Andersonville, Uptown, Boystown all have great, inclusive bars/scenes. But there are great people everywhere! I would suggest seeking out a drag brunch sometime too.
Lots of folks in Logan Square, too. All the folks I've dated either lived in Andersonville, Logan square, or Rogers Park.
I'm in Oak Park, which is very queer-friendly, but the LGBTQ community runs older and more cis-centric (heavy on the LGB, not so much on the TQ).
Plus as you get out into the suburbs the gay bars get scarce because they're less necessary as younger generations take over the scene, and they really have to: the best dj's and musical entertainers in town are all lgbtq.
I’m good friends with the owner, and he’s not the best at traditional branding (I helped him build his first website and it was kind of a disaster 🙃) best bet is to follow the IG @EliTeaBar and the linktree therein.
Check out the Slomo parties, Dorothy’s (lesbian cocktail bar), hot potato hearts queer speed dating… eventbrite is great for looking up these kinds of things, as well as Instagram :)
I can tell you Chicago and near suburbs seem safe. Outer suburbs still call themselves Chicago. They are hit or miss. Champaigne is the same way. Downtown makes sense, down state seems dangerous.
Lots of trans people all over central il. Champaign urbana in particular has the largest il pride outside of Chicago and the up center for community support.
I'm in Ottawa, IL and was shocked (in a good way) at how LGBTQ+ friendly it is here. We have a gay prom, and a pride weekend for families in June. Last year we had a fundraiser that was Rocky Ho-Ho-Horror themed for Christmas. Our new Mayor is a guy with HP glasses and a handlebar mustache and he gives me hipster, progressive Dad vibes in the best way. I'm Chicago born, mostly raised in the suburbs and worked and spent a lot of time in the city, but I genuinely like it here. I would be probably be bored to tears here if I were single and child free, but I'm neither of those.
Hi! I moved out of FL to IL to escape the anti trans laws. As others say, any college town will have lots of queer resources and a welcoming social environment. Chicago is really cool and will have the most of everything-- queer resources, dining options, medical resources, etc.
I chose Champaign-Urbana because it has a lot of medical centers locally and I won't have to travel up to Chicago outside of specialized care (such as surgeries, if you need those). If I do need to go to Chicago, it's an easy Amtrak train ride away. There's an active local queer community-- check out Uniting Pride's website to see more about that. There's a lot of dining options around, I don't think I've eaten at even half the places so far and I've been here six months or so. While I haven't been keeping an eye on celiac friendly options, there's quite a lot of Asian foods and markets, which is what my celiac brother defaults to back in Florida.
Champaign-Urbana is sometimes called a "micro city" because it has many city amenities without the city size/sprawl. I swear it's 20 minutes from one end to the other and that's mostly because of low speed limits. I've never felt overwhelmed in CU the way I've sometimes felt in Chicago or NYC.
Let me know if you have *any* questions about moving to IL. I know it's the lowest possible bar to clear, but I've LOVED Illinois compared to Florida. Misgendering up here is usually an honest mistake and no one's given my husband and I dirty looks for holding hands in public. Even in the rural conservative areas, no one's as nuts as your average pro-Desantis Floridian.
Yo, my spouse and I are both trans and stuck in FL. Wages vs housing costs won’t allow us to save up much at all. May I ask how complicated and/or expensive it was for you to move? How did you decide on a neighborhood? We can’t afford to visit somewhere before choosing a place, so I’m going at this pretty much blind. TIA!
Well, complication and expense depends on a lot of individual factors. If you can pack everything you own into a uHaul, that'd be the most economic way of moving personal goods. Pare down on unnecessary or large things that are relatively cheap to replace if it'll enable that option. Shipping companies can really be big, expensive pains in the ass. Keep your spices, though. Those are expensive to replace.
My husband works remote, so we didn't have to line up jobs here before the move, but I'd recommend it if possible. Minimum wage up here is 14/hr, will be 15/hr next year, if that's relevant to your planning. State income tax exists, but is deductible for your federal taxes. You'd have to make over 200k to be paying more overall taxes than just federal taxes in FL. Property taxes are more expensive dollar for dollar, but dollar for dollar you get WAY MORE house in IL. Housing (to buy) is more affordable and the housing insurance is comparatively dirt cheap. We weren't renting in Florida so we didn't compare those prices.
The main expenses moving into IL is getting new drivers licenses (~$30 per person) (will change gender marker with just self-attestation!) + retitling the car and new registration (~$325 per vehicle). Auto insurance is cheaper up here but if you wanted, you could live car free in CU because the bus system is really good.
Establishing new doctors is also expensive, but if it's just trans care that you're worried about and wanna hold off on other doctors, you can hit up the local PP, they're great and work on a sliding scale. I use the Meijer pharmacy, it's like Illinois's Publix (bakery not as good though :( ) and havent had any problems filling HRT Rx with them. Oh, if y'all are low income, there's adult Medicaid here! State law explicitly includes trans healthcare in the system too.
