In an effort to raise the profile of some lesser-known gay communities across America, The Advocate has bumped some of the more prominent "gayest cities" in favor of some surprises.
San Francisco, West Hollywood, Provincetown and Northampton, Mass., were de-listed in the third annual "Gayest Cities in America" list. The publication that addresses gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender audiences and messages went looking for "the per capita queerness of some less expected locales."
And how about that number one spot?
1) Salt Lake City
2) Orlando
3) Cambridge, Mass.
4) Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Local
5) Seattle
6) Ann Arbor, Mich.
7) St Paul and Minneapolis
8) Knoxville, Tenn.
9) Atlanta
10) Grand Rapids, Mich.
11) Little Rock, Ark.
12) Portland, Ore.
13) Austin, Texas
14) Long Beach, Calif.
15) Denver
The tongue-in-cheek article has plenty of people outed with rage and consternation. Blogs are alight with criticism and comments.
Thus, the list has done what it set out to do: raise awareness that gay communities are not limited to the time-worn communities audiences consistently hear about, but thriving gay communities can and will happen anywhere. (For example, our friends at SFist.com's headline: "Once Again, 'The Advocate' Tries to Tell World that Minneapolis, Salt Lake City Are Gayer than S.F."
USA Today quotes Stan Penfold, a gay city councilman from Salt Lake City: "Nationally, people just can't imagine that we're an LGBT friendly community, and I think this really breaks that stereotype of what people think Salt Lake is like."
And Denver, too, for that matter...
