Some cities are definitely more LGBT-friendly than others in the United States and then there are those few cities that actually excel when it comes to offering their LGBT residents real support in the form of community groups, friendly laws and a low incidence of hate crimes.

The Rainbow Flag flying over the Castro Neighborhood in San Francisco
The Rainbow Flag in Harvey Milk Square flying over the Castro Neighborhood in San Francisco.

One of the friendliest of these cities is Palm Springs, CA that is not only known as a real party spot for gays but also as a LGBT haven for artists and married gay couples. In fact, 8.6% of households in this progressive city consist of same-sex partners.  Every year the city holds the massive Palm Springs Gay Pride Festival that is sponsored by many big corporations as well as Pride Nation, Hunters Nightclubs, Streetbar, The Gay Desert Guide, Bongo Johnny’s Patio Bar and Grill.  This is one of the few cities in the United States where a couple does not have to be self-conscious at all about over displays of affection in public.

An obvious LGBT-friendly city that is known for its activism, delivery and thriving gay scene is San Francisco, CA.  LGBT ground zero is the historic Castro District that maintains several important historical landmarks including Harvey Milk Square, The Stonewall Inn (that was the scene of many riots between police and the gay community in 1969) and the Castro Theater.

San Francisco is home to many gay celebrities and the mayor is well-known gay rights activist Gavin Newson.  The City Hall is lit up at night in iconic Rainbow colors and the in 1983 the LGBT community bought the former Food and Maritime Trades High School and turned it into The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center that includes counseling for bereavement, addiction and speeches by LGBT celebrities and lifestyle gurus.

Seattle has an extremely LGBT-friendly café society in the neighborhood known as Capitol Hill. The city has a large number of LGBT families and it is home to Families Like Ours, which is an organization that helps Washington couples adopt children.  Families Like Ours has also set up programs that allow gay couples to foster LGBTQ youth, many of whom have been rejected by their family.

If it is to live in a place without banking or business discrimination that you really need then consider moving to Long Beach, California. This progressive, culturally sophisticated city boasts the very productive and effective Long Beach Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce that offers many funding opportunities, networking events and resources for members of the LGBTQ community.

If you have not felt safe on the streets then consider relocating to Cambridge, MA where there is a zero tolerance of sexual orientation-related crime. This was the first state to legalize gay marriage and it is also the home of gay rights activist Senator Elizabeth Warren

Of course, all of these cities are in states that are in agreement with the overturning of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and have churches and ministers in their cities that perform gay marriage.