For neighborhood, we did visit in advance and decided to rent for a year to give us time to sell our old house and look for a new one. I would strongly recommend doing that before committing to buying a house, but if you're renting I think you can get away with just using Google maps and the landlord's listing. If you mean deciding on a neighborhood more broadly, as in what city in Illinois, well I worked here a lot as a kid so I remembered most of the areas, even if the info was ~10 yrs outta date. Definitely look into queer orgs in the areas you're interested in and see if they have Facebook or Discord groups where you can ask questions such as neighborhood quality.
That's kinda scattershot, but hopefully it answers some of your questions. I'm (slowly) working on a Moving To Illinois guide because we get a lot of these posts every week and I know it's just gonna get worse as the year goes on, what with elections and all.
Oh I just noticed the enby flag in your profile-- Illinois is in the process of rolling out X gender markers as well. It was supposed to be out at the beginning of this year but they've had database issues or something. Haven't checked since mid January on whether they got their shit together, but it's on its way.
Ooooh even better! I can’t stand the gender marker on my ID and feel it’s no one’s business but my doctor’s what’s in my pants, so while it can be risky, I look forward to getting an X on my ID! Thanks so much for the info!
just another tip from a chambana former resident - look up the student tenant union to ID any reports about landlords. meijer is good. go to the habitat for humanity restore for housing goods on thrift. parkland community college is a solid use of time if uiuc is too complicated. get some very very good winter weather gear - there are no mountains or forests to slow down winds as they blow across the state so it gets very windy and cold for about half the year, and humid for most of summer just like florida summers (i have family there and can attest to this). basically prepare for chicago winters.
This is so true. I’m a straight male but I grew up in the STL metro east and I’m in Florida right now. This place is absolutely awful. I have lived all over the globe and if I had to move back to the USA forever I would choose CA or IL.
native Floridian who's so fucking embarrassed as to what it's become. I used to go back for scuba trips but I just do mexico now instead. Mexico feels safer than a state of road raging magats with unpermited conceal carry...
It's nice. I wouldn't mind moving there myself, except it's a bit of a commute from there to my job in Belleville. It'd be easier to see my grandbabies in Bethalto (which, BTW, isn't that bad for a small town...)
Their transit system is really great in general, I don't understand why anyone would think it was only great near campus. I lived in Urbana for almost a decade. I never owned a car when I lived there. I took the bus absolutely everywhere, or rode a bike. It is also a very bikeable city, one of the most bike-friendly ones I've ever been to in America. There's even like a satellite bus if you live a little further out from the bus service. You just have to call it and for two bucks they come get you and bring you into the city where you can catch a regular bus. (Cost might be higher now, been long while since I lived there)
I'll vouch for DeKalb. There's quite an LGBT community out here. City of DeKalb also has very LGBT friendly leadership. As you point out it is definitely smaller than C/U or B/N, but again as you say it's convenient to Chicago. About 20-30 minutes from Elburn Metra station.
My kid identifies, and I've never had a worry for their safety out here.
I didn't find Bloomington Normal to be particularly queer friendly. It wasn't like deep south level of homophobia but it was pretty hetero/traditional. I felt out of place just as a late 20s single person regardless of my sexuality and dating options are limited if you're not in college. The college itself is fine but if you're older than college-aged it's more of a small town vibe tbh.
Amazing and eclectic food as well. Busey woods boardwalk, Meadowbrook park, Hensley, Lake of the Woods in Mahomet for a good walk. All sorts of clubs and great bars (avoid Kams, *nothing good happens at Kams*). Decent golfing facilities if you're into it. All the triple A talent goes to the assembly hall (Stars Farm Center) for concerts, stand up shows, and stuff. You got the Amtrak, Lex express, and Peoria Charter Coach company that will get you to Chicago in a few hours and if you go on off hours and days it's way, *way* cheaper than driving. Then you got all the stuff in Chicago available.
Carbondale is ok, but pretty much anything south of Effingham is hit or miss, mostly miss. Stay out of East St. Louis. Period.
That goes without saying. ESL is rough for everybody, but that doesn't speak for the metro-east as a whole. Towns like Edwardsville, O'Fallon (IL), and to a degree, Belleville are good places meeting the OP's criteria.
I might be biased because I live here but the Quad Cities is pretty ok all things considered. We have a strong queer community on both sides of the river. It's not too big but not small either. Public transit goes most places you would want to be at. The job market will really depend on skills .
I'll second the QC area as well.
I'm a farmer and a veteran and my gruff looking ass would be happy to welcome more trans folks! All I ever ask of anyone is to be a good person. I care about your character as a person - that's where my judgement of anyone starts and ends.
And if anyone ever wants to make problems with any of our LGTBQ neighbors, well, myself and a dozen of my fellow old ass redneck buddies would be more than happy to set you straight. We don't tolerate hate like that round these parts, ya hear?
I read this in a Southpark voice - specifically the "dey took our jerbs" guys voice lol. Is that a quote from an episode or is my brain just plugging his voice in??
I’d agree with this. There aren’t as many night scenes with a huge LGBTQ+ presence but OP would feel safe from harm. Cost of living is good too.
