This was a great thing to stumble upon on our last day of Pride Month.

A recent study conducted by LawnStarter compared 200 of the largest U.S. cities and where they rank (best to worst) when it came to LGBTQ friendliness, specifically for those who are single and ready to mingle. They used 17 key indicators to draw their conclusions. These factors were encompassed of:

  • Share of single population
  • Community support (same-sex households, support centers, nonprofits/charities)
  • Equality Progress (municipality, relationship and parental recognition)
  • Pride-Readiness (# of pride events, gay bars/clubs)
  • Safety (# of hate crimes, laws)

It's absolutely no surprise that the best city for the LGBTQ community is San Francisco as it scored very high in the municipal equality and access to LGBTQ-friendly healthcare providers. Also not a surprise, Texas was found to be the worst state. 7 cities in the Lone Star state were in the bottom 10. Other than Austin, the majority of Texas did not fare well in almost any of the categories; especially when it came to support, safety, and equality.

But let's turn our focus to home. Two Michigan cities were a part of the research with Grand Rapids at #97 and Detroit not far behind with #101. Grand Rapids scored at the top in the safety category but was below average in equality progress. Additionally, out of any other U.S. city surveyed, Detroit has the highest population of single adults but also one of the highest rates of hate crimes based on gender or sexual orientation.

It does make me happy that Grand Rapids fell in the top 100 (and Detroit close by) but we can still do better to make the LGBTQ+ community feel safe and welcomed in their own city. Let's hope that by next year we can make #GRProud by moving up on the list.

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The top 10 best cities for LGBTQ Singles:

  1. San Francisco
  2. Washington D.C.
  3. Boston, MA
  4. Minneapoliis, MN
  5. Portland, OR
  6. Seattle, WA
  7. Rochester, NY
  8. Long Beach, CA
  9. Denver, CO
  10. New York, NY

The 10 worst:

  1. Mindland, TX
  2. Brownsville, TX
  3. Killeen, TX
  4. Grand Prairie, TX
  5. Macon, GA
  6. McAllen, TX
  7. Huntsville, AL
  8. Frisco, TX
  9. Clarksville, TN
  10. Irving, TX

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