Where are you in the world?

[[deleted user]]

I'm currently living in Texas but I'm from Canada

[Kaje]

Is Xenia a city, or more of a town? Cool name.

[m]

I’m from South Florida, and let me tell you that the humidity is OUT TO GET YOUR HAIR. It’s hot most of the year, and during the nicer months we get waves of the “snowbirds” seeking refuge from the cold winters of the North. Traffic is atrocious in that time period, but to be fair it’s almost always atrocious. The population varies from town to town, county to county. Some are more open minded, but in my experience people tend to be harshly judgmental, yet smiley on the outside. Often bland as well, in my opinion. (No offense to any other SF residents out there. I’m just not a fan of the area.) Either way, if you’re visiting for some weird reason other than escaping snow, I guess you could visit the beach. That’s a year-round thing down here. It’s a bit cold, not as bad as the pacific, and I try to avoid the hoards of people populating its shoreline. There are nice parks you can snorkel at, and animal rehabilitation centers are interesting to see. But bring sunscreen and bug spray and deodorant and make sure you HYDRATE because I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen people collapse after underestimating the heat. Either way, it’s not my favorite place in the world, but it’s not my least favorite either.

[m]

Oh, right. I nearly forgot to mention that during those rare non-summer months Florida can’t really decide on a climate. It’ll be 60° straight for a week then suddenly 90° and then pouring rain for a few more days. At least you’ll never need snow pants.

[Kaje]

Right now, from Minnesota, that doesn't sound too bad, but honestly I prefer the cold to the heat. An area with animal rehab centers at least has that going for it, though.

[K.S.]

I live in San Jose, the South Bay of California in the U.S.

[Kaje]

:) My son is in Finland these days and he says the same thing.

[Keith (CHINNY)]

Scotland

[Daisy]

I'm from California but currently studying in Wales for a year.

[Kaje]

Daisy wrote: "I'm from California but currently studying in Wales for a year."

Sounds like fun - Wales is one of those places I'd love to visit.

@Keith - cool. I have relatives in Edinburgh - great city.

[Aniya]

Hey,

I'm from a small place which is often called the "salt town" in Germany. It's called that name because of the salt mines we used to have, but they're all closed now.
I wouldn't recommend a visit, there is really not much to find here. But if someone comes over anyway, I would take them to a biking tour through the woods, swimming (either at the lake or at the saltwater spa not far from here) and a trip to the next big city. :)

What I don't like... well, it's east Germany and that means there is a problem with racism. People in the east tend to vote more for far right parties than our western fellows despite having the smallest migration rate. Afraid of the unknown I guess…

As for LGBT+: Germany has finally equal marriage rights and a third gender option for intersex people.
It's really embarrassing for such a rich country (that claims proudly to be modern and progressive) to wait that long!
Otherwise I would say it's mostly accepted to be LGBT+... of course there are some homophobic groups (especially right wingers) and attacks against transpeople and same-sex couples still happen now and again, but it gets better.

[Kaje]

I'm glad that there is recovery from the isolation and anti-Western propaganda that was imposed for so long. Best of luck with continuing to make progress.

[Madi]

Hey,

I'm from a small town in Oklahoma which kind of sucks because it's pretty conservative where I live.

It has its charm because it's very pretty here in the fall but I wouldn't recommend coming in the summer if you don't want to melt.

[Torry]

I live in Germany, in a small town in the SW corner close to France and Luxemburg.
If I could, I would love to live in Phoenix, Arizona, where most of my closest friends live.

[Benjamin]

I live in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East of England, which is a great, lively city (mostly due to having two universities, so we're flooded with students).
The weather's horrible, but the people are friendly.

[Whitetiger01]

I’m currently lived in Bekasi, Indonesia. But I’ll move to Norwich, U.K. on September so it will be approximately a month time.

[Kaje]

Whitetiger01 wrote: "I’m currently lived in Bekasi, Indonesia. But I’ll move to Norwich, U.K. on September so it will be approximately a month time."

Wow, that's quite a move. How exciting. I hope you really like it.

[Jen]

I live in the Philadelphia area, but I just got my first apartment in the suburbs to be closer to friends and family. I haven't had many chances to travel, but I've visited Puerto Rico, Florida, and Chicago. I'm definitely looking to explore more of the world.