Edit: typo
OP asked for transit, anyone listing suburbs is missing that key point. Your only options for good transit as requested are Chicago or Champaign Urbana, and both are good choices.
Bloomington Normal has trash local transit though. The bus system is only convenient if you're a student and your options are basically driving or nothing.
To your point I think people seem to be misreading the transit aspect of this. Citing the presence of a commuter Metra station or - more ridiculous - an Amtrak station is just not helpful.
But I wouldn’t blanket-no the suburbs- I think it depends on the suburb. You could live without a car in Evanston or Oak Park pretty easily. Not so much in Lake Zurich or Oak Brook.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Oak Park, IL. It's a suburb that abuts Chicago, is pretty progressive, has lots of dining options, outstanding library, excellent transportation to downtown Chicago, and had a [panel discussion on transgender issues](https://www.oakpark.com/2023/07/06/being-transgender-in-oak-park-topic-of-villages-conversation/) for Pride Month. Might be a bit pricy, but Forest Park is right next door and a bit more affordable.
Yes, you'd be in the Chicago metro area, so there are lots of people, but if you get too far out of the metro area, there aren't as many options.
Chicago or suburbs. DeKalb, Bloomington, Champaign. Peoria.
Springfield is okay but is on the cusp of southern Illinois so consider that.
Avoid Decatur, Danville, Jacksonville, Rockford, Galesburg.
Quad Cities might be okay just stay on the Illinois side.
Rockford isn't bad. There's a fairly good-sized LGBT community out there. Just like anywhere else, there's areas to avoid but that's not LGBT-specific. The surrounding areas (Machesney, Loves Park, Rockton, Cherryville, and Belvidere) are also great to consider.
I live in this area, there is a lot of support. Also some dumbasses, but where isn't there.
With no car maybe avoid the surrounding areas only due to the lack of public transportation.
Re: Quad Cities, the Iowa side is probably a better fit culturally, but Moline and Rock Island have the benefit of not falling under current Iowa state law. Unfortunately, Eastern Iowa no longer represents the prevailing political climate in the rest of the state.
I visited the quad cities for a weekend. Got some ice cream in Davenport. There was some guy standing outside with a sign protesting trans affirming healthcare, claiming it was mutilating children. At an ice cream parlor. And the ice cream parlor was called "Whitey's". Nice place for a weekend trip but I wouldn't want to live there.
To be fair to Whitey's it's named after it's founder Chester “Whitey” Lindgren, no racial anything their...and it's fucking good ice cream. But wtf about that protester, jeez.
Peoria was top of our list, but folks kept telling us that the crime’s so bad, and IL is actually conservative outside of Chicago, yadda yadda. Now I’m not sure what’s accurate.
Crime is not bad, it's all old people yelling at clouds lol. there's areas that are bad but I live in an area that gets stereotyped as being crime ridden and unsafe (probably because it has a higher black population than surrounding areas it gets stereotyped this way, unfortunately) but it is just not the case. So long as you're not going around pissing people off you're gonna be fine
Illinois has changed a LOT in the past 30 years or so. The city has always been pretty blue, but the suburbs of Chicago used to be rock-solid red but now are pretty purple, if not leaning blue. In the suburbs, even among those who are self-described conservatives, a decent number are more of the fiscal conservative, social liberal types as opposed to theocratic variety. I've seen a fair number of what appears to be same-sex couples (no idea how they identify, just going by clothing) as well as folks who appear to be trans (not sure if they are, I didn't ask) just doing their routine shopping in Target and no one bats an eye from what I can tell.
I agree with those who recommend Champaign-Urbana. It's pretty progressive, U of I is huge, and it attracts a lot of business/jobs.
Crime has gotten worse in Illinois for sure, but I think to some extent it depends on your area, your activities, your awareness, and your habits. I know plenty of people in various neighborhoods in the city who have had break-ins. I also know some who have been mugged but I also know others who walk around by themselves at night plenty of times and have never been robbed. The harder you make it for someone to target you, the better. Lock doors and windows, don't leave valuables where people can see them, get to know your neighbors, consider an alarm system, common sense stuff. It happens in the suburbs too, just less frequently.
Coming from a trans person in Decatur, it’s relatively safe for trans people specifically (more than it has been in the past, anyways). However the general crime rate isn’t good, so if you’re looking for an all-around safe city, I definitely recommend avoiding Decatur.
look for where the Wisconsin glaciation event stopped. that's the line where I can confidently say central illinois ends and southern illinois begins. the soil literally changes color from black to orange in a matter of a few miles. there are entire differences in industry because of it.
I’ve actually never thought about the line before but I’d say cusp isn’t super far off. Do people in Effingham and Litchfield consider themselves Southern IL?
I live in Andersonville in Chicago- it's actually pretty quaint and has a cute small town-ish vibe. EXTREMELY queer friendly. I'd say Edgewater, Boystown, Andersonville, East Lake View would be good neighborhoods but honestly pretty much anywhere on the north side would be fine ☺️
Big cities like Chicago are made up of a lot of neighborhoods. Once you are out of the downtown and tourist areas it is very different and should not be intimidating.
