One thing I’ve seen noted elsewhere and not here, re: hub location and politics:
You note that Berkeley is exceedingly “politically correct” and count this as a negative, and you are indeed pointing to a real and negative thing, but there’s another side to this. Every place has some dominant political culture and norms. The Bay Area has an unusually left-leaning political culture, more so than almost any other place in the U.S. This on the one hand gets you Berkeley’s riots, and on the other hand gets you (for example) more queer/trans acceptance than anywhere else in the U.S., more queer/trans/kink/poly events & resources—which is really important for a lot of people in this community. (I would also argue that it’s a very good thing that this community’s norms are very accommodating of queerness/transness/kink/poly, though I’m not sure if that’s a consequence of being in the Bay.)
Being in a right-leaning place would probably not be better, it would be a different kind of ambient political pull in a different direction. Being in a more politically divided/centrist place might be better in some ways, but it would also be less full of queer community and resources and events, and possibly less accepting too. So I think the political ambiance of the Bay really pulls in both directions here.
The Bay Area has an unusually left-leaning political culture, more so than almost any other place in the U.S. This on the one hand gets you Berkeley’s riots, and on the other hand gets you (for example) more queer/trans acceptance than anywhere else in the U.S.
Being in a more politically divided/centrist place might be better in some ways, but it would also be less full of queer community and resources and events, and possibly less accepting too.
This is a very US-centric perspective. That dynamic is just not how it works over here. We don’t have a bible belt and most people have been atheist for two generations now. There’s a reason Richard Dawkins doesn’t preach here.
Manchester has the third highest LGBT percentage after Brighton and London, according to the measures I can find. As such, there are plenty of queer/trans/kink/poly events & resources.
Arguably Manchester is better than the Bay Area for this in some regards e.g. harassment on public transit, which is particularly relevant for nonwhite trans people who don’t pass very well.
One thing I’ve seen noted elsewhere and not here, re: hub location and politics:
You note that Berkeley is exceedingly “politically correct” and count this as a negative, and you are indeed pointing to a real and negative thing, but there’s another side to this. Every place has some dominant political culture and norms. The Bay Area has an unusually left-leaning political culture, more so than almost any other place in the U.S. This on the one hand gets you Berkeley’s riots, and on the other hand gets you (for example) more queer/trans acceptance than anywhere else in the U.S., more queer/trans/kink/poly events & resources—which is really important for a lot of people in this community. (I would also argue that it’s a very good thing that this community’s norms are very accommodating of queerness/transness/kink/poly, though I’m not sure if that’s a consequence of being in the Bay.)
Being in a right-leaning place would probably not be better, it would be a different kind of ambient political pull in a different direction. Being in a more politically divided/centrist place might be better in some ways, but it would also be less full of queer community and resources and events, and possibly less accepting too. So I think the political ambiance of the Bay really pulls in both directions here.
This is a very US-centric perspective. That dynamic is just not how it works over here. We don’t have a bible belt and most people have been atheist for two generations now. There’s a reason Richard Dawkins doesn’t preach here.
Manchester has the third highest LGBT percentage after Brighton and London, according to the measures I can find. As such, there are plenty of queer/trans/kink/poly events & resources.
Arguably Manchester is better than the Bay Area for this in some regards e.g. harassment on public transit, which is particularly relevant for nonwhite trans people who don’t pass very well.