what would you say are the top three overally cd/tgirl friendly cities? what has been your favorite bar or club or any public place that is open and frieidly to cd/tgirls? im looking on giong on a diva vacation!
what would you say are the top three overally cd/tgirl friendly cities? what has been your favorite bar or club or any public place that is open and frieidly to cd/tgirls? im looking on giong on a diva vacation!
Saugatuck Mi. pretty CD friendly. It's on Lake Michigan, just West Of Kalamazoo it's an old tourist town, with quaint shops and nice places to eat.
Try Boston MA or Massachusetts in general. Plently of TG friendly places in that area.
My favorite club would be the BLU Ultralounge in Worcester MA (also a very LGBT friendly city), since not only is it the headquarters for the SISTERS group I moderate, but it was also the very first place I went out en femme.
North Hampton MA would be my third choice, tho it's primarily a lesbian haunt, it also a TG friendly zone, that, I just like that part of the state.
Well those are the places I'm farmiliar with anyways.
Caroline Emily
Co-Moderator
SISTERS FAMILY
Gardner Chapter
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Worcester Chapter
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Seattle Washington, Las Vegas, Nevada and Houston, Texas. I'm sure there are others. I just haven't visited them yet.
...but I plan to travel again soon
Oh come on!
San Francisco is Mecca. New York has to be there. Los Angeles...a bit Hollywood.
My favourite is my hometown. Vancouver. Hands down most comfortable. Lots of shopping, the downtown stays alive after 6pm 7 days a week, and Vancouver's West End and Commercial Drive areas are fantastic for food, clubs and stores that are all LGBT friendly, a few blocks away from Stanley Park and the Seawall. Just Google it...
I lucked out...but I've got an SF trip on my to-do list.
Marissa
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"Because equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it."
--Joss Whedon, to a reporter who asked, "So why do you create these strong women characters?"
I have been out in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Seattle all three are good.
It takes a real man to wear a dress.
Las Vegas! My first outing was just the other night to a club called Flex. So friendly it made the outing a snap.
I have not been that many place but being from Houston, and a member of Tri Ess & the Houston Covergirls I can say it is a friendly and active place. Also Fort Lauderdale area once you get away fro the beach front seems to be quite accepting. Have been shopping and to the movies here with no problems.
Hugs Phyliss
1. About 10 years ago when I live in the northshore, I seem to recall a place in Haverhill, Ma. along the merrimack river called Rainbow Lounge (...obvious name, right?), they had TG nights. Only went there twice.
In Boston, ManRay back then was THE place to go then...not sure if that place exists these days either.
Providence, R.I.s lower east side seems to be plenty TG-friendly (must be the RISD effect), Plenty of goths too (...must be the H.P. Lovecraft effect), though it seems to be a bit really thick in crunchy eco-green feminist lesbian culture (must be the Brown University effect). It is a very peculiar and strange city,that on one hand, is divided by intellectuall free-spirited liberals on one side of town, and the italian mafia on the other side.
2. New Hope, Pennsylvania/Lambertville, N.J....separated by the Delaware river, near the spot where George Washington & the Continental Army took the British by suprise on that cold snowy Christmas morning.
3. I thought WeHo L.A. California was the most TG-freindly place. I seem to recall being in a place called Peanuts (somehwere off Sunset or Hollywood blvd) way back in the day, not sure if that place exists anymore...pardon me, I haven't been back to L.A. much lately.
Last edited by NathalieX66; 08-11-2009 at 11:11 PM.
New York City is way cool! DearSweetWife and I have done a couple of girl weekends there. We stayed in "normal" hotels, went to "normal" events (opera, art museums, Broadway plays), and ate at "normal" restaurants. Nobody batted an eye; nobody seemed to care.
I owe you all several stories of the escapades, and will get to it soon. It's been a killer summer for work, and I think I have been home a total of 5 weeks since the first of May. Not much jj time in there.
My favorite quick story (I'll lengthen it later) was a Sunday morning subway trip down to Washington Square Park. DSW remembers a favorite uncle taking her there years ago to watch the people playing chess. We got there to find it pretty much closed for renovation. As we strolled around Greenwich Village doing the tourist thing, we sensed a rising excitement and increased hustle and bustle. And we found ourselves smack in the middle of the Gay Pride Parade. Talk about blending in!
