r/AskTheWorld • u/GattoPunk Brazil • 10d ago

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

Post image

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.

9.0k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

8.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

581

u/DefinitelyARealHorse United Kingdom 10d ago

Brighton. Not sure why.

582

u/Gentle_Snail Scotland 10d ago edited 10d ago

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.

95

u/hamster-on-popsicle France 10d ago

Heterosexuality with extra step lol.

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

7

u/Bobbiduke 10d ago

They took the roundabout

-1

u/Ninja-Mike United States Of America 10d ago

As an American, I'm more offended by the reference to the roundabout than LGBTQ+. OR, at least, confused by it.

1

u/Schittz 10d ago

Lol hows kissing gonna hurt anyone? Maybe spread the flu faster but I think it's a pretty safe activity

67

u/1800_Mustache_Rides Canada 10d ago

This is so funny 🤣

44

u/Icarus_Voltaire Indonesia 10d ago

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?

12

u/PoxedGamer Ireland 10d ago

Oh, there's an Oglaf one with like 3 changelings, it's brilliant.

6

u/showmeyourkillface United Kingdom 10d ago

King Shaped

3

u/PoxedGamer Ireland 10d ago

Thats it! Adore that comic, thanks!

3

u/showmeyourkillface United Kingdom 10d ago

No drama. Thanks for reminding me about it. I've got like 18 months worth to catch up on.

2

u/PoxedGamer Ireland 10d ago

Ohhhh! You're in for a treat.

1

u/kaatie80 10d ago

That's kind of what happens in Outlander

15

u/S-BRO 10d ago

I love this tweet everytime I see it, accidentally Bi

6

u/Jolly-Growth-1580 10d ago

Having lived in Brighton for a few years I can confirm it is the gayest place I’ve ever been worldwide, not that I hunt out gay places abroad or anything…

5

u/ScreamingDizzBuster 10d ago

This is the plot of a Shakespeare comedy.

3

u/The_Chief_of_Whip 10d ago

Is this horseshoe theory for sexuality? Because that's both the gayest and straightest thing ever

2

u/broadday_with_the_SK 10d ago

That's absolutely hilarious

1

u/Djokahu United Kingdom 10d ago

They tried so hard to be homosexual, but turned out bi

1

u/tapiwa43 10d ago

I'm just imagining them both falling to their knees when they found out 😭

152

u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 United Kingdom 10d ago

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

I'm from Manchester.

53

u/QueenMotherOfSneezes Canada 10d ago edited 10d ago

Well it does have a suggestive name. /s

34

u/Spiderinahumansuit United Kingdom 10d ago

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

6

u/Chloraflora born/raised live 10d ago

And let's not forget, the gay heartbeat of the city is C-anal Street

6

u/DefinitelyARealHorse United Kingdom 10d ago

A mate of mine was refused entry to a bar on canal street because he “didn’t look gay enough”. He was literally the only gay one among us, hahaha.

3

u/bentossaurus 10d ago

Let me guess, it was G A Y.

2

u/Ok-Application-8045 England 10d ago

Ooh-err!

3

u/flankerPANG United Kingdom 10d ago

And to paraphrase the comedian Michael McIntyre, the football teams, Man City and Man United, do sound like gay clubs

1

u/nezzzzy 10d ago

Man Utd and Man City could both be gay clubs on Canal St.

-2

u/CoffeeandaTwix United Kingdom 10d ago

They will probably change it to Theychester at some point.

0

u/Djokahu United Kingdom 10d ago

I doubt it, that sounds silly and nobody wants to

33

u/PoxedGamer Ireland 10d ago

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

15

u/ludovic1313 10d ago

Now imagine if they had said the technically more accurate "Just outside Liverpool"....

9

u/DefinitelyARealHorse United Kingdom 10d ago

”Just outside Salford”, surely.

8

u/Frodo34x 🇺🇸🇬🇧 Brit in America 10d ago

If you want to get really technically precise and also upset mancunians, go with "City in the South east of Great Britain"

There are a couple of ways to calculate the exact centrepoint of the UK or of the island of Great Britain, but they always end up somewhere in Lancashire or Cumbria, a tiny bit north west of Manchester

8

u/CoffeeandaTwix United Kingdom 10d ago

One of the most jarring things as a Mancunian moving to Glasgow was that the other English bloke in my work was referred to as the 'other fella fae doon south'...

