My wife has been accepted to a doctoral program that is very well funded and is ranked number 1 in her field. Which is great! But it's in Nashville. Is anyone here from Nashville or the surrounding area? Anyone from the south? From a non-marriage equality, red state? Is life basically fine as an out person? Would our sons face any issues (they are only babies now but they will be toddlers soon)?
Post by bmorecharming on Feb 12, 2015 13:03:09 GMT -5
I can only provide second-hand knowledge, but I've known quite a few out people who love living in Nashville (roller derby world). I was also there a couple years ago with my partner and had a great time and found every place we visited to be very accepting and open. Hopefully others can give you more info, but good luck I love Nashville!
My wife has been accepted to a doctoral program that is very well funded and is ranked number 1 in her field. Which is great! But it's in Nashville. Is anyone here from Nashville or the surrounding area? Anyone from the south? From a non-marriage equality, red state? Is life basically fine as an out person? Would our sons face any issues (they are only babies now but they will be toddlers soon)?
How exciting for your wife, what a great accomplishment!
I'm not from Nashville, but I'm in a fellow red, non equality state- TX. We were scared about moving here, it was an unknown how we would be treated, but I'm happy to say that except for the rare occasion, its been no different than where we were before! Now, we are in a big city, which is diverse, so that probably helps. I think being in a college area will be a plus, unless its a religious school, college towns/areas tend to be a bit more liberal leaning. My only con has been at work- I work with quite a few conservative, opinionated, fox news only watching guys and being open/out at work has been a bit of a challenge. I know they have an opinion, occasionally I get a side eye look when talking about my wife, but for the most part they keep their opinions to themselves or at least from me.
Any chance you can go visit to scoop it out? Maybe see if there is an LGBT parent group in the area or a Facebook page, might help you get an idea of what the area is like that way.
Post by sickofthebump on Feb 12, 2015 20:03:02 GMT -5
I live in a red state somewhat close to Tennessee and I would say in my experience it really depends on the city/area. In the big cities it's usually a lot better, although sometimes suburbs can vary. And college towns are usually good.
Vanderbilt is there, so that's good. Plus, I think there is some entertainment industry there related to the Country music scene, which although that's not exactly Hollywood liberal, I would think having that there would make it more liberal. iDK. I used to live in CA a while ago, before I was out. And I would say overall, of course CA is better, but I've seen prejudice people everywhere and open minded people everywhere. I think there really aren't that many more prejudice people. The hardest thing for me is not having equal protection under the laws.
Luckily, we haven't had any issues here. Good luck and congrats to your wife!
RM80 my wife is in Nashville now for the weekend. I wish I could have gone too but the boys can't fly until we are out of cold and flu season. Mostly she went to meet with the faculty and tour the school but she will also explore the city. I just spoke with her and she seems to be loving it so far.
sickofthebump lack of equal protection under the law is a big concern for me! Hopefully the Supreme Court ruling in June will make marriage equality the law of the land but I worry about our marriage not being recognized and and our children being treated differently for having two moms. bmorecharming your post is exactly what I hoped to see! I'm glad you have enjoyed Nashville and felt comfortable there.
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