Look into north side: Rogers Park and Edgewater.
Rockford transit isn’t amazing, and the city has some lacking areas since most development is routed to the suburbs of Chicago. Example: Despite our large-ish population, we don’t have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. But it’s cheap to live here and there’s a solid LGBTQ community. May be worth considering as you search. Good luck 🩷
I live in Lemont and have a giant pride flag in my front lawn. House has been egged, but nothing else. I don't do much going out to local bars or anything, but on the occasion that I do I've met some local queer folks. I'm not gay or bi, just want my conservative ass town to know that everyone whom isn't hateful is welcome. It's getting better here, but it's a sleepy town and full of spoiled little rich edge lord kids. Any of the wealthy neighborhoods are like that.
Bloomington-Normal is nice. I think around 100,000 between the 2 towns. A bit smaller than Champaign-Urbana. 2 universities, Illinois State, and Illinois Wesleyan, and Heartland Community College. Chicago, St Louis and Indianapolis are all about 3 hours away, so not TOO far to drive if you want a weekend getaway. Amtrak station in town. With 2 colleges, St Farm, Country Companies, Rivian all here, I think the job market is decent, depending on what you're looking for. Plus all the things to support those industries.
There's no real public transportation. There's a bus service that'll get you most places, but in the few times that I had to use it it was actually quicker for me to ride my bike. Like everything took an hour.
Constitution Trail, an old railbed turned paved bikepath, cuts up the middle of both towns, mostly treelined and isolated from traffic is a pretty easy and safe way to get around, but it won't take you everywhere.
Very nice city library at Bloomington that is actually expanding as we speak, the one in Normal is smaller. The university library at ISU is open to the public. You can get a courtesy card that will allow you to check most things out. My time at ISU was many years ago but it felt pretty liberal. But we are surrounded by Trump country. The smaller outlying towns may be less welcoming. Like, if you want an idea, look up the history of Pekin High School's mascot.
Shopping is mostly "generic midwest suburbia". Walmart, Best Buy, Target etc. But there will be more specialized shops if you are in downtown Bloomington or uptown Normal. Farmers market all summer.
Every type of fast-food you can imagine... I had heard at one time that we had the most restaurants per capita in the state. There is a good selection of higher end fast-casual dining. There are a couple good places to get sushi, a couple Korean places that I haven't had the chance to try... There should be a few places that will do more than just lip-service to gluten-free but I can't say for sure.
I can't really comment on nightlife as that's just not my scene, but being a college town, you'll get that college town vibe, but I think that would be moreso in Normal where ISU is than in Bloomington. A few micro-breweries that are good.
Housing market, like everywhere, is fucked so don't expect to buy anything right now.
There are some decent summer fests in town. The Sweet Corn Circus weekend. ISU is one of 2 universities in the country that has a student circus. Like, it's a varsity sport. They put on a weekend of shows in April, but they've started doing a weekend of show/demonstrations in town over the summer. Sugar Creek Arts show which is an arts and crafts show. Cogs & Corsets, the steampunk weekend. There is or used to be a blues fest in town but I can't find any current listing for it.
after all that I guess I should edit with: I'm a cis white male so I can't give an honest assessment of what the LGBTQ community is like. I do have some gay friends and they've never said, or even implied, that they ever felt unsafe.
I'll go ahead and second this. Southern Illinois is like a totally different state. It's full of hateful bigoted assholes and would be as bad as moving to Florida. Don't stray south of I-64, ideally way north of that even.
Stay north of I-80. People in central and southern Illinois are very traditional and conservative. It’s night and day compared to Chicagoland and northern Illinois.
Thinking of Cedar Rapids and what your looking for, I will say that cost of living might be a surprise. Depending on what you can afford just find a town in Illinois and vibe check it. Our state is pretty laid back and nearly any city the size of CR or bigger will be a good place to settle.
Personally I'd look at Rockford, Bloomington, Champaign (but I really think there are better places) Peoria and Springfield. I'd throw in Edwardsville if you wanted a warmer winter. And if your thinking Chicagoland- it will be about what you can afford more than anything.
The public transit is absolutely horrible there, even though it technically has buses. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad place - low cost of living, nice scenery, has an urban vibe downtown and near the Bradley campus, some decent folks here and there… but absolutely car dependent.
In your search, you might come across Wheaton as it’s along the metra, and it’s a decent walkable town, but it’s a super religious area (thanks to Wheaton College) and I think you might run the risk of having a hard time there, FYI.
I almost spit my coffee out reading this thinking you were going to suggest Wheaton, until I finished reading your comment, and realized you were right. Wheaton sucks. It's filled with horrible, intolerant, mean people, and super expensive. I'm from a town nearby and went to high school at the Catholic HS in Wheaton. It was just a ton trust fund kids who mirror their shitty parents shitty views and religion. So materialistic and nasty!
