The Worst City for Crossdressers

[Vanessa Storrs]

There is a thread for the best cities and almost every American city (with the exception of Detroit) is mentioned. In most cities there are neighborhoods that should be avoided but are there any cities we should not enter?

[AllieSF]

I can't speak for Detroit proper, except for a day at the Detroit Institute of Arts a few years ago with Gina from this site. We had a great time and one of the guards even pointed out the Lady's restroom for me. I have been to two bar/clubs in the nearby cities, the Rainbow Room and Gigi's and they were both super friendly and fun. I also had dinner a couple of times in Ferndale and Royal Oak, one with Tracy Schapes from this site. So, I don't think that Detroit is anywhere near the bottom of the list for toleration and acceptance. It might not be an overall safe city on the national scale, but you can still go out at night and have fun.

I really believe that a lot of our opinions regarding best or worst should also be associated with how much each of us opinionators actually go out. Those that go out very little, may find fault and fear in a lot of places that those who go out a lot in the same area see no problems at all. As you may guess, I do not dislike Detroit and have some happy roots back in the metropolitan area. Having traveled a lot and visited many supposedly boring non-interesting places, I have found beauty and something of interest wherever I have been. Maybe it is because the glass is always more than half full for me.

[NathalieX66]

Gatlinburg Tennessee? in mid-July?.....just wondering. because that's the place Johnny Cash mentioned in in his song A Boy Named Sue.

[WsprsOnTheWind]

Gatlinburg Tennessee? in mid-July?.....just wondering. because that's the place Johnny Cash mentioned in in his song A Boy Named Sue.

Well, being as it is in the south it probably wouldn't be a good idea. It's a great city to visit...but July is too humid here and it's miserable.

[NathalieX66]

Well, being as it is in the south it probably wouldn't be a good idea. It's a great city to visit...but July is too humid here and it's miserable.

Peace & love to you....I love the south. Awesome people/awesome towns......just wish they'd think on their own, and give up the Bible for a while, especially the first half.

[JamieRog]

I think the Queen city needs more Queens and less NASCAR...

[Sammy777]

Camden, New Jersey :lol2:
It should be avoided at all cost - CD'er or not :)

2nd place award goes to:
Keansburg, New Jersey
Once voted/described as "Hell on earth"

[Daphne Renee]

Gatlinburg Tennessee? in mid-July?.....just wondering. because that's the place Johnny Cash mentioned in in his song A Boy Named Sue.

Gatlinburg is not so bad.. You see thats one of the cities in the south thats econonmy really depends on tourism. Now in July there will be lots of people in this city.. Gatlinburg is minutes away from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I have never been there enfemme .. I am guessing though unless you really stand out you would just be considered another tourist.

[PretzelGirl]

Gatlinburg Tennessee? in mid-July?.....just wondering. because that's the place Johnny Cash mentioned in in his song A Boy Named Sue.

I have been there and didn't have a problem. :heehee:

I don't know. My attitude is that there isn't a bad place to go unless it just is generally a bad place for others anyway.

[Daphne Renee]

I dont know which cities would be the worst.. I would avoid any small towns in the south.. The bigger cities would probably be ok.

[DebbieL]

Houston TX - Judges are GLBT hostile, many cowboys, truckers, oil workers.

Colorado Springs Colorado - home of Focus on the Family - they've closed down all of the bars that might be accepting.

Zarapath NJ - KKK, Hub for Family Radio Network & Zarapath Christian College - very small town.

Kerhonkson NY - KKK, Right wing - can be even hostile to TGs

Sturgis during Biker Week - Many bikers are homophobic and easily triggered by cross-dressers.

Macon County Georgia - Atlanta is great, but Macon is still pretty right wing.

Most of Mississippi

Jefferson City MO - State Capital in the middle of the state - no GLBT friendly places, small downtown - drive to Columbia instead.

Most of Wyoming - except Cheyenne and Casper - many cowboys and ranchers with a habit of fighting and homophobia.
Matthew Sheppard - and he wasn't wearing a dress.

Aurora Colorado - especially along Colfax Avenue - Stay within Denver City Limits.


