General 'attitude' of NH's population toward new residents that are GLBT...

[Friday]

bridget, I will give you my personal opinion as a person who moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to southern NH.  There is undoubtedly homophobia in NH (in fact, one person who has posted several times on this very thread loudly made a homophobic remark at an MVP meeting last year ).  I think it's so ingrained that many people are oblivious to it; I have been shocked by the number of times the DJ's on my favorite radio station have made blatantly homophobic remarks that would get you fired in California. I have never been to Kansas, though, so I really can't say if it's better or worse here than it is there.  I echo what others recommend: head for urban areas and/or college towns.  I work in Nashua and there are openly gay people of both sexes in my company, who have brought their partners to the company Christmas party, and one of those partners is transgender (hermaphrodite, actually).  Everyone in my company is fine with that. Then again, we are paid to tolerate one another.    I have heard that Portsmouth has a gay community, FWIW.

[maineiac]

Rosie beat me to it.  I know of one gay person, a porc.

You know of one gay person?

Jeebus, there are 2 gay people in my immediate family, or 4, however you want to look at it!

Of course, none are in NH. 1/2 is/are in Vermont and 1/2 is/are in Manhattan.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

(p.u.t.i.)

[CNHT]

Rosie beat me to it.  I know of one gay person, a porc.

You know of one gay person?

Jeebus, there are 2 gay people in my immediate family, or 4, however you want to look at it!

Of course, none are in NH. 1/2 is/are in Vermont and 1/2 is/are in Manhattan.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

(p.u.t.i.)

Being for rights for all individuals equally as opposed to rights for certains groups is not 'homophobic', but being afraid of gay people (i.e. hanging out with them, touching them, etc) is homophobic. I don't know anyone who attends those meetings who fits that latter description so I can't imagine anyone said anything of the kind. You have nothing to fear.

[forsytjr]

I go to the Unitarian Church in Concord, which explicitly is acceting of GLBT's (they will do weddings, etc).  True of all Unitarian churches.  I can't at all make a generalization about the acceptence of people in general though.

[Avens O'Brien]

I know I'm way late onto this thread but I wanted to mention that we are a fairly live-and-let-live state, and the GBLTQA community here is THRIVING.  Just go take a walk through the Mall of NH - EVERY store has at least two gay men working there (EVERY guy at my job is gay...).  Heh.  There are also THREE large mainstream gay-bar/clubs here in Manchester - the Breezeway, the Element, and the 313.  The 313 gets the most people and attracts much of the under 21+, the other two are bars.  All three places have regular Queen and Trans nights, my boss (a Queen) runs one.

College areas are gay-friendly.  The further north you go, the more the attitude is "leave me alone and I don't legislate your bedroom activities" and the further south you go there's more of a "Yay!  Show your colours!  Pride!!!!" thing going on.  Both tolerant to their own extent.  Just depends how "out" you are.

You'll hit pockets of homophobia and intolerance anywhere, but in general, it's not a big deal here. 

Just sayin'.  As a faghag.

-Avens

[EJinCT]

Being for rights for all individuals equally as opposed to rights for certains groups is not 'homophobic', but being afraid of gay people (i.e. hanging out with them, touching them, etc) is homophobic.

Well said! ....But just because soemone does not wish to associate with members of certain "groups", that actively promte their lifestyle, IMO, in no way equates with being afraid. I won't associate with KKK members, but that does not mean I'm afraid of them.

the attitude is "leave me alone and I don't legislate your bedroom activities"

That is my personal philosophy. Dont ask, Dont tell.

Then again, I'm in the minority, for my age group, as I don't overtly express my "sexuality". I'm just "old-fashioned" that way.

[error]

I haven't seen anything here in NH to make me think that people's "ignorant attitudes" even exist in any significant numbers.

Maybe I'm just hanging out with the wrong people to see such things.

[dalebert]

Being for rights for all individuals equally as opposed to rights for certains groups is not 'homophobic', but being afraid of gay people (i.e. hanging out with them, touching them, etc) is homophobic.

2nded. Fortunately, Libertarian gays usually get that while most liberals do not. That's why you cannot go by the voting guides put out by liberal organizations like HRC to judge candidates. You have to look at those individual items that they voted on and decide for yourself what the equality/ small government vote would actually be. They usually don't match with HRC's judgement.

