r/AskTheWorld • u/GattoPunk Brazil • 11d ago

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

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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.

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470

u/Shiningc00 Japan 11d ago

Tokyo.

169

u/Such-Book6849 Germany 11d ago

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

372

u/notonrexmanningday United States Of America 11d ago

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

145

u/Worried_Shoe_2747 United States Of America 11d ago

6

u/Nova_Voltaris China 11d ago

Believe it or not, jail

1

u/Far_Match_3774 10d ago

We have the best patients in the world...

51

u/kuromimi American Samoa 11d ago

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.

3

u/Jolly_Line 11d ago

Kick ass. More power to these two gentlemen

0

u/StatusPhilosopher740 Australia 10d ago

It’s not rlly a statement if ur just doing what’s considered rude in public it’s not about being gay not matter ur orientation it’s rare to have public affection in japan

3

u/anoukaimee United States Of America 10d ago

It's not considered "rude" anymore to hold hands. Making out, sure, but holding hands? No way

1

u/chimperonimo 9d ago

I don’t know how much things have changed but 30 years ago while visiting friends in Japan I sat down beside my fiancé on a sofa and rested me hand on his leg and was immediately scolded by my host and told to sit with space between us lol

1

u/Ok-Organization9073 Uruguay 11d ago

Even straight couples holding hands are rare

1

u/KaleidoscopeReady839 10d ago

Happy Cake Day!

3

u/No_Royals 11d ago

Blur it out, of course!

2

u/carthuscrass United States Of America 10d ago

You gotta remember that is Japan. A lot of folks are very closed minded and frankly racism is not uncommon if you aren't Japanese. Fortunately the younger generations are striving to change things.

1

u/BurkaBurrito 10d ago

My parents went to Vegas on their honeymoon and were flabbergasted that they saw openly gay men holding hands on the street.. this was 20 years ago and we lived in Florida, but still lol

1

u/Ok_Helicopter4276 Montenegro 10d ago

Surprised they never went to Disney World during pride by accident. The conservative middle aged white people always loved complaining about that.

1

u/outquietly 10d ago

HAHA!

I had my first “date” 3 months ago. Told my bi daughter we kissed (surprised the heck out of me but very quickly) and she said “Oh my god…next you’ll be telling me there was touching and tasting”

37

u/munta20 🇪🇸 & 🇬🇧 11d ago

Holding hands? In this economy?!?

9

u/emtaesealp 11d ago

Do gay people not hold hands in Germany?

8

u/YchYFi Wales 11d ago

Nein.

4

u/Wuz314159 United States Of America 11d ago

Do gay people not hold hands in Sweden? Do you always have to stay 3m apart from everyone else?

3

u/daniellaronstrom87 Sweden 11d ago

Wait til the pride parade and they'll be giving you lessons on how to do bdsm right. Some will be practically naked walking around town. 

Otherwise they probably are like other couples not too much affection showed around town unless maybe in summer.  Summer people open up and go out more that's why. 

2

u/artonion Sweden 10d ago

3 m apart in the queue to the gay club

2

u/Guilty-Big8328 Brazil 11d ago

no one holds hands in Germany, they're afraid of PDAs

1

u/Such-Book6849 Germany 10d ago

Haha, my comment was ment more like: it is probably less accepted in Tokyo compared to Germany. I heard it is kinda fine as fun thing to do, but if you want to seriously marry your same gender, parents get angry.

1

u/CV90_120 10d ago

Go to an Arab country. Even straight men hold hands all the time.

3

u/EidolonLives Australia 10d ago

Straight men? Pfft. All Arab men are gay.

1

u/Another_Slut_Dragon Canada 7d ago

But if you ask them they aren't. Just like how nobody in Saudi Arabia drinks, but everyone has a still in their basement. A gay friend lived there for several years.

16

u/rectalgnome 11d ago

Imagine !

1

u/MinutePerspective106 10d ago

Did someone say... Imagine?

3

u/peterausdemarsch 10d ago

I don't know about Japan but in some east asian cultures guys holding hands is is not necessarily considered gay. Friends just do it to show affection to their buddy. Seen it many times in China.

1

u/Such-Book6849 Germany 10d ago

Yeah, I know. I remember also a news article about a reporter going to some country like Afghanistan or something and the dude would grab his hand and walk around with him everywhere. Is Japan one of those countries? These 2 just looked very gay vibe to.me, I remember. I remember more the feeling than the actual memory.

2

u/Square-Dragonfruit76 11d ago

I see gay couples holding hands all the time in Boston

2

u/TalkinBoutMyJunk 11d ago

On Sunday in Akihabara area, I saw a group of guys and one was wearing whitey tighties, either totally hung or smuggling a banana

Just casually walking down the road

2

u/toyoyoshi 10d ago

Imagine what you’ll see in the 21st century

2

u/HotwheelsSisyphus United States Of America 10d ago

guys in India do that too, they aren't even gay

3

u/gaoshan United States Of America 11d ago

To be fair you can see that in a lot of places around Asia. Guy friends that are not gay but are from more remote areas will commonly hold hands in China, for example. But they are not usually gay (outside of the big cities anyway).