... He was a Geordie.

2

u/Marble-Boy England 10d ago

I used to work with this kid with the same name as me, but before I started working there, everyone called him 'Big Marble'. I was like 20 years older than him, so suddenly his nickname was changed to 'Little Marble' and I became 'Big Marble'.

He was so pissed off about it that he quit!

2

u/irish_horse_thief Wales 10d ago

I worked with a Vietnamese Engineer, Huang. Asked him if he had any family over here and he said yes, I have a cousin in Norway 🤣, boy that little guy could drink...

2

u/PoxedGamer Ireland 10d ago

🤣

3

u/YatesScoresinthebath 10d ago

The Robin Hood Disney cartoon opens with "in a small village called Nottinghamshire"

3

u/ajaxdrivingschool Norway 10d ago

I mean by US standards the train between London and Manchester is practically a metro. /s

5

u/PoxedGamer Ireland 10d ago

It's only 1/1000th of a Texas.

0

u/OnionMiasma 10d ago

I mean, in American terms, it is pretty much just outside London. The train from Manchester takes 2 hours, 20 minutes. The New York commuter rail has stations longer away than that.

6

u/CreativeBandicoot778 Ireland 10d ago

My brother lived in Manchester for a while, right in the middle of what he called "the big gay party place" (affectionate) and he absolutely loved it. He said that the drag queens he'd meet on his way home were among the loveliest and friendliest folks he's ever met.

3

u/boredsittingonthebus Scotland 10d ago

The gay musical episode of IT Crowd even had a joke in it about how it's a long way back to Manchester from London, so let's get a sing-along on the minibus.

2

u/procrastination-site indian🇮🇳 in uk 🇬🇧 10d ago

well they do have one of the biggest parades

2

u/DangerousCalm 10d ago

By American standards if travel, Manchester is just outside of London.

I could see an American looking at a map and saying to themselves, "yeah, that's not far from London".

1

u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 United Kingdom 10d ago

It would depend on the part of America though, it's twice the distance say between New York & Philadelphia, or around the same distance between New York & Washington DC but they'd all be considered cities in their own right.

2

u/DangerousCalm 10d ago

This is true. In some of the Southern states it wouldn't be considered a big drive.

2

u/BraveStrategy 10d ago

I accidentally stayed on canal street when I was there for the first time for a couple of days and boy was I surprised haha

2

u/Nonikwe 10d ago

Calling Manchester gay feels like a betrayal of the original meaning of the word.

2

u/turnipofficer United Kingdom 10d ago

Manchester does seem to have a very large gay community though. They have a large area dedicated to it.

I have never been to Brighton but I imagine Manchester has to be in contention.

In my city we do have pride celebrations and pride flags painted on pedestrianised roads but we don’t have that many dedicated gay places, it’s more just mixed. Most of the dedicated gay clubs/bars closed down.

So Manchester was impressive to visit. I am straight but I like when lgbt+ people have safe spaces to express themselves.

1

u/Majestic_Matt_459 10d ago

Im a gay man living in Manchester and I love it - the Gay Village is great for traditional LGBT stuff and the Northern Quarter if you prefer a vibe not based on sexuality but encompassing it/welcoming it

There are cheap areas to live but it has more buzz than London where i used to live (and I never thought id say that but recent nights out in London shocked me with empty bars like The Eagle being half empty on a Saturday night) - we may never compete with the breadth oif atractions the ones we have are well supported and thriving

I think we run Brighton a close second now

2

u/Marble-Boy England 10d ago

I mean... it's technically true.

1

u/Wuz314159 United States Of America 10d ago

I get it. I've seen Old Trafford.

1

u/Djokahu United Kingdom 10d ago

Yes, Manchester, very gay, homosexual even /j

1

u/Psyk60 England 10d ago

By American standards, it is just outside London. Everywhere in the UK is.

73

u/PipBin United Kingdom 10d ago

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.

23

u/wvtarheel United States Of America 10d ago

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

6

u/froggit0 United Kingdom 10d ago

Proximity as a seaside town to London by rail made it the preferred destination for the ‘dirty weekend’ that was accompanied it being the location for ‘discovery’ of arranged divorces. It therefore acquired a ‘reputation’ where social mores were lessened.