Glendale Colorado - a little wart in the middle of Denver -

What makes most of these places dangerous is a culture of
lots of booze, drugs, and stripper bars to produce drunk, violent, and sexually frustrated men
- with a self-selected culture of homophobia.

In addition, several of these cities have police with a reputation for "agressive resolution"
Several also have courts and politics that gives gay-bashers and homophobes a slap on the wrist for even extreme violence.


Salt Lake City - especially around the Temple area and especially after the Lakers have Lost.
- This area is very well patrolled, and cross-dressers who get read or clocked could end up victims of religious people AND the police.
At best, you will be made to feel unwelcome.

[DebbieL]

I hope this doesn't get censored because it's "too political" - however, in some of these places, showing up in a dress could be a life-or-death experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unlawfully_killed_transgender_people

http://www.advocate.com/News/News_Features/In_Memoriam_2011s_Transgender_Murder_Victims/

http://www.transgenderdor.org/?page_id=1663

http://planetransgender.blogspot.com/2011/06/houston-pd-release-transgender.html

Internationally - most Muslim Countries have the death penalty for transgendered and homosexual men.
- In some countries - castration is an another option.

[WsprsOnTheWind]

Peace & love to you....I love the south. Awesome people/awesome towns......just wish they'd think on their own, and give up the Bible for a while, especially the first half.


I think it would be okay to keep the Bible if they would just use it the right way and not as a weapon.

[PretzelGirl]

Salt Lake City - especially around the Temple area and especially after the Lakers have Lost.
- This area is very well patrolled, and cross-dressers who get read or clocked could end up victims of religious people AND the police.
At best, you will be made to feel unwelcome.

Never a problem and the people I talk with make me feel welcome. Heck, the pride parade and festival are held near the main temple!

[dragdoll]

Orlando isn't very CD-friendly

[NathalieX66]

Camden, New Jersey :lol2:
It should be avoided at all cost - CD'er or not :)

2nd place award goes to:
Keansburg, New Jersey
Once voted/described as "Hell on earth"

NJ towns have their socio economic issues, no doubt. I don't want to get political here, but the towns I have enjoyed being me, as my avatar suggests, is short list: Morristown, Hackensack, Paramus, Asbury Park, Red Bank, Wayne, Bordentown, & Toms River . Nobody assaulted me yet, nobody even so much as stared, or made degrading insults. I go out as me: I wear high heel boots, I wear dresses. that's the short list. So far so good.

[Krististeph]

Any small town (5000 or so or less) in Wisconsin, especially during deer season, and especially if the packers are doing well. I lived there for a few years, pass through WI regularly, and had clients in a dozen smaller places throughout WI. Not necessarily bad, but not welcoming, and not predictable.

[Daenna Paz]

[QUOTE=DebbieL;2741209]Colorado Springs Colorado - home of Focus on the Family - they've closed down all of the bars that might be accepting.

Actually, not so ... there are several clubs and a few bars that are doing quite well! ;^)

[jsunic_1978]

I think most big cities are not a problem. Defiantly the suburbs are to be avoided! I do what I want anyway. I don't go into straight bars, that's for sure! I did once. People just disowned me, oh well.

[sterling12]

Do we have to confine this to The United States? I was thinking most towns in Iran and Saudi Arabia would not be ideal for The Transgendered. BUT, if you wore a Burcka, who would know?

Peace and Love, Joanie

[Sammy777]

NJ towns I have enjoyed being me, as my avatar suggests, is short list: Morristown, Hackensack, Paramus, Asbury Park, Red Bank, Wayne, Bordentown, & Toms River .

Yes, I am quite familiar with a few of those towns being from OC.

[vivianann]

Salt Lake City - especially around the Temple area and especially after the Lakers have Lost.
- This area is very well patrolled, and cross-dressers who get read or clocked could end up victims of religious people AND the police.
At best, you will be made to feel unwelcome.[/QUOTE]

I totaly disagree, I have been all over the downtown area of SLC. I have walked through the temple grounds enfemme and no one gave me any problems, as long as you dont do something stupid the security there and the SLC police dont care how you are dressed. If you are dressing, and acting appropriate you should not have any problem. I have been treated very well by the peaple there in Salt Lake City, and the surrounding suburbs.