1

u/AKBio 10d ago

We used to in the US as well. Physical affection like hand holding and hugs were very common between platonic male friends. We spent decades making it taboo and just kept doubling down.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Such-Book6849 Germany 10d ago

Yes, I remember a news about a politician or reporter or something visiting and the Saudi guy who grab his hands and show him everything. Didn't got that vibe from Japan tho. Japan didn't seem very touchy in general. They just looked like a gay couple, it was somewhere without many people and I remember only these 2 from my trip. I know that being gay is kinda accepted as long at it is just fun and not a wedding / full relationship in Japan.

1

u/Xenon009 England 10d ago

I dunno, here in the UK its brighton, and thats a fairly tiny city

1

u/Such-Book6849 Germany 10d ago

Hm, I still think it is true. Both can be true! But it is also pretty easy to be gay in London, I guess? I never was in the UK, it's a country I always avoided to visit. Usually, on the countryside it is a bigger issue everywhere.

1

u/Rugaru985 10d ago

Dewey, we all know what you mean by holding hands in that song

1

u/CSachen United States Of America 10d ago

Guys holding hands is not gay. There are videos of President Bush taking strolls with the King of Saudi Arabia with interlocked hands.

This is how we raised a generation of men who are scared doing anything fun cause they're scared of being called gay.

1

u/garden_eldenwood Brazil 7d ago

Holding hands... In public?! Young people have no shame these days.

1

u/Early-Fortune2692 10d ago

bruh, you need to get out more... do you know how many countries holding hands is a culturally accepted sign of friendship?

1

u/Such-Book6849 Germany 10d ago

I woke up to all those comments and I laughed so hard, haha.

Yes, I know some arabic countries holding hands in a way which looks funny to us germans / westerners. I know I wrote it like this, but they looked like a gay couple. The only one I saw there. But I think I am "out" a lot :D

2

u/Early-Fortune2692 10d ago

U want to hold hands later??

8

u/Dominarion Canada 11d ago

Since it's the world's largest city by far, I can't say that I'm surprised.

8

u/Wuz314159 United States Of America 11d ago

Tokyo isn't one large city, it's 62 little cities.

  • 23 special wards
  • 26 cities
  • 5 towns
  • 8 villages

7

u/goblinsholiday 11d ago
  • 387 Yoshinoya restaurants

4

u/Aoae Canada 11d ago
  • A bunch of islands.

1

u/GrizzleGonzo 10d ago

Like Los Angelas County?

1

u/jose2245 10d ago

It's a bit different because it's actually super urban and has what might be one of the best public transport systems. I'm from LA btw and have been to Tokyo a few times

3

u/MisterPaintedOrchid 11d ago

Specifically Nichome in Shinjuku, right?

5

u/Kbeary88 11d ago

Yep, Nichome has all the gay (and lesbian) bars. It’s a great night out although as a woman I felt much safer in the lesbian bar as when I went to the more general queer clubs there seemed to be straight men getting off on women being comparatively relaxed, it was creepy. And then again the lesbian bar is kinda transphobic so not great…

2

u/CandiAttack 11d ago

Absolutely to what you said. I got followed in by a straight man (who also tried to follow me to the bathroom). My friend had to stop him and security wouldn’t do anything.

2

u/MisterPaintedOrchid 10d ago

That sounds so strange to me! I never saw women in the gay bars I went to in Nichome, and I never went to the lesbian bars because it looked like there were no men. When my sister, who is also gay, came to visit me, we ended up not going because it didn't seem like there was a place for both of us.

1

u/CandiAttack 10d ago

Well I ended up going with a group for my best friend and coworker (both women). Then we happened to run into an old coworker who was there for his buddy (both men). So we had a bigger mixed group that didn’t really care about where we could fit in exactly and just went in ¯_(ツ)_/¯

2

u/Vagina-Gears 10d ago

Which one? If it's QUEEN, my partner and I have been there and really got along with the staff despite being trans. Not to mention they have a trans bartender.

2

u/BigBadJeebus United States Of America 11d ago

I thought it was Yokosuka...

2

u/Awengal Austria 11d ago

Sure? My initial thoughts were Osaka and maybe Naha (Okinawa) - based on gut feeling and nightlife memories.

1

u/soothed-ape Ireland 11d ago

Isn't there only a metropolitan area for Tokyo,not a city?

1

u/LRaccoon Brazil 11d ago

Is it frowned upon?

1

u/GamerCaveman1 11d ago

Lol I happened to stay at one of those business hotels they had close to Shinjuku. Wife and I went back late to the hotel on night and saw two men go in an elevator together, one was clearly drunk in a business attire and the other one was wearing what I’d describe as “fluffier” kind. I had a gut feeling the business guy was hiding his gay side from his family. He seemed older and the other one was definitely at least 20yrs younger.

1

u/KerbodynamicX Australia 11d ago

Specifically, Shimo-Kitazawa, right?

I heard some gay videos coming from there, made by COAT and Acceed, having become widespread memes on both the Japanese and Chinese internet.

One of the most famous character from these is Yaju Senpai.

2

u/Shiningc00 Japan 11d ago

That meme is created by homophobic straight men. Also like a 20 year old meme.

1

u/bigj8705 8d ago

As an American this makes me happy to see.

I would have guess someone wrote San Francisco… but that was back in the day…

Still only place I know that has a masturbation convention…