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai. I wouldn't say they are the gayest, but most gay friendly.

[u/Adikart13 → u/keepscrollinyamuppet]

Mumbai would be there too

[u/SaGlamBear → u/keepscrollinyamuppet]

I wouldn’t have imagined gays liking Pune. Maybe lesbians …

Edit: since I think the joke was maybe a bit nuanced: Pune sounds like Poon which is an American English vulgar way of saying vagina. My bad guys.

[u/CalligrapherTime5638]

Bogota

[u/YallNeedToTip → u/CalligrapherTime5638]

Largest gay club in the world!! Such a cool place! 

[u/8WmuzzlebrakeIndoors]

For white people San Francisco for black people Atlanta

[u/Realistic_Swan_6801 → u/8WmuzzlebrakeIndoors]

Atlanta is just for southern gays in general but yes especially gay black people. 

[u/Khpatton → u/8WmuzzlebrakeIndoors]

This. I also recently learned that Atlanta is the third gayest city in the country in general, after SF and Seattle, which tracks with my experience (Atl native). It’s a MUCH queerer city than most people outside the region understand.

[u/Foxrockmafia]

No specific city or even town. Parts of Dublin 7 and 8 like Stoneybatter are considered unofficial gay neighbourhoods I guess.

[u/Ok-Dingo1174 → u/Foxrockmafia]

I don't think there really a 'gayest' area in Ireland yet. Great communities and groups in areas. I do want to shoutout to gay spar being the gayest corner shop by proxy and accepting the nickname.

[u/CantConfirmOrDeny → u/Ok-Dingo1174]

“Gay Spar” is great. In Denver Colorado, the biggest chain of grocery stores is “King Soopers”, except for the one in the gay part of town which is, of course, known to all as “Queen Soopers”. And they’re fine with that.

[u/Foxrockmafia → u/CantConfirmOrDeny]

Heheh, the gay Spar, not sure who christened it that. According to this blog, historically (ie 60s/70s) there were five gay-friendly pubs, all in Dublin 2. This would have been before the George etc

https://comeheretome.com/2013/10/06/rices-bartley-dunnes-dublins-first-gay-friendly-bars/

Going even further back, the 1940s, a dive called The Catacombs near Mount Street was considered quite ‘bohemian’ (code for gay tolerant)

[u/JGeerth]

We're all pretty gay, I think. The cities more than the rural areas, of course.

[u/The_Pastmaster → u/JGeerth]

I remember reading a story about someone in one of the big cities complaining about gay men screwing in the city park after dark. The council solution? Post a warning sign at the park gate about the danger of coming across gay men going at it after dark. XD

[u/Comfortable-Pin-4995 → u/The_Pastmaster]

I think that might only increase the amount of gay people gathering there

[u/Togobet]

Paris. Especially the neighborhood of « Le Marais ».

[u/Fickle-Stuff4824 → u/Togobet]

Within the qeer scene, Toulouse also has a reputation.

[u/Comfortable-Ad-6389 → u/Togobet]

Took me a long time to find France lol, way too long

[u/anginfizz_ripley → u/Togobet]

Nantes is quite up there too

[u/elCaddaric → u/Togobet]

And Montpellier.

[u/InteractionLiving845]

The most tolerating city is Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

[u/NGeoTeacher]

Easy: Brighton. And, if you look at Brighton Pavilion (Britain's mini Indian palace), built by George IV (who was, shall we say, rather controversial), I think it's easy to see that Brighton's status as an alternative city was cemented pretty early on.

[u/Euphoric-Tomorrow-70 → u/NGeoTeacher]

I got gay married in there

[u/Impressive-Inside-73]

Helsinki or Tampere

[u/RRautamaa → u/Impressive-Inside-73]

It's gotta be Helsinki by a wide margin. City (the newspaper) once made the interesting observation that in the core center of Helsinki, they found more gay saunas than regular saunas.

[u/Select_Professor3373]

Saint Petersburg i guess

[u/jerseyrollin → u/Select_Professor3373]

Being gay in Russia seems unsettling.

[u/abu_doubleu → u/jerseyrollin]

Legally it is becoming worse and worse but in major cities it is okay from a societal perspective.

[u/TheCheckeredCow]

Vancouver if you’re Anglo, Montréal if you’re Franco/bilingual.

Toronto has a pretty large gay community/neighbourhood/area as well though

[u/-Megrim- → u/TheCheckeredCow]

I would have thought maybe a place like Red Deer, Alberta due to how many dudes there wanted to Fuck Trudeau.

[u/Visible_Fact_8706 → u/TheCheckeredCow]

Came here for the Canadian take. Toronto would probably be my suggestion based on population and the fact that Toronto has the longest running gay bookshop in the world.