[Jen]

Beagle Lover wrote: "In a dreary, crumbling and corrupt city about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States."

I don't live so far from Philly, but I went to college in West Chester. How close are you to there? There's a fantastic used book store called Baldwin's Book Barn. I interned there in college, and it's a magical 5 story repurposed barn filled with rare and used books, cats, and a little dog. Definitely worth the trip!

[Brooklyn]

I live outside Rochester, New York. Rochester is a city that is about halfway between the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area and Syracuse. It's a nice city, as cities go, and it has the same problems all cities have. Rochester is an LGBTQ friendly city, and has a large, and active gay population. Things to do, hmmm, on Alexander St, there's the most authentic British Pub I've ever been to outside of Blighty. It's called The Old Toad, and almost if not all the employees are culinary students from Sheffield, lending an authenticity above and beyond the physical. Right down the street from there is the 140 Alex Bar and Grill, an LGBTQ friendly place. Of course there's the George Eastman House, the founder of the Eastman/Kodak Company. Has fantastic collection of original prints from Ansel Adams and other famous photographers. The Eastman School of Music is here, and they have frequent concerts featuring the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, in Kodak Hall. (The Eastman Theater) Seabreeze Amusement park is north of town, and features one of the oldest standing roller coaster's in the world. Niagara Falls, is only a two hour drive, but bring your passport, as it is best seen from Canada.
To the south of the city, (where I live) is the finger lakes district, which is just thick with wineries. There are numerous wine tours available. The lakes themselves are spectacular. I hope this little foray into my home town, has been interesting.
Brook

[Kaje]

That's a great description, Brooklyn.

[Casper]

i live between Greenville and Columbia in South Carolina in the grand ole US. other than having the honor of saying i've been to the cities Nora Sakavic wrote about in All for the Game, i don't have much else really going for me because i don't much care for it here. the summer's are harsh and the cold never lasts long enough, and it's an extremely religious state that's always the last on the uptake when it comes to the separation of church and state, but that's a whole other conversation jgldfghj i suppose i don't mind the scenery though, SC has some beautiful scenery around and Charleston is really pretty with a lot of history

[Renn]

I live in Waverly, Iowa. It’s a small town, so lots of my friends want to leave it, but I actually really love it here. There’s a bike trail and various sidewalks so I can walk wherever and for hours if I want to. I love walking at sunset because the sun lights up the bricks in the buildings and reflects off the river. There’s a bandshell in the park where bands play. The best part is our library, which fulfills my reading needs. This kind of turned into a love letter to my hometown.

[Kaje]

Sounds lovely - libraries are magic.

[Tamra]

Where do you live? northern florida
What do you like or not like about your home town/state/nation? I like it because places are close.
If someone comes there, when and where should they go? I have no clue lol
Any LGBTQ comments? um, not right now ^_^

[Kaje]

As someone whose weather forecast is for a low of minus 30 tonight... FL looks good right now :)

[Tamra]

i think it will be in the 20s or 30s tonight here lol :P

[Jacqui]

Where do you live?
I live in Vienna in the beautiful little country Austria, which is btw not Australia (Yes, it is this bad and yes we have even T-shirts in our Souvenir Shops which say "No kangaroos in Austria")

What do you like or not like about your home town/state/nation?
I love vienna, when it is possible to be a nerd about a city, then my citiy would be vienna. It is a cultural capital, with an incredible number of museums and theaters. You will never be bored in Vienna. Though I must say, if you don't like to live in a "fast living city" Vienna is maybe not the perfect city for you. I personally love it and would even consider moving to a biger city than vienna. But still, i love it here, and I love austria as well - I know once in a while you don't want to see the city - but driving in rural areas doesn't take long here (obviously because Austria is rather small)
-did you track how often I said that I love vienna? haha. (I just realy do.)

But Vienna is a bit missing out when it comes to concerts by well-known musicians. But you can live without them - or travel to see a particular concert, if you do not live in America it's not that easy anyway.

If someone comes there, when and where should they go?
Definitely visit the museums as well as the stephansdom. Maybe visit the prater as well , though when you are from america it's propably pretty boring (i don't like it as much as i used to, since i visited bigger amusment parks - and its pretty expensive).

