GREAT CITIES FOR LGBTQ FOLKS IN NEW MEXICO |

Contents:

• GAY ALBUQUERQUE: AN ECLECTIC, DIVERSE, AND SUNNY SOUTHWTERN CY
• NEW ENGLAND GAY WEEKEND GETAWAYS - BT WEEKEND TRIPS OM BOSTON
• UNR THE ‘GAYDAR’: 10 BT GAYTN DTATNS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU
• GAY PARKS NEAR ME
• AFFORDABLE GAY VATN TOWNS
• THE GAY-FRIENDLY CI HAVE LOTS TO OFFER LGBTQ BUYERS—INCLUDG AFFORDABLE HOM
• GAY NOUVELLE-AQUAE

GAY ALBUQUERQUE: AN ECLECTIC, DIVERSE, AND SUNNY SOUTHWTERN CY

Its missn is to strengthen and affirm the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, tersex, and queer/qutng muny by offerg tn, outreach and advocy through productn of qualy events, cludg paras, lectur, gathergs, a yearly ndlelight vigil, and more. Loted the LGBTQ-iendly Hotel Albuquerque the Old Town neighborhood, QBar Lounge is a gay-iendly, upsle club and bar which offers a number of activi cludg Lat dancg class, a media room, a piano lounge, and a billiards room.

“Until [the lg], you uld be fired for beg LGBT, ” says Jeff Berger, founr and print of the Natnal Associatn of Gay & Lbian Real Estate Profsnals.

NEW ENGLAND GAY WEEKEND GETAWAYS - BT WEEKEND TRIPS OM BOSTON

Ls than half of LGBTQ adults, 49%, were homeowners, pared wh almost two-thirds, 65%, of LGBTQ folks who do buy hom prrize livg fun, safe muni wh lots of other gay rints where they’re ls likely to be harassed.

“They n have a level of fort [ the plac] bee other people have charted the waters, ” says fd the gayt towns Ameri, the ® team of data analysts looked at five-year U.

The list was limed to towns wh at least 1, 700 hoeholds wh a marg of error unr many big ci like San Francis and New York have long been renowned for their thrivg gay culture, they’re jt so big that the number of same-sex upl ma up a smaller percentage of their total populatns.

UNR THE ‘GAYDAR’: 10 BT GAYTN DTATNS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU

Wilton Manors, FLMedian home list price: $449, 000*No, isn’t nearly as renowned as some of the other gay mecs on this list, but don’t let that fool you. Popular extravaganzas clu Bear Week, Womxn of Color Weekend, and the nearly 50-year-old trans celebratn Fantasia will pay arly to live this world-famo gay mec. The five-day ftival each September attracts big-name performers, cludg Lizzo, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga, as well as thoands of LGBTQ-iendly sert town, two hours east of Los Angel, happens to also be a gay oasis the other 359 days a year.

Sheridan rints are still close enough to Denver’s gay bars and pri ftival, which has an timated attendance of more than a half-ln only downsi: There isn’t a ton of listgs the smaller town of Sheridan. While don’t have s own LGBTQ center or annual ftival, the quiet astal town neighbors Rehoboth Beach, DE, which has both—along wh dozens of gay bars and the whole area has bee a top East Coast LGBTQ vatn statn, many folks who want to stay year-round prefer the lmer vibe, natural scenery, and better als hunters n sre this three-bedroom townhome wh a pool and fns center the muny for $394, 900.

GAY PARKS NEAR ME

Known for s lively mic, bar, and rtrant scene, the town is also typilly home to the Garn State’s annual gay pri about 90 mut om New York Cy, Asbury Park is hoppg durg the summer. Bloomgton, INMedian home list price: $379, 050Most folks are probably more likely to associate Indiana wh s nservative former ernor turned vice print, Mike Pence, than s thrivg gay culture. The cy also received a perfect, 100-pot sre on the Human Rights Commissn’s Municipal Equaly Inx for five straight progrsive small town has a rich theater and mic muny, an annual pri ft, and LGBTQ+ muny center, and is home to the groundbreakg Ksey Instute for Rearch Sex, Genr, and lookg for a gay-iendly, Midwtern muny n sop up a remoled four-bedroom townhome for jt $117, 000.