Besides that, my life as a G (I'm not LB or T) has improved dramatically mostly from the public attitude change. There has certainly been legislative progress, but I can't think of much legislatively that has actually impacted my life for the better anywhere near the extent that the culture shift has. I really don't lose sleep at night wondering if I'll be able to make a living due to being G.

One of the biggest impacts potentially would probably be marriage equality at the federal level simply because society subsidizes marriages so much that being unable to marry is like paying more taxes than someone else in your same income bracket. Social Security death benefits alone are substantial for married people. My mom makes about $16k more a year because she was married to a guy who died early. That's $16k a year that we're all paying taxes for that we wouldn't be otherwise if not for federal marriage benefits.

Now, that said, I haven't been in a position to marry as of yet, so that hasn't affected me personally. Also, it's probably still going to be a while longer before it's likely to be considered and there are very few candidates either R or D that support marriage because they pander to a public that is still very split on it. As public attitudes change, so will the legislature, because politicians are self-serving brats.

Back on topic. My instinct would also be that urban areas will tend to be better. I'm primarily considering more urban areas like Nashua or Manchester, but those areas are also more expensive and stressful making nearly urban areas more appealing. I doubt northern NH is particularly less accepting, but the south has more major cities.

P.S. Does anyone wonder if GLBT will eventually be GLBTACDEFHIJKLMNOPQRSUVWXYZ ?

[error]

Sure, I've seen plenty of "ignorant attitudes" about social nudism. But that wasn't the topic at hand.

[CNHT]

I haven't seen anything here in NH to make me think that people's "ignorant attitudes" even exist in any significant numbers.

Maybe I'm just hanging out with the wrong people to see such things.

I have met ONE person who is absolutely hateful towards gays and it's not pretty.... but most others who oppose the two bills on civil unions do because they feel they are to do with money being forcibly extracted and are discriminatory and don't cover everyone and thus not very smaller-government oriented.

As a woman with few female friends and mostly male friends, many of my male friends are in the entertainment business and a lot them are gay including my best friend in high school growing up.

[EJinCT]

I found this thread late myself so I just went back to the O.P. and here is my input:

Basically, I'm concerned that if and when I do move to NH that I'll have the same 'static' that I have here in Kansas.

That "static" you refer of is a worldwide phenomenon, its called predjudice. I will admit I am guilty of it, to certain degrees, in some matters as well. I have faults, but I'm working on them.

I've passed through Kansas a few times and know what your speaking about and as far as my experience goes the North East corridor is not in the "same league". The situation here is much more accepting; but there will always be exceptions, regardless of location.

IMO, unless there is a major planetary shift as far as the collective conciousness goes, that's the way it will likely remain for quite some time.

Learn how to live with it or become a hermit.

At one time I actually considered the latter.

[CNHT]

Hah, you won't get me to give any sympathy for the state of Kansas. That is the state where during a routine stop to ask for directions a cop put a gun directly to my head. I was only 22 at the time...and from then on, being stopped for any reason was a frightening experience.

[Sam Adams]

I didn't read the whole thread, but thought I would give you MHO as a native.

1. If it exists "out there," it already exists in New Hampshire.

2. There have always been eccentric people here, falling into a vast range of categories, including varied sexual preferences and habits.

3. Most people don't care what you are or do with your private life, but prefer that you don't flaunt what is perceived by some to be sexual deviations. They don't want to run your life, but neither do they want you pushing your life into theirs. They won't want you teaching a course in sexuality options to their kindergarten classes or leading the Memorial Day Parade as an XXX with a banner (though they wouldn't care if you did it as a local official, volunteer or whatever).

4. As long as children aren't approached, impacted or harmed, people won't care who or what you are, and will no doubt be courteous. They may disapprove privately, but will not confront you, discriminate against you or persecute you.

[Puke]

There is a person at the factory where I currently work that is going through a sex change. She is a fairly high up manager. So the Keene area must be fairly open to gay folk.

[Raineyrocks]

Hah, you won't get me to give any sympathy for the state of Kansas. That is the state where during a routine stop to ask for directions a cop put a gun directly to my head. I was only 22 at the time...and from then on, being stopped for any reason was a frightening experience.

Oh my gosh, that's horrible!     Why do some cops get off on doing stuff like that? God complex?