Schloss schönbrunn is absolutely stunning - it's worth the money, and when you are already there, why don't you visit the oldest zoo in the world (it's true!) - Tiergarten Schönbrunn.
Need any more recommendations? - message me :)

Any LGBTQ comments?
Marriage got legalized in Austria in 2018. Horrible right? It took them SO LONG. But at least I made a impact (a small one, but still) in spreading the petition and getting people to sign it.

Living in vienna sometimes gives me the wrong idea of my country. Vienna is very fast forward but a lot of regions in austria a still very conservative (in my opinion). Might as well mention here, that there a lot of people in austria, who don't live in vienna, don't like vienna at all......BUT it's not as horrible as it sounds, don't worry :)

In Vienna I personally think, as soon as you are out of school (kids/teenagers are evil, no matter what), no one cares about you sexuallity, or maybe I am just lucky with the people surrounding me :) Right now I am in University with the most chill persons I can imagine! :)


If you are interested in Vienna, talk to me, as I mentioned approximately a 1000 times, i love this city. :P lol

[Jacqui]

Cirilla wrote: It's really embarrassing for such a rich country (that claims proudly to be modern and progressive) to wait that long!

Same with Austria....

[Kaje]

Jacki wrote: "Where do you live?
I live in Vienna in the beautiful little country Austria, which is btw not Australia (Yes, it is this bad and yes we have even T-shirts in our Souvenir Shops which say "No kanga..."

<3 So glad Austria joined the world of equal marriage rights. Thanks for everything you did to help move that forward. I was there once many years ago as a teenager, and vividly remember the old buildings (some older than the colonization of our nation) and the fine food.
I'd love to go again some day.

[Marko]

I'm in Santa Cruz, California. It's a beautiful beach town filled with surfing, whale watching and hiking in the redwoods. I'm very, very lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

Lots of gay kids here...that's never been a thing. Everyone accepts pretty much everyone in this part of California. Jack O'Neil invented the wetsuit here. The movie, Lost Boys was shot here.

Come to visit everyone!

[Kaje]

Oooh, pretty.

[August]

Kaje wrote: "Jacki wrote: "Where do you live?
I live in Vienna in the beautiful little country Austria, which is btw not Australia (Yes, it is this bad and yes we have even T-shirts in our Souvenir Shops which..."

oh that's lovely!

[Yuki]

I live in a place called Baily Colorado and I hate it because it’s so homophobic and transphobic and O can’t get out really because almost. I thing is really accessible

[Kaje]

Yuki wrote: "I live in a place called Baily Colorado and I hate it because it’s so homophobic and transphobic and O can’t get out really because almost. I thing is really accessible"

((Hugs)) Sorry it's rough. I hope you get other opportunities in the future.

[Atika]

I was born in the UK and I have lived in London for most of my life.

I love living in London because is one of the most diverse cities in Europe. There are so many people from different countries living here. It’s also very LGBT friendly.

London is a very big city so there is so many good places to visit. If you are into museums the obvious museum to go to is the British Museum. If you like savoury food I recommend The Bagel Shop in Brick Lane which used to be the old Jewish quarters back in the 19th century.

In general, being LGBT in the UK is pretty easy. Of course you do get some homophobic idiots as you do everywhere but because I live in London I rarely encounter homophobia.

[Kaje]

I haven't been to London in a long time, but it's one of my favorite cities to visit.

[Billy]

I'm from the UK. I'm a uni, so I live in two places for most of the year, but never too far away from London.

[Mere]

I'm from San Francisco but now live in Sacramento, which is a couple hours drive inland. I moved here for the lower cost of living because I needed to take care of my mom, who has dementia. I haven't gotten to know the area very well because of not being able to leave her, but it seems pretty progressive and lgbt-friendly. We're having a Queer Book Festival in June!

Sacramento doesn't have tons of nightlife or "scenes" like San Francisco, although I think there is probably adequate entertainment and places to meet people if you look for them.

I hope to write something YA set in this area once I get to know the city a bit better.

[Kesa]

I live in Hamburg. It's the second biggest city in Germany and the city of the bridges. No other city in Europe has as much bridges as Hamburg. There's also a big harbour. if you like ships. Come here.

[Kaje]

Mere wrote: "I'm from San Francisco but now live in Sacramento, which is a couple hours drive inland. I moved here for the lower cost of living because I needed to take care of my mom, who has dementia. I haven..."