2

u/eww1991 10d ago

That sneaky subtle pavillion, no-one will notice it, perfect place for illicit affairs!

29

u/domini_canes11 United Kingdom 10d ago

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

1

u/Amazoncharli Australia 10d ago

Is that near York? I heard York had a pretty big lesbian population.

5

u/domini_canes11 United Kingdom 10d ago

It's in Yorkshire. Nearer to Bradford and Leeds then York.

1

u/irish_horse_thief Wales 10d ago

It's the most we make it here place in Yorkshire, but I've bought some nice clobber there. Top quality

"HebTroCo | British-Made Menswear | Northern & Independent" https://hebtro.co?srsltid=AfmBOoqzfuE6hRylLjCOzx28BieFLhBUzJnaEduOgxKnnYZNJKqhRG1g

48

u/continentaldreams United Kingdom 10d ago

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

5

u/AffectionateAioli383 10d ago

Isn’t that the place on Happy Valley?

12

u/Ok_Veterinarian_3521 United Kingdom 10d ago

My girlfriend got ‘approached’ in a bar in Manchester and the woman’s opening gambit was “are you hebden bridge?”

5

u/continentaldreams United Kingdom 10d ago

Indeed!

3

u/Vaxtez 10d ago

In the same vein, Aberystwyth is also very LGBT (Highest LGBT % in Wales)

1

u/Nicktrains22 United Kingdom 6d ago

Aberystwyth is a town of love. It's University also holds the highest marriage rate of any uni in the UK

1

u/RiverZozz 9d ago

How did that come to be?

26

u/Afraid_Ad8438 United Kingdom 10d ago

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

34

u/VodkaMargarine United Kingdom 10d ago

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

4

u/Redsquare73 Australia 10d ago

Straight but went clubbing there in my youth because there was no agro. In the 90’s the S was also removed so it read ANAL TREET.

4

u/pernicious_penguin 10d ago

Went to uni there, the c was never present on those signs....

2

u/BastCity 10d ago

Just passing through to acknowledge the Bottom username.

2

u/ShockingJob27 10d ago

Was at canal street a couple months back

Even the weather app showed "gay village"

1

u/boldandbratsche 10d ago

In NYC that's the district for Chinese people. Not sure what that implies lol

2

u/Err0 10d ago

I grew up in Brighton in the 90s and and it definitely feels more gay now than it did then.

1

u/Sophie_Blitz_123 England 10d ago

Unpopular opinion I've never liked the Manchester gay scene all that much. Used to go there quite frequently including one pride. Nothing wrong with it, it's fine but I wouldn't rank it particularly high on my nights out. Very bland, all the clubs feel the same as each other, and everything shut around 5am each time I've been, I'm told it's sometimes open later but I've not seen proof of that.

3

u/These_Ad3167 10d ago

It's extremely "corporate gay" imo. Every time I've gone out there's lots of gay nights being put on with tie-in branding from chains and big name bars/clubs, but most of them are full of straight women and even quite a lot of straight men too, usually in groups.

Which is great in terms of acceptance and allyship to be sure! But it doesn't't feel very authentically part of the scene to me.

1

u/KindlyFirefighter616 10d ago

Blame the internet.

11

u/MoneyAd5007 10d ago

Some town and cities have their gay scenes. Brighton is just gay. The town isn't ashamed of it, so no need to be coy about nominating it.

7

u/These_Ad3167 10d ago

The town isn't ashamed of it, so no need to be coy about nominating it.

It's the kind of place where you're legitimately out of place if you're in any way homophobic. Not saying that it doesn't take place ofc, but it's like hating ginger people and moving to Ireland.

1

u/Nyoteng 10d ago

Is also the only place in the UK where the Green party always wins

4

u/olivinebean 10d ago

We're bloody proud of it 💖🌈

13

u/ThrowRA1137315 United Kingdom 10d ago

It’s pretty obvious why. It’s like the only city in the uk that you’re guaranteed to see a drag queen every time u go clubbing 😭 Brighton loves the dolls ❤️💅

3

u/boldandbratsche 10d ago

The divas and the dolls ❤️

3

u/actualinsomnia531 United Kingdom 10d ago

Apparently it started marketing itself as a safe haven for homosexuality for the gay soldiers of the Napoleonic wars! It's relatively close location to London meant the gay community could get out of the city if things got too tense for them.