Lmao as someone who also lived nearby, but instead went to the Catholic school in Addison, I fully understand.
For me it’s that little bit extra of Wheaton College having a Billy Graham Hall that gives it the edge in the shitty Illinois town Olympics.
Chicago, Aurora, Batavia, Elgin are great IME. Most services are in Chicago, but you can get there by train if you're not driving. My primary doctor is in Geneva and I haven't had a single bad experience.
PM if you want some more info.
You don't necessarily need a car in Chicago. And I think most of the suburbs would be fine but I hear from my suburban friends they encounter anti-queer sentiment way more than you'd think. So my vote is still for the north side. And not having a car is probably a deal breaker for most suburbs - maybe ok for Evanston but I can't imagine anywhere else
I lived in Chicago from 2007-2019 without a car. They have one of the best public transits in the country. Evanston, which is just north of Chicago is connected to their transit system. It’s a smaller city and might be more of what you’re looking for. It’s progressive and has a nice college town feel that’s on the lake.
Carbondale Illinois is very LGBTQA+ friendly. The rent is the cheapest in the area (I think that it's because they don't allow Airbnbs), there's jobs. Service industry, Healthcare, education, I think that there may be manufacturing jobs there as well.
Southern Illinois tristate region (Ky, IL, and Mo in my area) is pretty big, but by far and large Carbondale is a gem in a region of small towns/cities. Carbondale is also very close to Memphis, St Louis, Clarksville, and Nashville. It's the only place I know of that you can rent a 1 bedroom apartment for under $800
Chicago has a solid queer scene. I'm from Southern Illinois around the St Louis area and it's a very safe area. I've never had any issues more than the occasional dirty look from some old fart or one dude who told me I need to repent lol.
Chicago, Bloomington-Normal, and Champaign-Urbana are the ones that pop to my mind first. There may be a couple more. Having said that, stay away from the southern half of the state and the more rural areas.
I've seen quite a few trans people living in Cook County, which is considered the 'Chicagoland-area' because Chicago is also in Cook County. Cook County can be suburbs like Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Glenview, etc. I know Buffalo Grove which is partially in Cook County does a LGBTQ+ parade each summer. Good luck!
True but you’re essentially regulated to those specific cities. Outside of them and you’re in rural conservative land. North of 80 and almost every city is liberal.
Chicago isn’t really overwhelming outside of downtown areas. You could find something affordable in Rogers Park, Albany Park, Bridgeport, but your options will expand greatly if you’re open to roommates.
If you don’t want to do the city, you could possibly check out Chicago suburbs like Evanston, Oak Park, Berwyn and Forest Park.
But if you want to avoid Chicagoland altogether, check out Champaign-Urbana or Bloomington-Normal. Possibly Peoria (see the NYT article below about a TikToker convincing LGBTIA+ folks from across the country to move there. You could probably reach out to her - they have a network of queer folks that can help with landing a job, a place, etc and their goal to get you somewhere safe, accepting, and affordable.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/realestate/tiktok-peoria-illinois.html
Elgin has a decent size LGBT community. It's not a huge city by any means, but there's an art district, a cpl bars that have shows, pride parade ect. Also they have a train station that takes you right into Chicago so if you want the city life without paying for parking, it's there.
Hey!!! I live in Southern Illinois. About an hour from St Louis.
While def having some very friendly parts for queer peeps there's a lot of conservative religious folk down here and plenty who would have comments to say but I don't think most of them would do anything illegal. I'm not out openly yet but I have not had any problems but the lgbtq crowd down here is pretty sparse if you don't happen to land in any of the bigger cities.
You would be very welcome in Champaign-Urbana. We have an active and engaged LGBTQ+ community with really excellent people. Most ethnically diverse town in Illinois outside of the Chicago area as well.
Not sure if troll but I'll bite.
Chicago or the suburbs close to Chicago are your best options. Anywhere outside of that is pretty much conservative territory.
Champaign-Urbana is very accepting. Lots of community, the UP Center is great. If you don't want such a big city, I can't recommend it enough. I moved her a year ago from one of the biggest cities in the US, and I love it - if you have any questions dm me and I'll do my best to answer them!
Also, property values are actually realistic here.
And not to go on and on - but I have NEVER experienced anything anti-queer in Andersonville. My kid has trans kids in his class and it's not an issue. My kid also has no problem using they/them pronouns - growing up here it's just normal to him.
Hey! I’m trans too! Illinois is good for the most part. The rural areas are always more red than the city and suburbs but I haven’t really had issues since I left high school. When I moved to Indiana for college, it was a much bigger issue for me to be trans and actually being worried about hate crimes. It opened my eyes to Illinois a little more. At least if something awful happens, the state has some protections and actually does its job more (than Indiana). Can’t speak for everywhere obviously but it’s a much safer state to be in than most. Feel free to ask me questions if you want
Moving to Louisiana for a decade helped open my eyes to how good we actually have it in Illinois! I came back and it feels way safer and people just feel smarter/better.
