FL residents - talk to me

[Scuttle]

We are thinking about moving to FL (we love Celebration) and we are trying to gauge the level of acceptance we may or may not be up against. We are used to living in NY where we have had virtually no discrimination based on our two mom family. Our children have had no issues making friends with all sorts of families.

Can I expect the same thing in FL?! Are there places in FL that would be better than others?! Are there places that we should avoid all together?! We would like to be close to WDW as we are huge Disney fans. But living anywhere in FL is way closer than living in NY! :

We have always known FL to be a "red state" but for those that actually live there, are you out and about and comfortable?!

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Hulkling]

Unfortunately in my area of florida(near Tampa) you can't expect that level of acceptance no. I don't know for certain about the celebration area. But having heard comments from ignorant people in the mall and other public places I can tell you in my neck of the woods is not a very accepting area.

 

[Tinkerboy00]

Ive lived in Gainesville (from there and still have family and friends there) and we lived in Orlando (including Celebration).

I found the acceptance in the Orlando area to be mostly that people were accepting. There is a lot of latins now in the area, and sometimes the men don't act too nicely to us (being a gay male couple). But we never had issues. We lived in the Hunters Creek area for awhile.

When I lived in Celebration we were accepted very well.

Gainesville is a great city (we keep thinking about moving back, but the jobs there are few and far between). Gville is a small town but the University of Florida is there. Lots of great groups, restaurants, community things to do, and a great gay bar/club (University Club).

When you get into the smaller communities around Orlando and Gainesville, of course you get more "rednecks" and not so much tolerance.

I think the Orlando area has a HUGE gay population/community (most working at Disney too haha). You just have to be very careful about what areas, as some are nicer and more accepting. We keep thinking we want to move back. We miss being able to go to the parks anytime we want.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I can't speak for the Orlando area but Miami is mostly accepting. I agree with the PP that certain people are less accepting than others, and some of those people live here, but for the most part Miami is "friendly" for lack of a better term. It's not nearly so close to Disney as Celebration but it's closer than NYC!

 

[mikelan6]

The most friendly in Florida would probably be the Fort Lauderdale / Broward Country area.

It really depends on how close you want to be to WDW. Keep in mind that for me, a trip to WDW warrants an overnight stay at one of the resorts.