8.24.11 - GAY COLUMBUS...How the capital city of conservative Ohio became the LGBT mecca of the Midwest
Posted by Best Gay Cities

The state's capital and nation's 16th largest city, Columbus is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States and currently has a population of just over one million.

Mayor Michael Coleman, says he actively promotes Columbus as a gay-friendly market to the rest of the country. He welcomes the LGBT Community in ColumbUS. " Where the US, means all of us," he said recently, as 14 LGBT journalists from around the world were invited to Columbus.

Urban business professionals, flamboyant female impersonators, college kids and gay seniors - This melding of lifestyles is the norm in one of the strongest and most vibrant gay communities in one of the most conservative states in the nation. Gay Travel named Columbus its Most Underrated Gay City and Gay Cities named Columbus as the Up-and-Coming Gay City of 2011.

614 Columbus recently said, "The catalysts for our progressive identity as a city are as diverse as the citizens it serves; our economy, our urban landscape, our reputation as a business incubator, and even our overall quality of life have all been bolstered by a local culture whose attitude goes beyond basic tolerance. The chorus of support for our GLBT residents is increasingly encouraged – not simply tolerated – by a community working together to make Columbus a more progressive city as a whole."

Columbus is set up perfectly to be a gay-friendly city, says Chad Frye, director of sales and marketing withOutlook Media/Outlook Columbus, the city’s robust GLBT publication.

“There are all of these great neighborhoods that went into decline, where there were opportunities for gentrification, and they’re downtown-adjacent,” he said. “You don’t go into many cities today and find something like Victorian Village two minutes from the heart of the city.”
Or German Village. Immigrants may have founded the historical area, but it was the city’s native and transplanted gay population who reclaimed and revitalized the neighborhood in the ’80s and ’90s. The combination of less children and larger household incomes (the 2007 LGBT Census of Central Ohio shows GLBT incomes to be more than 10 percent above the city average in five of the six highest brackets), made them ideal urban pioneers.
Now, the Short North, which shares borders with several of the city’s central villages, is a thriving arts area with a strong presence of GLBT business owners. And we'll be covering many of those businesses in coming weeks!

Located in the center of the state, halfway between Cleveland and Cincinnati, Columbus is within 550 miles of more than half of the U.S. population, making it an easy get away from anywhere in the Midwest!

read more at: www.614columbus.com and Outlook Columbus and Experience Columbus