It turns out Brattleboro, about two hours northwt of Boston, is also a low-key gay mec the heart of ski ultraprogrsive cy is home to an LGBTQ center dited to the ral rints of northern New England, an annual LGBTQ film ftival, and equent men’s gathergs, workshops, and bt part may be the cy’s relatively expensive real tate. The progrsive cy has such a large, active LGBTQ muny that hosts two major pri events: Atlanta Pri and Atlanta Black cy’s reputatn as the “Hollywood of the South” has attracted gay people om other nearby, more nservative towns and stat. ”The heart of the gay muny, where all the bt LGBTQ bars are loted, is midtown, around the tersectn of Piedmont Avenue NE and 10th Street NE.

AFFORDABLE GAY VATN TOWNS

Polilly progrsive Boston is not only the pal of the first state that legalized gay marriage, 's also wh a three-hour drive of untls gay-iendly rorts and vatn statns, om the soarg mountatops of Vermont and New Hampshire to the charmg astal hamlets of and Rho Island - and don't fet other ol getaways elsewhere Massachetts, om the Cape to the Berkshir. But the rt of the Cape is que charmg and pletely gay-iendly, as are the two famo islands accsed by ferry or plane om the Cape, Nantucket and Martha's Veyard. A center of tn, the arts, and progrsive polics central-wtern Massachetts, btlg and relatively affordable Northampton anchors the leafy Pneer Valley, which extends om Connecticut to the state's tri-borr wh Vermont and New Hampshire and tak a seri of lovely towns (Greenfield, Deerfield, Amherst) and one hardscrabble cy wh some excellent mms and a b of gay nightlife, Sprgfield.

THE GAY-FRIENDLY CI HAVE LOTS TO OFFER LGBTQ BUYERS—INCLUDG AFFORDABLE HOM

Ltle Ogunqu is a sled-down, mellower alternative to Provcetown, wh que a few gay-owned B&Bs, rtrants, and bars, as well as a betiful beachont. Jt 35 north, Portland has a stellar food scene for a cy self, and a charmg Old Port district wh several notable galleri and boutiqu, and the gay-popular historic Wt End. Province is an important center of tn (home to Brown Universy, Rho Island School of Dign, and Johnson & Wal Universy among others), and this part acunts for the sizable, and visible, gay populatn.

Although s at the allurgly remote tip of Cape Cod, the world-famo gay rort town of Provcetown is relatively easy to reach om Boston, eher by r year-round or via high-speed ferry om sprg through fall.

This historic fishg village (the Pilgrims stopped here 1620) veloped a Bohemian followg as a lony of artists and theater buffs toward the end of the 19th century and has been a favore statn among lbians and gays ever sce. The beach of nearby Cape Cod Natnal Seashore are among the least spoiled the Northeast, and lively Commercial Street abounds wh galleri, gay bars, fe rtrants, and gay-owned gut ho. This largely ral, environmentally nsc state was the first the untry to pass gay civil unn legislatn (full gay marriage rights has sce followed), and GLBT travelers will enunter warm hospaly throughout the regn.

GAY NOUVELLE-AQUAE

Ci like Richmond and Columb may not register on your gaydar like San Francis and NYC, but that don’t mean they don’t have plenty to offer gay travelers. ’Outsirs may thk of the old Conferate pal as a cy stuck s ways, but ltle do they know that Richmond, Virgia is anythg “g out” 2014, Richmond has emerged as the gay pal of the South. 4 percent of the cy’s populatn intifi as LGBT), the New England pal has bee a haven for East Coast gays lookg for somewhere tamer and quater than Boston and NYC.

The Milwkee Gay Arts Center offers one-of-a-kd LGBTQ productns, and Walker’s Pot is settg self up to be the next big most renowned “gay statns, ” Santa Fe, New Mexi don’t have a go-to district like L.