[Queerasfck]

Originally Posted by cody

i disagree with this but only from my personal expierances.. i moved here from the san francisco bay area and was pleasantly suprised how friendly people were to me.. from the biker bars to strangers in the park. if i didnt push my bizz on them they didnt push theres on my and were very friendly. i never try to push my lifestyle-religon- or morals on anyone and if im treated with the same respect i consider it a grat day. no way would i expect a new aquintance to fully understand where ive been or what makes me who i am.

Hello Cody,

I'm not really sure what you mean about pushing your bizz, lifestyle, religion or morals on people. It sounds like you've had good experiences here in Arizona.

I guess for me it just depends on how far I want to take my head out of the sand. If I want to live and work in a place where I've seen strangers and co-workers openly mock gay people I'd stay in Phoenix. If I want to live in a place where I can be out and about all day long and rarely see a POC except in the poorest of neighborhoods or working out in a field I'd stay in Phoenix. If I want to stay in a place where my gf's 10 year old niece has a teacher who says that the most of the native kids are "bad" I'd stay here in Phoenix. If I want to stay in a place where in January the Governor declared a "day of prayer for the state budget" instead of actually doing her job, I'd stay in Arizona. And if I want to live in place that has the law in place to pull people over based on skin color I'd stay in Arizona. I've lived in four states since I've been an adult and honestly I've never lived in a place where hate is so VISIBLE and most people seem SO OKAY with it.

Arizona has beautiful sunsets and some wonderous and scenic places. It also has a low cost of living which in these tough times is rare.

So inconclusion Cody, if by you saying "no way would i expect a new aquintance to fully understand where ive been or what makes me who i am" I would agree. And please, correct me if I'm wrong here, you are saying that in AZ you perceive people being of tolerant of you. For me tolerance does not equal acceptance though. I've lived in AZ for nine months and I don't see a lot of acceptance of gays or people of color here. It really came down to that for my gf and I. We choose not to live here because of that.