((Hugs)) My mum just passed in April, after 10 years with Alzheimer's. I hope you are able to take some time for yourself, and get a breather, maybe explore the area a bit. Several of my author friends live near there and like it. Caregivers are wonderful (and as mum got worse, I found some great ones to help) but it can burn you out. Every best wish to you in the years to come.

[Mere]

Thanks, Kaje. My condolences on your mom. I feel like mine is really "gone" already but it will still hurt whenever she passes.

I have met Scott and his husband, they are coordinating the Queer Book Festival with me. (Scott is doing the author-contacting and I am doing the facilities side of it.) Hopefully I will meet a few more online acquaintances at the event itself.

[V.S]

I live in NC, and I love how LGBTQ+ positive they are where I live, but I don't like the public transportation (I wish we had subways). If anyone came here, I'd say they should go to the NC Museum of Art, and 9th St for all the great restaurants and stores!

[Roberto]

I live in Calahorra, a small town in La Rioja (Spain). Our region is famous because of its wine but my town grows marvellous vegetables. Young people usually prefer to run away because we live in a very conservative area and we suffer from a lack of opportunities and ambitions. However, I love my hometown. Well, It's true that I don't like travelling at all and sometimes I feel myself as if I were Kant, living always in the same place. Calahorra has its charms, I love its history, the monuments, the parks and loads of other things. Also I work in a public library and I try to do things related to LGBT issues. Although, as I have said before, I live in a conservative area, most of people are ok with homosexuality (I'm afraid that it's more complicated for transgender people). But it's true that it could be a bit solitary because we don't have bars, associations or something like that. We don't have a community. So there are more cons than pros to live here, but when you love a place and you have supportive friends and a family, this is the only thing that really matters.

[Kaje]

Roberto wrote: "I live in Calahorra, a small town in La Rioja (Spain). Our region is famous because of its wine but my town grows marvellous vegetables. Young people usually prefer to run away because we live in a..."

I'm glad you have friends and family who are supportive. Maybe the times will change enough to keep younger people there - after all, being Ok with gay people is real progress within my lifetime. Thanks for doing your part with the library - libraries are wonderful, and they save lives, especially when there aren't a lot of other resources.

[Roberto]

Thanks a lot for your comments. And yeah! Things are changing. Spain has a very progressive attitude toward queer issues but there are still lots of battles that we must fight. Working in a library I have notices that is very difficult to spread LGTB literature to straight people. They could be friendly and even supportive but they think that gay literature and similar books are only for queers. You know, it's like they believe you try to convert them or that's only gay stuff. It's true that we see things that they can't and even won't able to but we should do more work on that. They can learn as we have learnt a lot reading stories where there are straights but where the important thing is not your sexuality but love, tenderness, loyalty and valueas that really matters.

[Kaje]

Roberto wrote: "Thanks a lot for your comments. And yeah! Things are changing. Spain has a very progressive attitude toward queer issues but there are still lots of battles that we must fight. Working in a library..."

This is one reason we also need the books with the LGBTQ secondary characters. For example, Suzanne Brockmann wrote very popular M/F romances, and she brought in a gay secondary character, who was very likeable, and then she eventually gave him a gay romance in a book along with a straight couple. And that book made the NYT bestseller lists in 2004, and brought a lot of readers of straight genre fiction to the point where they were asking for a book with the gay romance in it. Or Lover at Last which came along deep in an M/F series that was so popular this book with two men in love won the Goodreads awards.

It's something I think YA books are doing better all the time (like Cassandra Claire's City of Bones, and Rick Riordan's fiction, where people don't see them as "queer" books, but the important secondary LGBTQ characters ease the way forward.)

Do you see the young people reacting differently? Because here, despite there always being jerks, the younger generations are pretty unreactive about LGBTQ folk - they expect that to be part of their world.

[Kaje]

Our new photo prompt for creative writing is Hidden Valley - up here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

And our book of the month vote winner was - Boy Shattered by Eli Easton - the discussion thread is here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Helena]

I'm from Portugal, but live in the US - Hopefully both of those places will improve their views on the LGBTQ+ community!

[Kaje]

Helena wrote: "I'm from Portugal, but live in the US - Hopefully both of those places will improve their views on the LGBTQ+ community!"

Absolutely. <3