The Advocate has compiled
its fourth annual list of the “Gayest Cities in America.” Outside of fabulous
soirees and mimosa brunches, there is much more to LGBT life in America. This
year the totally accurate (albeit totally subjective and constantly changing)
criteria for a great gay city included two of the biggest legislative and
political developments for LGBTs: marriage equality votes in four states and
the election that swept a ton of queers into high office, including seven
members of Congress.
“Although we shake up the criteria each year—a mix
of more predictable, well-reasoned, and off-the-wall—we never know which cities
will make the list until we start tallying the points,” says Matthew Breen,
editor in chief of The Advocate. “So it’s a nice surprise to us
as well when an unexpected place delivers more gay cred than we expected. But
the dialogue this list sparks is the ultimate goal.”
Once again, The Advocate has created a diverse
and surprising list of the metropolitan areas that are home to a bevy of LGBTs.
In addition to marriage equality and LGBT elected officials The
Advocate’s equation for selecting the “Gayest Cities in America” took
into account numerous factors—such as transgender protections, bisexual
resource groups, the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index 100s. Those
factors were each assigned a point value, the points were tallied, and the raw
scores were divided by the population (population of greater than 150,000
required) to calculate each city’s per capita homosexuality.
