Gay Bars and the Harassment of Gays in Metro Detroit.

Some time back, oh, my, it must've been about 20 years ago or so, I was in a gay bar in the city of Detroit. And I was having an interesting discussion with the bartender. It seems there are absolutely no gay bars outside the city limits in Detroit. I asked the bartender why, and (according to him) if they tried to open one in the suburbs, they'd get harassed out-of-town by the local police. I pressed further why, and he claims it is because Michigan is still in many ways a conservative state.

I disagree with that. Michigan is a densely populated place. And to me it seems relatively open-minded. Maybe not as liberal as San Francisco. But certainly not as bad as Georgia or Utah. Yes, the Republicans tend to dominate the political structure. But they are largely moderate, and I take great pride in that fact (although I typical vote Dem). In fact, Gerald Ford came from Michigan, as I'm sure you already know. And former-Gov. William Milliken is believed by some to be the very epitome of enlightened conservatism.

What gives? And what do the rest of you think about this?

:love::love:

 

I have too many family members in Michigan to count. We're no longer on speaking terms. They openly hate gay and black people. And consider George W. Bush a true American hero.

I'm sure there might be a large city or two that's a bit more tolerant of folks that are different. But Michigan is not a state I care to ever visit again. I'm just glad I made it out of there alive. :sunny:

QP

 

Do you think that anything has changed in the past twenty years? Do you get a sense that LGBT people are more likely to live--or be open about being LGBT--in the city as compared to the suburbs?

 

I haven't been to a gay bar in over 20 years, so I am not the best qualified to ask. Actually though, I went to a catholic high school in the 80s (graduating in 1986). And I was rather surprised even back then by how open-minded some people there. So je ne sais pas.

 

I was in a lesbian bar in SF on a saturday night back some years and the cops came in and hauled ALL the women that were dressed as men (suits, ties,etc) to jail. I doubt that happens any more. But I don't know---maybe it does.

 

It seems Detroit has had a whole world of problems over the last decade or so, an economic wasteland

Its the city that seems to pop up the most when one is reading about the GFC, sub prime fiasco, how globalisation is shifting things

When the economy turns to shit everyone gets more conservative, seems to happen everywhere.