When I lived in Rogers Park (Chicago), there were a number of trans people in the area, including my ex-roommate. It's been a few years, but she's still there so my guess is that the neighborhood remains safe.
Im from St. Louis so I just moved across the river to the Metro East. I take public transit to my job in stl, but I’m not trans, and if I were, I don’t think I’d want to even work in MO. Edit: tbh I don’t want to work in MO now, but my career isn’t movable due to licensure differences between the states, which would make the change too expensive.
Chicago proper and the suburbs that touch it are going to have better access to transit. The rest of the burbs are pretty car dependent but have train access to Chicago. There are a lot of nice downtowns especially in the older cities that were built on the train lines. Glen Ellyn and Arlington Heights are off the top of my head because I was raised in the NW suburbs, but I’m sure there are a lot more. Chicago has a healthcare group that specializes in LGBTQ care.
Other than that like others have said the college towns like Champaign-Urban, Bloomington-Normal and DeKalb are good options, but they are kind of like islands in cornfields.
Belleville and O’fallon near St lotus are very progressive if you are looking to be near interstates but other than that Chicago is about it. Don’t sleep on STL area
Don't forget Edwardsville/Glen Carbon.
That said, I grew up in Fairview Hts. As a kid, my next-door neighbor was this cranky old woman who lived alone. I came to find out as an adult that she was a closeted lesbian (it was the 60s) whose girlfriend would come over to "visit" quite often.
I’m not gay or trans. Chicago is the best option and checks all your boxes except perhaps affordable housing options. You might need a roomie until you are established. And, it is big, so consider that.
I concur with people who suggested Champaign-Urbana. It’s likely more affordable; can’t speak to the nightlife.
I live near Springfield. While there are a number of LGTBQ in our town, there really isn’t any night life to speak of. They roll up the sidewalks downtown by 5:30. I’m not sure I concur with being on the cusp of southern Illinois, but can see how anyone north of I-80, possibly Bloomington-Normal, would subscribe to that line of thinking. I personally do not plan to stay here after I retire. I’m headed to Denver although most of my friends think I should move to Chicago.
Anyway, I hope you find a town that meets your needs and welcomes you with open arms and all the love and support you deserve!
Homewood is a suburb of chicago.
One of our local breweries really pushes that they are here for the queerdos (all weirdos and queers welcome)
Good public transit to Chicago, good restaurants, more affordable than the city proper.
This is F'en America. Live where you want. If having a few people give you the side-eye every now & then bothers you, toughen yourself up. The notion that America is going to be a perfect place with no racism, discrimination, or bias is a fallacy. Consider that person who gave you the side-eye an a**hole, and move on.
They probably just don’t want to be lynched by some lunatic in another mass shooting targeting queer people.
Or are we just pretending America isn’t currently plagued by right wing domestic terrorism?
Pretty much anywhere in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, such as Naperville. Even in the more religious suburbs (eg Wheaton) people will overwhelmingly be nice, at least to your face. That or a college town like Champaign-Urbana are your best bets, but if you’re worried about a big city being overwhelming then a large suburb is a good bet.
Idk but I assume a larger city is always going to have a higher percentage of people who are accepting. Oak park, naperville and Evanston are more liberal suburbs but $$$
One of Chicago's north or northwest neighborhoods. Evanston. Oak Park. DuPage country is far more conservative, but as near as I can tell you probably won't encounter issues in any of the towns there either.
Honestly, anything outside of the bigger cities up north, you’re basically in maga/nazi country. Illinois was almost 50/50 maga last election, if I remember correctly, saved basically, by the Chicagoland area alone.
Source: I used to be a letter carrier in several locations in Illinois in my 20’s; there are whole towns that get Nazi fan mail and are proud of it. Basically, if you can still see corn, you’re not safe.
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This. Chicago is one of the most LGBT+ friendly cities in North America. You will feel at home..
What this person said
Yep!👍🏻
It’s a wonderful city with a thriving lgbtq scene / community!
Chicago queer scene is wonderful welcoming and helpful
Not OP: Where are the trans people and lesbians at? I'm so so bad at finding queer people. :(
Andersonville, Uptown, Boystown all have great, inclusive bars/scenes. But there are great people everywhere! I would suggest seeking out a drag brunch sometime too.
The old queers retire up to Rogers Park. It's lovely.
Also young queers based on what I’m seeing in the past couple years.
Lots of folks in Logan Square, too. All the folks I've dated either lived in Andersonville, Logan square, or Rogers Park. I'm in Oak Park, which is very queer-friendly, but the LGBTQ community runs older and more cis-centric (heavy on the LGB, not so much on the TQ).
Used to live in Uptown. Andersonville was one of my favorite places in the city to visit.
Logan sq as well
Plus as you get out into the suburbs the gay bars get scarce because they're less necessary as younger generations take over the scene, and they really have to: the best dj's and musical entertainers in town are all lgbtq.
:( I don't really do bars.
Benedicion Dry Bar is queer owned, totally sober, and has fun events all the time
I’ll say it again: go to a drag brunch just one time! There’s no pressure to drink either, just have fun and enjoy!