After a the parade passed by we took a cab uptown and got out just as the skies opened up and the rain pelted down. Yes jj walked about 4 blocks in the pouring rain, trying unsuccessfully to stay dry under a pink (breast cancer awareness) umbrella. And she learned a very valuable lesson about the difference between girl shoes and boy shoes - girl shoes are worse than useless in the rain. We spent a couple of hours in MOMA trying to dry off in the chilling air conditioning, wet clothes clinging in somewhat provocative fashion.
And not one person said anything mean or embarrassing. Or cared that I used the ladies' room when needed.
Guy-me has to spend the next couple of weeks in the SF Bay area, and is debating bringing jj along. I normally don't go out without DSW, but the idea is intriguing....
BTW, I invited DSW out to SF for at least part of the time, but she can't get off work. We are planning a long weekend in the LA area after guy-me works a trade show third week of September. We haven't discussed jj on that trip yet.
I'll write more on the NYC escapades as I get time - there probably won't be much between now and October.
-jj
Amazingly enough I've found Dallas to be fairly friendly. I've been most everywhere dressed - to the movies, concerts, malls, clothing stores, electronics stores, walmart, you name it, and I've never had any problems. Granted, I do make a point to not go places I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be welcome. I'm sure if I tried going to say, the rodeo in Fort Worth, I'd probably get shot. There are some parts of Dallas I avoid. But many of them I'd avoid dressed or not. Despite its reputation, not all of Texas is full of bible thumping redneck cowboys.
There are some pretty good clubs here too. The whole Cedar Springs strip has some great places, especially Sue Ellens and Station 4. And there's a great goth/industrial scene at The Church in the Lizard Lounge.
Unfortunately I haven't gotten to travel yet dressed, so I can't give much info outside of Dallas. But one of these days I'm going to take a Vegas vacation entirely dressed, flight and all.
Brum's very good. London is a melting pot and thus very cosmopolitan. Harrogate, despite it's rather old-fashioned reputation (and the fact it's not a city), is very good too.
Best Wishes
Paula
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New Hope, Pa, NY, and I was just in Denver and went shopping at the 16th st shopping area, we spent the whole day there without any problems or difficulties, also the hotel was cool as were all of the restaurants we went to.
Not sure what the Top Three would be But San Antonio,Tx rates just under Pond Scum as far as being TG/CD friendly.Cant even get a make-over in this city.
Kimmy 55
One reason I don't live there anymore, it's my hometown and I have folks there, but I only come to visit once in awhile. However, I have been out a couple of times to a gay bar...I think it may be the only one, though.
Hugs...Joni Mari
"Because equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it."
--Joss Whedon, to a reporter who asked, "So why do you create these strong women characters?"
Hi Dana,
Amazingly enough there are actually some really friendly cities in Texas. You wouldn't think so since we are in the heart of the Bible Belt and carry guns everywhere we go.
Here is the list based on MY experience (which I will admit is short):
1. Houston - The Montrose section of Houston has a ton of friendly bars, restaurants and clubs. My recommendations would be Mo Mong's for dinner, South Beach, Blur for dancing/drinking, Cozy Corner, Michael's Outpost, JR's, Meteor for just drinking. You can litterly park your car in one spot and walk to most of these places and never feel like you don't fit in.
2. Dallas - The Cedar Spring area, sometimes called The Village, has a ton of great restaurants, clubs and bars all in about a 1 block area. I would recommend Hung Dingers, The Bronx for dinner, S4 and Sue Ellen's for dancing and drinks or JR's for drinks only. There is also a TG bar called Illusions and the Rose Room has the best drag shows I have ever seen. It has probably 200-300 people that watch shows there on Friday and Saturday nights. It in S4 in the upstairs area. Hung Dingers also does "dinner drag shows" where you can watch a show and eat/drink at the same time.
