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Madison did, along with Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis. Yet Milwaukee didn’t make Kompes’ list of top cities. Several stores and cafes in the Third Ward and Walker’s Point are gay-owned or supported by gay investors, and several high schools, such as Shorewood, have gay-straight alliance groups. Still, Milwaukee has more than a dozen gay bars and an increasing number of places boasting mixed gay-straight environments, such as Art Bar and Trocadero. They were hit with a car driven by a man yelling anti-lesbian slurs. Even in the city, he points to incidents like one last January when three women were injured outside a Walker’s Point bar. So-called gay ghettos are “empowering,” says Gregory Kompes, author of 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live, providing an area where gays feel comfortable being themselves.īut in Milwaukee’s suburbs, being gay is “still incredibly taboo,” Flaherty says. Over a dozen bars and clubs, such as La Cage, are located there. The Walker’s Point area near South Second Street made the 2006 top emerging “gay ghettos” list by. “Your neighbors will probably accept you you won’t get funny looks going out to a romantic dinner.” You have the East Side, North Shore, Third Ward, Bay View and Washington Heights, where “you probably can get away with some public displays of affection,” Flaherty says. “There’s really two Milwaukees,” says Patrick Flaherty, director of community relations for the Milwaukee Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center. Even as experts say Milwaukee must combat a brain drain to build a new economy, some residents wouldn’t want more college graduates if they’re gay. The city trails the nation in providing domestic partner benefits, yet the state has seen a spike in the number of people reporting same-sex relationships. But sometimes it’s hard to ignore the name-calling and graffiti in his neighborhood.ĭepending on which experts you believe, Milwaukee is everything from a great to a poor place for gays. He says Milwaukee, where he moved from Racine at age 18, is relatively gay-friendly, and more livable than places like San Francisco and South Beach, Fla. “That’s the East Side for you,” Wolter says.Īnd yet, three red letters – “F … A … G” – spray painted on a run-down warehouse just down the way, near trendy eatery The Good Life, remind Wolter that his sexuality is still unwelcome to many.Ī fit, well-dressed 24-year-old who works 10 shifts per week waiting tables and bartending, Wolter isn’t shy about his sexuality. Joshua Wolter and his group of gay and straight friends often hang out on Brady Street, where last summer at the Brady Street Festival fashion show two males kissed on stage.