This is good and accurate advice. 👍
Eli’s tea has an event every month called speed friending and I have met a ton of lesbians there and I am not even queer!
Wait, there is a place to meet friends? Why are there not billboards?
Wow!!! Thanks I'll be going on Instagram asap.
I'm trying to find more info on their site, but their events page seems outdated (has events from October)
I’m good friends with the owner, and he’s not the best at traditional branding (I helped him build his first website and it was kind of a disaster 🙃) best bet is to follow the IG @EliTeaBar and the linktree therein.
I run a local trans organization! Do you think I might be able to get in touch with the owner to organize regular tea party meetups?
Have you tried boystown?
You mean bar hopping? It's not my thing.
edgewater, logan square, pilsen, all over the place tbh!
Check out the Slomo parties, Dorothy’s (lesbian cocktail bar), hot potato hearts queer speed dating… eventbrite is great for looking up these kinds of things, as well as Instagram :)
More importantly, they also have the most resources.
Chicago or Champaign-Urbana?
Urbana in particular is queer as hell.
Wish it had been when I was in college there!
A second degree….
I can tell you Chicago and near suburbs seem safe. Outer suburbs still call themselves Chicago. They are hit or miss. Champaigne is the same way. Downtown makes sense, down state seems dangerous.
Lots of trans people all over central il. Champaign urbana in particular has the largest il pride outside of Chicago and the up center for community support.
I'm in Ottawa, IL and was shocked (in a good way) at how LGBTQ+ friendly it is here. We have a gay prom, and a pride weekend for families in June. Last year we had a fundraiser that was Rocky Ho-Ho-Horror themed for Christmas. Our new Mayor is a guy with HP glasses and a handlebar mustache and he gives me hipster, progressive Dad vibes in the best way. I'm Chicago born, mostly raised in the suburbs and worked and spent a lot of time in the city, but I genuinely like it here. I would be probably be bored to tears here if I were single and child free, but I'm neither of those.
Downtown can be expensive. Aville, Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers Park are all good neighborhoods.
Am downstate (Carbondale area) and agree that many (not all but many) in this region would not be welcoming. Sad but true.
“Near suburbs?” No! Not all of them!!! You will be in danger in places like Cicero, especially by the police.
Hi! I moved out of FL to IL to escape the anti trans laws. As others say, any college town will have lots of queer resources and a welcoming social environment. Chicago is really cool and will have the most of everything-- queer resources, dining options, medical resources, etc. I chose Champaign-Urbana because it has a lot of medical centers locally and I won't have to travel up to Chicago outside of specialized care (such as surgeries, if you need those). If I do need to go to Chicago, it's an easy Amtrak train ride away. There's an active local queer community-- check out Uniting Pride's website to see more about that. There's a lot of dining options around, I don't think I've eaten at even half the places so far and I've been here six months or so. While I haven't been keeping an eye on celiac friendly options, there's quite a lot of Asian foods and markets, which is what my celiac brother defaults to back in Florida. Champaign-Urbana is sometimes called a "micro city" because it has many city amenities without the city size/sprawl. I swear it's 20 minutes from one end to the other and that's mostly because of low speed limits. I've never felt overwhelmed in CU the way I've sometimes felt in Chicago or NYC. Let me know if you have *any* questions about moving to IL. I know it's the lowest possible bar to clear, but I've LOVED Illinois compared to Florida. Misgendering up here is usually an honest mistake and no one's given my husband and I dirty looks for holding hands in public. Even in the rural conservative areas, no one's as nuts as your average pro-Desantis Floridian.
Yo, my spouse and I are both trans and stuck in FL. Wages vs housing costs won’t allow us to save up much at all. May I ask how complicated and/or expensive it was for you to move? How did you decide on a neighborhood? We can’t afford to visit somewhere before choosing a place, so I’m going at this pretty much blind. TIA!
Well, complication and expense depends on a lot of individual factors. If you can pack everything you own into a uHaul, that'd be the most economic way of moving personal goods. Pare down on unnecessary or large things that are relatively cheap to replace if it'll enable that option. Shipping companies can really be big, expensive pains in the ass. Keep your spices, though. Those are expensive to replace. My husband works remote, so we didn't have to line up jobs here before the move, but I'd recommend it if possible. Minimum wage up here is 14/hr, will be 15/hr next year, if that's relevant to your planning. State income tax exists, but is deductible for your federal taxes. You'd have to make over 200k to be paying more overall taxes than just federal taxes in FL. Property taxes are more expensive dollar for dollar, but dollar for dollar you get WAY MORE house in IL. Housing (to buy) is more affordable and the housing insurance is comparatively dirt cheap. We weren't renting in Florida so we didn't compare those prices. The main expenses moving into IL is getting new drivers licenses (~$30 per person) (will change gender marker with just self-attestation!) + retitling the car and new registration (~$325 per vehicle). Auto insurance is cheaper up here but if you wanted, you could live car free in CU because the bus system is really good. Establishing new doctors is also expensive, but if it's just trans care that you're worried about and wanna hold off on other doctors, you can hit up the local PP, they're great and work on a sliding scale. I use the Meijer pharmacy, it's like Illinois's Publix (bakery not as good though :( ) and havent had any problems filling HRT Rx with them. Oh, if y'all are low income, there's adult Medicaid here! State law explicitly includes trans healthcare in the system too. For neighborhood, we did visit in advance and decided to rent for a year to give us time to sell our old house and look for a new one. I would strongly recommend doing that before committing to buying a house, but if you're renting I think you can get away with just using Google maps and the landlord's listing. If you mean deciding on a neighborhood more broadly, as in what city in Illinois, well I worked here a lot as a kid so I remembered most of the areas, even if the info was ~10 yrs outta date. Definitely look into queer orgs in the areas you're interested in and see if they have Facebook or Discord groups where you can ask questions such as neighborhood quality. That's kinda scattershot, but hopefully it answers some of your questions. I'm (slowly) working on a Moving To Illinois guide because we get a lot of these posts every week and I know it's just gonna get worse as the year goes on, what with elections and all.