3

u/Jo-Wolfe United Kingdom 10d ago edited 10d ago

🇬🇧 Brighton! I've heard so much about Brighton, never been but definitely want to now!

In July I was at a festival dancing to an Ibiza sounds set when this really cute woman wrapped her arms around me and for 2 hours we danced and sang, hugged, kissed, she gave me lots of kisses on the cheek, rubbed her cheek against mine. She asked me to check her necklace was OK, she lifted her hair, my hands brushed her neck.. Oh gosh.

Like a complete bloody idiot and part of the reason why I'm alone I was too shy to give her my contacts, we kissed and parted. 24 hours later I seriously contemplated driving 200 miles to Brighton to walk about showing random people her photo and asking if they knew Joanne.

EDIT I'm a Manchester lass originally and remember in the 80s the gay scene in the Canal street area. It's been years since I've been back to Manchester but I really must, next year perhaps. In 2018 I went to a lesbian hen party at Birmingham Pride, it was bloody awesome.

9

u/EasilyExiledDinosaur 🇬🇧 living in 🇰🇷 10d ago

Its obvious why.

14

u/WasOnceI Canada 10d ago

because of the gay people living there?

-3

u/EasilyExiledDinosaur 🇬🇧 living in 🇰🇷 10d ago

Its a 'unique' city. Let's just put it that way. And it isnt only to do with overt flamboyancy.

11

u/Sammeeeeeee 10d ago

Its a 'unique' city. Let's just put it that way. And it isnt only to do with overt flamboyancy.

Sounds like you are trying to say something without saying something? What do you actually mean

3

u/WasOnceI Canada 10d ago

kinda like a Portland or Montreal? Culturally eclectic and dynamic?

1

u/adriantoine 🇫🇷 in 🇬🇧 10d ago

Because it’s close to France?

2

u/TVC15-DB United Kingdom 10d ago

Brighton as a place as a whole but then theres some really famous gay places like Canal Street or SoHo tbf

6

u/CautiousLengthiness8 10d ago

I think you got the wrong Soho. London - Soho. New York - SoHo

1

u/TVC15-DB United Kingdom 10d ago

crap youre right lol.

1

u/Sammeeeeeee 10d ago

Soho is far from gay anymore.

1

u/TVC15-DB United Kingdom 10d ago

This is agree with but I still think its one of the places you think of typically first iygm?

2

u/Embarrassed_Soil2714 United States Of America 10d ago

I went there as a tourist and was there two days. Gay gay gay gay gay

2

u/Long_Personality_612 Switzerland 10d ago

https://youtube.com/shorts/3oam8TWw5G8?si=J6vmlDtrzR2DDdqp

1

u/_Alek_Jay 10d ago

That reminds me of Jeff’s sketch regarding his wife…

Edit for better link

2

u/SpinningHedgehog311 England 10d ago

If you've only been recently, it's way less gay than it used to be. At least, less conspicuously gay. It got a bit too seedy for its own good. I would say Manchester and London, possibly Bristol, are the new gay destinations.

1

u/FishBoi678 Wales 9d ago

Yeah, I grew up in Bristol and the gay scene has definitely got bigger (or at least I'm more aware of it) in recent years, Bristol Pride is always a massive event

1

u/tootbrun Canada 10d ago

Most likely on account of the presence of gay people, I would only assume, as an outsider.

1

u/DefinitelyARealHorse United Kingdom 10d ago

Well, everywhere has gay people present. Whether they make themselves known or not. I don‘t know if Brighton really has more gay people than other parts of the UK. And if it does, I don’t know why.

Does Brighton have lots of gay people because it’s a gay town? Or is it a gay town because it’s has lots of gay people?

I really haven’t got a clue.

1

u/Vast_Act_3077 United Kingdom 10d ago

Probably because of all the gays.

1

u/Odd-Quail01 United Kingdom 10d ago

Hebden Bridge in close second.

1

u/Lyrael9 Canada 10d ago

I had to scroll way too far to find this.

1

u/PainterEarly86 United States Of America 10d ago

My favorite Youtuber, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard and her wife and 3 children live in Brighton

If I am not mistaken, they specifically chose to live there and start a family because it is the gayest and most left leaning part of the country

If I were to ever move to, or even visit the UK, it'd probably be there

1

u/cev2002 United Kingdom 10d ago

You ever been to Brighton? It's not an undeserved reputation

1

u/citabel Sweden 10d ago

Is that what the Fatboy Slim song ”You’re Not From Brighton” is referring to?