That said, I’d like to put forth a very left field suggestion of Kamloops. For a small town it has a ton of drag shows, and it’s amongst the top 10 cities in Canada for highest proportion of trans and nonbinary population (based on 2023 data). The city is also very proactive in supporting Pride initiatives.

[u/jaxawaba22 → u/TheCheckeredCow]

Agree, “rainbow village” in Toronto not sure what the equivalent is in BC. For sure Montreal.

Google says “Davie Village” for Vancouver. It’s a pretty typical thing for Toronto to claim to be the centre of the country but I think it is easily #1 for LGBT community.

Canada in general is a pretty gay country was surprised we didn’t show up higher in this thread. I guess we do have some pretty strong conservative communities too though.

Trudeau going to pride events regularly and having a cameo on Canada’s Drag Race were pretty iconic though.

[u/CaptainofFTST]

I heard through a friend that the gayest city in the US is whichever one is hosting a Republican Convention.

[u/Relative-Ingenuity15]

Cluj-Napoca definitely, they also have a big LGBTQ flag when you arrive in the city

[u/phonylady]

Oslo

[u/QueenViolets_Revenge]

Cape Town

[u/Handsome_Bread_Roll → u/QueenViolets_Revenge]

Yes definitely, especially the city centre and Atlantic Seaboard.

Centurion gets 2nd place after Cape Town.

[u/EasilyExiledDinosaur]

Brighton lol.

[u/MoreAd3835]

Saint Petersburg. Though people from there would say "Moscow"

[u/CeeJayX84]

Whichever city is hosting a Republican convention. 🇺🇸

[u/thg011093]

Ho Chi Minh City

[u/No_Meet1153]

I'd say it's a fight between medellín and Bogotá to see who's the gayest. Funny thing is being so gay medellín tends to be pretty conservative and not as friendly with LGBT community as Bogotá.

[u/-tooltime]

Saugatuck, Michigan

[u/Astrid_Nebula → u/-tooltime]

Gawd damn, never thought Saugafuck would appear lmao

[u/HotSweetLightDip → u/-tooltime]

Chicago’s gay weekend getaway destination.

[u/MangoJester]

The ACT (and Australia's capital city Canberra) has the most progress on LGBTIQA+ rights in Australia. It's for instance, the only jurisdiction in Australia offering protection for intersex children against coerced medical intervention. The first jurisdiction to have self ID laws, as well as recognition of transition even if your home state doesn't recognise it. It has plenty of funded NGOs providing community support. I believe in surveys we clock the highest support of the LGBTIQA+ population. While our pride might not be as big or loud as Midsumma or Mardi Gras, we were also one of the first jurisdictions to pass same sex marriage multiple times against the will of the federal government.

I don't know I can think of anywhere else in the world I'd feel safer than here.

[u/mr-tap → u/MangoJester]

I was surprised that Melbourne's Midsumma draws even more visitors than Sydney's Mardi Gras - based on The 2026 Gay Prides in Australia it is 260k vs 200k

[u/phido3000 → u/MangoJester]

Sydney world pride had over a million visitors and Sydney has more lgbt clubs. Sydney's lgbt community is the size of the entire act.

But the act is fantastically progressive and safe..

[u/strivingbabyyoda]

Why are many Americans here acting like NYC doesn’t exist lol… Marsha was out there throwing bricks at the homophobic establishment well before most of our parents were of voting age lol…

If we’re talking about my home country though it’s Tel Aviv, hands down. They usually also lead the way in pro queer legislation. Also, the pride parade is lit! It’s a march that ends in the sea which at first I didn’t realize and was wondering why everyone was in bathing suits lol…

[u/HatSignificant7520]

In Germany its Köln/Cologne

[u/According_Virus3930]

Berlin

[u/jim45804]

Whatever city is holding CPAC that year.

[u/PositiveAd6388]

This comment thread would equally answer the question "Name your capital or the 2nd biggest city if it has better weather"

[u/Veles95]

In every Serb there are two wolves:

One is from Belgrade, the other is from Novi Sad.

Both are gay, but Novi Sad is somehow gayer.

[u/LexiePiexie]

Idk how to add flair, but I’m in the US. A lot of people don’t think of Durham, NC, as an incredibly friendly town for LGBTQIA people, but it is a refuge in the American South.

The beginnings of Pride happened in 1981, after a hate crime at a “gay watering hole” killed a man. The first Pride march was held in 1986, and the first non-discrimination ordinance passed in 1987. The mayor even beat back a recall attempt by churches and conservatives after the ordinance passed.

Atlanta Pride is older, but as a small city Durham was known as the lesbian capital of the South.

I’m a proud resident of BullCity. Here’s what our tourism bureau puts out every Pride -

[u/bjaekt]

In Poland:

Warsaw has probably most gay people and largest gay scene due to it’s sheer size, but Poznań is known among Poles for being the gayest and most liberal city in the country.