ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the locational preferences for gays and lesbians outside the traditional lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) neighborhood clusters found in large metropolitan areas. Less effort has been focused on LGBTQ populations in smaller cities and towns outside the largest metropolitan areas because they are more difficult to identify. Lynch found that gay and lesbian suburbanites tended to be more conservative and less 'out' than LGBTQ people living in larger metropolitan environments. When LGBTQ people are a part of a neighborhood with an active association that values diversity and inclusion, they may feel more comfortable in adding their voices to public decision-making. Gorman-Murray and Waitt suggest that the term 'queer-friendly' neighborhoods may be a better descriptor of suburban areas that are welcoming to queer people and where there is significant cohesion between LGBTQ and heterosexual residents. Most discussions of North American LGBTQ neighborhoods focus on the iconic queer spaces of large cities.