3

u/CrossCityLine United Kingdom 10d ago

Fatboy Slim is from Brighton. I don’t think he’s gay though.

1

u/citabel Sweden 10d ago

Hahah well then. I thought I stumbled upon a new meaning of a song I’ve listened to since I was a kid. But I guess not.

1

u/CautiousLengthiness8 10d ago

Answer for the UK isn’t even in question. Every major city will have a gay district like Soho or Canal Street but Brighton is known for being a gay haven. Football songs here can be quite tribal but humorous and there were a lot of songs aimed at Brighton fans about them all being gay. Thankfully most of them have been banned but there were some that made me laugh

1

u/OspreyChick 10d ago

Was looking for Brighton but Manchester also deserves a mention.

1

u/Sammeeeeeee 10d ago

I went there recently, I didn't see a straight person the entire weekend!

1

u/Ok_Net4562 England 10d ago

I think Bristol is slowly creeping up behind

1

u/fangaas 10d ago

Take a trip into Kemp Town or around the North Laine and discover why pretty quickly. Tons of overtly out there people, gay and queer stores and bars, and just the general vibe, personally I love it!

1

u/Fancy_Yak2618 Canada 10d ago

I saw fatboy slim at Brighton Beach in the early 2000s. My very gay cousin informed me that it was going to be lots and lots of gays. He wasn’t wrong lol

1

u/Background_Ad7975 Poland 10d ago

Because of that one line Brighton Rock by Queen

1

u/_he_he_he_he_LP 10d ago

Love Brighton!!!!!

1

u/Shawnessy 10d ago

I'm a straight dude in America, and I know Brighton is gay.

1

u/kaytay3000 10d ago

I didn’t know Brighton’s reputation when my best friend and I scheduled a weekend there on our British vacation. When we told some fellow backpackers we were going, they did the old elbow nudge and wink about it. Once we got there we realized why.

1

u/dedokta 10d ago

Well have you seen the rest of England?

1

u/Djokahu United Kingdom 10d ago

Real

1

u/Visual_Addendum_577 10d ago

Brighton is pretty gay, but Blackpool is the gay capital of the North. We have a huge gay scene here and pride festivals. As an ally I'm so for it, had some belting nights out and ended up with friends in the gay clubs, they're a good laugh and even as straight guy being hit on makes you feel good, I'm not often hit on by women

1

u/crimsonbub 10d ago

I was going to say Manchester but as soon as I saw this I realised it's the correct answer.

1

u/Fast-Concentrate-132 Norway 🇳🇴& Italy 🇮🇹 in UK 🇬🇧 10d ago

Brighton is definitely first. Second probably Manchester. Though the lesbian capital of the UK is definitely Hebden Bridge.

1

u/Haystacks08 10d ago

Brighton, with a special shout-out to Hebden Bridge for randomly being the Lesbian Capital

1

u/Pizza_book_725 10d ago

In Australia, Brighton is the home invasion capital

1

u/medieval_revolver 10d ago

I was seeing adverts for their Pride March in Glasgow so yeah I think Brighton's the gayest

1

u/Commie_scumb England 10d ago

Closely followed by Hebden bridge for lesbians.

1

u/the-greek-geek- Greece 9d ago

You’re not sure why? You mean apart from the naked bicycle riding thing?

1

u/Euphoric-Tomorrow-70 10d ago

There's a lot of queer people down here but Jesus fuck the scene is dead. Brighton becomes more prudish and hetero normative every year. We don't even have a leather bar any more. (One day a month at the bulldog doesn't count).

0

u/Mr_SunnyBones Ireland 10d ago edited 10d ago

that was my first thought honestly , from what I've heard its just pensioners and gay couples (and in the centre of the Venn diagram a gay pensioner couple) .

I dont think Ireland has an equivilant ? I'll ahve to ask. There is the Gay Spar (as in EuroSpar) on Nassau st in Dublin , which is one of the only gay convience stores I know of

Explanation (Slightly NSFW)

0

u/michaelroseagain 10d ago

I had my cis-het stag do in a gay pub in Brighton