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Hi all! So my partner and I (both males) are considering coming up from South FL to live in Greenville. We each started looking up cute small towns to live in the US and Greenville was on the map. We looked up the place and fell in love with the beautiful scenery and all the adventures it has to offer. The perfect weather, the climate, the downtowns, the hospitality, etc.
I'm 18 and he's 20 and we are going to be in college with jobs and will be residing together. We often times hold hands down the street, in malls, in the car, etc. If we fall in love with the place, it may be the area we end up raising a family in.
So my question to all the folks who are familiar with Greenville, SC is; Is the area okay for a gay couple? How often does one encounter a "bigot" there? I'm hoping it's not like how one portrays the South as.....
I would just hate to have to look over such a beautiful town because of their homophobic and unwelcoming environment.
Greenville isn't exactly San Francisco, but it's not back country either. Honestly, there are a lot of forward thinking people who live in and around the city. Personally, I've never heard of or witnessed homophobia, but I'm sure it exists just as everywhere. There are a few gay bars, and outward displays of affection between couples aren't rare.
Hi all! So my partner and I (both males) are considering coming up from South FL to live in Greenville. We each started looking up cute small towns to live in the US and Greenville was on the map. We looked up the place and fell in love with the beautiful scenery and all the adventures it has to offer. The perfect weather, the climate, the downtowns, the hospitality, etc.
I'm 18 and he's 20 and we are going to be in college with jobs and will be residing together. We often times hold hands down the street, in malls, in the car, etc. If we fall in love with the place, it may be the area we end up raising a family in.
So my question to all the folks who are familiar with Greenville, SC is; Is the area okay for a gay couple? How often does one encounter a "bigot" there? I'm hoping it's not like how one portrays the South as.....
I would just hate to have to look over such a beautiful town because of their homophobic and unwelcoming environment.
Thank you all in advance!
This is certainly a matter of perspective and personal experience. I recommend you find a hotel, preferably extended stay, near where you would want to move into should you chose the area and spend about a month here. Go to Haywood Mall, downtown, Woodruff Rd, Pleasantburg Drive, Pelham Rd, or wherever locations you think you'll be in the most and observe reactions from how you behave with one another. Also keep in mind there is extremely few things catering to the gay environment. There's one gay club in Greenville, one in Spartanburg, maybe two that have a 'gay night', a supposed gay bar in downtown (though I heard mostly straight people went there), and a gay sex/book store if it's even still there. As long as that doesn't bother you then you should be fine as long as you don't run across any of the more vocal residents.
Let's just say, if I was gay, I would not want to live in Greenville. While there are many fine people in Greenville, there are, I'd say, worse than average anti-gay sentiments compared to other middle-sized cities.
Greenville isn't exactly San Francisco, but it's not back country either. Honestly, there are a lot of forward thinking people who live in and around the city. Personally, I've never heard of or witnessed homophobia, but I'm sure it exists just as everywhere. There are a few gay bars, and outward displays of affection between couples aren't rare.
Greenville County passed a resolution saying the homosexual lifestyle was inappropriate. And a few years ago, a young gay man was beaten to death outside of a Greenville sports bar. Not very nice. I believe there may be a closeted gay community here, but it is very low key and discreet. You wouldn't want to be holding hands as 2 young men walking down the street. And the Upstate has always been a conservative, Bible Belt region. I would suggest Asheville instead, or a larger city such as Charlotte or Atlanta. Or better yet, stay in Florida. Or look at Boston, New England, or California. And I have heard Lexington, Kentucky or Austin, Texas may be more gay friendly. Greenville is a nice area for heterosexual families, but not necessarily what you are looking for.
It's sad that such a beautiful town there has to be ruined by it's close-minded people. We are trying to look for other small cute towns just like Greenville (both in the North and a little in the South), but it's very hard to find those amazing flush green downtowns when the population is below 80,000.
Greenville County passed a resolution saying the homosexual lifestyle was inappropriate. And a few years ago, a young gay man was beaten to death outside of a Greenville sports bar. Not very nice. I believe there may be a closeted gay community here, but it is very low key and discreet. You wouldn't want to be holding hands as 2 young men walking down the street. And the Upstate has always been a conservative, Bible Belt region. I would suggest Asheville instead, or a larger city such as Charlotte or Atlanta. Or better yet, stay in Florida. Or look at Boston, New England, or California. And I have heard Lexington, Kentucky or Austin, Texas may be more gay friendly. Greenville is a nice area for heterosexual families, but not necessarily what you are looking for.
This sounds harsh. I don't think it's that bad. I know Columbia isn't. In fact, it's almost what you'd call quite the opposite of the tylerSC perception of life in Greenville for gay people. But the OP seems to be looking for a "cute small town," and neither Greenville nor Columbia fits that category.
It's sad that such a beautiful town there has to be ruined by it's close-minded people. We are trying to look for other small cute towns just like Greenville (both in the North and a little in the South), but it's very hard to find those amazing flush green downtowns when the population is below 80,000.
Could anyone give us some suggestions?
Has anybody recommended Asheville to you? It is known for having a lot of gay people, but that may be overstated but might be worth checking out. It is only 45 minutes from Greenville. Living in Greenville or Asheville would allow you to visit the other on a frequent basis, but Greenville has a lower cost of living and milder winters.
I think you'd find more people more "extreme" in being uncomfortable around gays in Asheville than Greenville just because it is more rural and up in the mountains without a lot of good employers. So you might get the good and the bad and the ugly there. I think Greenville would be more neutral across the population.
I don't think that you would have a problem in Greenville. I've seen gays in downtown, and Bob Jones students downtown handing out Bibles. It's all good.
Greenville County passed a resolution saying the homosexual lifestyle was inappropriate. And a few years ago, a young gay man was beaten to death outside of a Greenville sports bar. Not very nice. I believe there may be a closeted gay community here, but it is very low key and discreet. You wouldn't want to be holding hands as 2 young men walking down the street. And the Upstate has always been a conservative, Bible Belt region. I would suggest Asheville instead, or a larger city such as Charlotte or Atlanta. Or better yet, stay in Florida. Or look at Boston, New England, or California. And I have heard Lexington, Kentucky or Austin, Texas may be more gay friendly. Greenville is a nice area for heterosexual families, but not necessarily what you are looking for.
How did they know he was beaten to death because he was gay? There might have been other reasons, money, drugs, just some argument with somebody in the club about something, a love triangle.
I think Matthew Shepherd was doing drugs and he was killed by some drug dealers he didn't know that he met in a bar and hitched a ride with which isn't exactly a good idea. Messing around with drug deals is pretty dangerous and homocide is associated with drug use more than anything else.
I think both his killers denied it was about him being gay, and why would they deny it at that point. They were already found guilty of the murder and murder is bad for any reason.
I think only gay people should answer this question. I hope they say Greenville is a good place to live.
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