BTW. Its the Jazz basketball team there in SLC, not the Lakers.

[Ava Tryptyk]

As for the United States and other countries where there are no laws explicitly forbidding crossdressing, I think that big cities are fairly safe. Larger cities tend to have a greater diversity of people - race, ethnicity, social background, religion, sexual orientation, etc. When you see a wide spectrum of people every day, a crossdresser isn't that unusual. Being in well-lit areas during the day where there are police officers and security guards constantly patrolling the area is a good way to stay safe.

In my opinion, the worst places (aside from countries where it's illegal) are isolated villages and towns far from major cities where people simply are not knowledgeable about crossdressing. The people there may have never seen a real crossdresser, but they have been exposed to ideas about homosexuality that it's a sin, a devilish thing, etc, and likely will associate crossdressing with homosexuality. It's not all their fault, it's just an effect of being in an environment where they are less exposed to. But still, one should be careful crossdressing in these isolated areas. The same goes for dark alleys at nighttime in larger cities, but I think that those kinds of places are unsafe for everyone, crossdresser or not.

[divamissz]

Houston TX - Judges are GLBT hostile, many cowboys, truckers, oil workers.



Houston has a large LGBT community, and a very active CD/TG scene. Like most places in Texas, the larger cities and suburbs are very TG friendly, but as you get into the "country" people get less open-minded.

[Melissa Cross]

I think the posts so far show that in a lot of towns people have had both good and bad experiences. Here in the mid size city that I live in here in Connecticut I know the accepting places I can go. I also know where NOT to go dressed. If I went to a new city, I would do a lot of checking on where the accepting parts of town are (perhaps it IS the entire town). My opinion is that the more conservative the area is in general, the less accepting they are (of CDing, being gay, being liberal etc, etc).

[PretzelGirl]

I just thought I would throw a link to this article in here. It can be surprising.

http://news.advocate.com/post/15571734525/gayest-cities-in-america-2012

[Krististeph]

I think the posts so far show that in a lot of towns people have had both good and bad experiences. Here in the mid size city that I live in here in Connecticut I know the accepting places I can go. I also know where NOT to go dressed. If I went to a new city, I would do a lot of checking on where the accepting parts of town are (perhaps it IS the entire town). My opinion is that the more conservative the area is in general, the less accepting they are (of CDing, being gay, being liberal etc, etc).

Well said Melissa, better than my first reply! I don't go full 'metrosexual' but i do court the softer look, as part of who i am naturally, and also to gauge initial reactions. have to admit, one place i thought i would have a problem (Farm & fleet on a town just bordering wisconsin), had a heck of sweet SA there, and when an old guy farmer walks past, gave me kind of a 'what the heck are you' look, said hi to the SA (obviously knew her) then looks back at me- and says "watch yer wallet with this one- she'll sell you half the store" and walks away without comment.

I know I read too much into people facial reactions, but this guy, whether he was forcing it or not, was just plain cool. I'd take my chances with small towns in minnesota on average more than wisconsin.

[Andrea Renea]

I think it depends more on the people you are around and the setting than the city, big or small. My wife and I were eating in Claremont NC (3,000 pop.) a few weeks ago and saw a CD and her SO eating at a restaurant called Boxcar. Lots of bubba types in the waiting area and dining area. She got a few looks but nothing was said that I heard. They ate their meal and left.

[Butterfly Bill]

Salt Lake City - especially around the Temple area and especially after the Lakers have Lost.
- This area is very well patrolled, and cross-dressers who get read or clocked could end up victims of religious people AND the police.
At best, you will be made to feel unwelcome.

That was not the case for me when I was there in 2003. I stayed at the Motel 6 and visited Temple Square in a floral print rayon dress, and I had young women coming up to me and practicing their missionary spiels while asking me "do you have any questions about what you see". SLC itself is actually quite cosmopolitan, simply from being a metropolis.