Sydney Named Second Best Place in the World To Be Gay

Local News, By Tim D, 18th September, 2008

Break out the champagne, Sydney has been named the second best place in the world to be gay, according to The Independent newspaper in the UK.

In a special report that included the five most improved places for gay tolerance (Delhi topping the list) and the five least gay tolerant places (led by Saudi Arabia), the London broadsheet named Sydney as the second best city in the world to be gay, just behind San Francisco.

“Things have changed enormously since the first Mardi Gras march was held in Sydney in 1978,” wrote the Independent. “Homosexuality was illegal in New South Wales until 1984, and many of the 53 protestors who were arrested lost their jobs when their pictures appeared in the newspapers. Such things are unthinkable now that lesbians and gay men are integrated into every sphere of Sydney life and Mardi Gras is a three-week long festival and the biggest dance party in the country. Oxford Street began developing as a queer district in the 1960s and today is the most visibly gay area of the city. But same-sex marriages are still not enshrined in federal law.”

One of the reasons Sydney was beaten by San Francisco is lack of government support of same-sex rights in Australia. “Now that California is one of only two states in the US which permits same-sex marriage, San Francisco has become a favourite venue to get hitched,” the Independent wrote of the top city.

The full list of the top ten best places in the world to be gay are:

1. San Francisco
2. Sydney
3. New York
4. Mykonos
5. Paris
6. Barcelona
7. Amsterdam
8. London
9. Copenhagen
10. Berlin

Come on Australia, surely we can beat the US to the top of the list! Put your thinking caps on and tell us, what are some suggestions on how Sydney can become the number one best place in the world to be gay?

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