3. Austin - Austin doesn't have a "gayborhood" like Dallas and Houston but it does have alot of great clubs and bars. I haven't found any really friendly restaurants there...I'm sure there are some. I would recommend Bout Time for some dancing (very small dance floor) and drinking...a lot of TGs hang out there. It is a more mature crowd. I would also recommend Charlie's. It has a great dance floor, drinks but it is a slightly younger crowd. If you go there look for Arnie the bartender and tell him you are a friend of "Allie from Dallas". He'll treat you right.
4. San Antonio - San Antonio has a good gay area of town. There are 3 or 4 restaurants in the area that are all friendly. They have a great bar/club called The Saint. It has a great dance floor and good drag shows too. There is also an 80's bar right next door called HEAT.
I prefer to go to areas that are the "gay section" of town because they are a lot more accepting. I've never had any problems at any of these places and they are all frenquented by girls like us.
I hope this helps.
Kisses,
Allie
Hi Allie-
That's good to hear about San Antonio. Next time I'm down there to visit my folks I'll check it out. It only takes me about a day to get my accent back.<lol>
Hugs...Joni Mari
"Because equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it."
--Joss Whedon, to a reporter who asked, "So why do you create these strong women characters?"
I used to live in Austin and it was great for going out. Austin is very progressive. Walking down 6th street and listening to live music is the best.
My favorite places to go out dressed so far are:
Orlando: great TG/CD friendly city and if there's not enough happening stuff there then Tampa is not too far way either. I got fitted for a wig in Orlando in this really great TG shop caled Ritzy Rags. If you're in Orlando - it's a must see.
Portland (Oregon): Lots of cool TG/CD friendly places there too.
San Francisco: Oh my. There are soooo many places there and in general, the people I've met there are like those in Portland... reeeally nice.
Vancouver, BC: Great city to go out dressed in too. And hey the wonderful folks at the Breastform store are not too far away either. Go get fitted for a bra and forms!
Of special note: Seattle - though I had a bad experience there the last time I was in town, up until that point I was having a great time. I'm going back to conquer the city next time.
Michelle
I must second (or third, if we count Michelle's post below) the recommendation of Vancouver. (When speaking on a group this large, there is only one Vancouver, imho.) I love it there, but then I an "out-of-the-closet" Canadaphile (my own word).
Parts of Toronto are also quite nice (see Canadaphile comment above), particularly the Annex, to the northwest of the University.
I am surprised that we have not yet heard an endorsement of Manchester (UK, not NH). Obviously, this is home to Sparkle, so it has quite a bit of acceptance. Canal Street is just lovely. Do not let their 19th Century reputation for grime and poverty spoil your image of this city. (Also, only let London snobs tell you horror stories about Manchester if they buy the pints.)
Surprisingly, I would be tempted to add Washington, DC. This is a very uptight town (as you might expect), but there is a big GLBT/LGBT (take your pick) community in the DuPont Circle area east to about Logan Circle. (Look at the map and this will be clear.) The last Tuesday before Halloween sees 17th Street, NW closed for several blocks for the High Heel Race, where you can be as out and over-the-top as you want to be.
The benefit of being near the U.S. federal government is that they do not allow themselves to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, leading to a vibrant queer community (in all the great senses of that term).
Toronto, Ontario, Canada is pretty CD friendly. Church St in the downtown area has a lot of CD/TG friendly bars on and around it.
Laughter is LIFE
LIFE - What a ride!!!!
I've been to Vancouver once. It was really cool. Only problem it was in the winter and I think it was 20 below zero or something. Silly me I didn't even pack a coat because it was 70 in Dallas when I left.
The one positive of the cold is the shrinkage factor. It makes it a lot easier to tuck. )
Kisses,
Allie
ROTFLMAO! Gawd, Allie!
Hugs...Joni Mari
"Because equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it."
--Joss Whedon, to a reporter who asked, "So why do you create these strong women characters?"
"Because equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it."
--Joss Whedon, to a reporter who asked, "So why do you create these strong women characters?"
They way folks from the South experience 'cold' is waaay more funny than the way Northerners experience 'heat'. I will take cold any day. The clothing options are much better (masculine or feminine), and I can always put on enough to be warm, but I cannot ever take off enough to be cool.
Southerners... ;-) Heck, you probably thought 70 was downright chilly, when you left Texas!