Questions about being a lesbian in and near Baton Rouge (New Orleans: rental, houses)

[MurphyT]

I may be relocating to the Baton Rouge area and was wondering what peoples attitudes were toward lesbians. I am not out there shouting it from the roof tops but I do live wtih my parter of 15 years and we are looking for a nice safe place to live. We currently live in the Chicago suburbs and are used to suburban life in a progressive area. Any suggestions on nice, middle to upper middle class area's in and around BTR that are gay friendly/tolerant would be appreciated. What are the attitudes in the area?

Thanks

[darylwi]

Well, first of all, BTR is pretty conservative. And it is only just beginning to see the light of being progressive although it still has a very long way to go.
There are areas of town that seem to cater to gay & lesbian, meaning it is well accepted and they seem to live in happiness, although everyone else in the city knows about these areas and sometimes talk about them when they want to crack some joke about homosexuality.
The areas that come to mind are Spanish Town and parts of the Garden District. I'm sure living in most areas around LSU wouldn't be bad either because LSU is fairly diverse. All three of these areas have a pretty rich crowd of young diverse, progressive people who live & let live.
You can definitely expect stares when you're out with the masses. As a matter of fact, almost anyone can expect stares if you stand out in any way, if you drive a crappy car, if you don't practice a christian religion and show it, if you wear any other SEC team's shirt besides LSU. It seems that everything draws a stare from the older locals here. The younger crowd is slowly starting to make things a little more diverse.

Oh, and I probably wouldn't consider living outside of BTR (in the suburbs). Because it only gets more reserved and conservative the further you go out, until you reach New Orleans at least. Not to mention, if you're going to work in BTR, the commute can be horrendous if you're coming from Livingston or Ascension Parish, unless you work off-hours.

[buildings_and_bridges]

I basically agree with everything the poster above says. And I especially agree that you'd be better off in Baton Rouge than somewhere in Livingston Parish, for example.

[ByDonn]

Consider Lafayette, too, since it's an hour from BR, but pretty open-minded....just a thought.

[Cookie0907]

New Orleans would be the most tolerant of all and Baton Rouge wouldnt be too bad.

[kmvspeedwagon]

For all the conservatism in Baton Rouge, I don't consider the people there to be very outspoken about their agreements or disagreements. You won't be a spectator at any pride parades, but there are several "gay friendly" bars. I haven't been there in about 5 years, but Baton Rouge is small town, and people with like interests tend to run into each other very frequently. I think you will find no shortage of tolerance.

If you are looking for the more political aspects of acceptance (marriage, benefits, property inheritance), you are less likely to find that in the South in general.

darylwi suggested two great areas, Spanish Town and the Garden District. It seems my gay friends had the best rental houses in the city in these areas )

Good luck!

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by kmvspeedwagon

For all the conservatism in Baton Rouge, I don't consider the people there to be very outspoken about their agreements or disagreements. You won't be a spectator at any pride parades, but there are several "gay friendly" bars. I haven't been there in about 5 years, but Baton Rouge is small town, and people with like interests tend to run into each other very frequently. I think you will find no shortage of tolerance.

If you are looking for the more political aspects of acceptance (marriage, benefits, property inheritance), you are less likely to find that in the South in general.

darylwi suggested two great areas, Spanish Town and the Garden District. It seems my gay friends had the best rental houses in the city in these areas )

Good luck!

And I'd like to expand by saying an area roughly bounded by College/Lee, Highland, Florida, and Park Blvd/Dalrymple is more liberal and accepting of outsiders/alternate lifestyles - this is the "Garden District" and then some.

[Karen1969]

Originally Posted by darylwi

The areas that come to mind are Spanish Town and parts of the Garden District. I'm sure living in most areas around LSU wouldn't be bad either because LSU is fairly diverse.

Oh, and I probably wouldn't consider living outside of BTR (in the suburbs). Because it only gets more reserved and conservative the further you go out, until you reach New Orleans at least. Not to mention, if you're going to work in BTR, the commute can be horrendous if you're coming from Livingston or Ascension Parish, unless you work off-hours.

My partner and I lived in Baton Rouge for several years before another transfer and found it to be fine. We looked in the areas above for housing, but found that it was a little pricey for what you get. We ended up buying in a newer neighborhood off of Bluebonnet behind Blue Cross Blue Shield, and were very comfortable in that neighborhood (and I was close to the mall).

My partners transfer was to New Orleans (very comfy) and I continued to commute to Baton Rouge for work. The drive out of New Orleans in the AM is against traffic and OK in Baton Rouge if you leave by 6 AM or so, about an hour from Metaire. The drive back home is a little longer.

Funny thing was, all of our friends in New Orleans told us that the lesbian community in Baton Rouge was very closed and click-ish. We weren't there long enough to form an opinion on this, but after meeting a few BR lesbians were never included in things. Maybe it was us!

[lalalou]

Originally Posted by MurphyT

I may be relocating to the Baton Rouge area and was wondering what peoples attitudes were toward lesbians. I am not out there shouting it from the roof tops but I do live wtih my parter of 15 years and we are looking for a nice safe place to live. We currently live in the Chicago suburbs and are used to suburban life in a progressive area. Any suggestions on nice, middle to upper middle class area's in and around BTR that are gay friendly/tolerant would be appreciated. What are the attitudes in the area?

Thanks

I would love the answer to that question as well! Also, we should figure out how to get together and figure out the area as a group. My partner and I are also moving. We seem to have similiar expectations. Not so sure we will find them but we will give it a shot

[bgirlz]

I just want to add to the suggestions and say that i work in a restaurant on jefferson hwy. which is a pretty nice part of BR. There are lots of businesses and shopping around this area. Everyday my customers include a large amount of lesbians that are obvious and some not so obvious old and young. in my experience i have not noticed any bad discrimination with employees or with other customers. i do bieleve that there are older groups of people that will disagree but i would not expect a problem. BR is a nice place to live and i think that you and your partner would have a nice life here.