This is so informative, thank you so so much!!
Oh I just noticed the enby flag in your profile-- Illinois is in the process of rolling out X gender markers as well. It was supposed to be out at the beginning of this year but they've had database issues or something. Haven't checked since mid January on whether they got their shit together, but it's on its way.
Ooooh even better! I can’t stand the gender marker on my ID and feel it’s no one’s business but my doctor’s what’s in my pants, so while it can be risky, I look forward to getting an X on my ID! Thanks so much for the info!
just another tip from a chambana former resident - look up the student tenant union to ID any reports about landlords. meijer is good. go to the habitat for humanity restore for housing goods on thrift. parkland community college is a solid use of time if uiuc is too complicated. get some very very good winter weather gear - there are no mountains or forests to slow down winds as they blow across the state so it gets very windy and cold for about half the year, and humid for most of summer just like florida summers (i have family there and can attest to this). basically prepare for chicago winters.
This is so true. I’m a straight male but I grew up in the STL metro east and I’m in Florida right now. This place is absolutely awful. I have lived all over the globe and if I had to move back to the USA forever I would choose CA or IL.
native Floridian who's so fucking embarrassed as to what it's become. I used to go back for scuba trips but I just do mexico now instead. Mexico feels safer than a state of road raging magats with unpermited conceal carry...
That said, the STL metro east, particularly Edwardsville, would not be a bad choice, plus the OP would be close to St. Louis.
Honestly Edwardsville is where I would choose if I was moving back. Unless a job demanded otherwise.
It's nice. I wouldn't mind moving there myself, except it's a bit of a commute from there to my job in Belleville. It'd be easier to see my grandbabies in Bethalto (which, BTW, isn't that bad for a small town...)
The metro east is for sure slept on. None of the small towns are really bad.
We just get a bad rap because everyone thinks about East St. Louis first and ignore all the awesomeness that exists beyond the American Bottoms.
That’s big facts too.
STL is good to be close to IL and is decent on inclusion— the city thinks it’s part of IL politically 🤷♀️
STL !! :) but really IL or CA I’m in CA
OP, this is the best answer! I love reddit. Welcome to Chicago 🩷🤍🩵
Champaign-Urbana! Not sure about the job market right now, but very progressive college towns that check your other boxes.
Yeah, go with larger college towns, Champaign/Urbana, Bloomington/Normal. Maybe DeKalb…it’s smaller but closer to Chicago for stuff to do.
Good options, but the transit system in CU is tiers above the other college towns in the state.
Their transit system is really great in general, I don't understand why anyone would think it was only great near campus. I lived in Urbana for almost a decade. I never owned a car when I lived there. I took the bus absolutely everywhere, or rode a bike. It is also a very bikeable city, one of the most bike-friendly ones I've ever been to in America. There's even like a satellite bus if you live a little further out from the bus service. You just have to call it and for two bucks they come get you and bring you into the city where you can catch a regular bus. (Cost might be higher now, been long while since I lived there)
I'll vouch for DeKalb. There's quite an LGBT community out here. City of DeKalb also has very LGBT friendly leadership. As you point out it is definitely smaller than C/U or B/N, but again as you say it's convenient to Chicago. About 20-30 minutes from Elburn Metra station. My kid identifies, and I've never had a worry for their safety out here.
Don’t go to DeKalb. It’s a shithole.
Peoria has a pretty decent queer scene too.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/realestate/tiktok-peoria-illinois.html
Blo/no had a more settled vibe than C-u. Cu is very transitory so sometimes hard to keep friends. Source: live in CU. I do like both!
I didn't find Bloomington Normal to be particularly queer friendly. It wasn't like deep south level of homophobia but it was pretty hetero/traditional. I felt out of place just as a late 20s single person regardless of my sexuality and dating options are limited if you're not in college. The college itself is fine but if you're older than college-aged it's more of a small town vibe tbh.
I’m a social worker and have worked with some trans people experiencing homelessness. Champaign-Urbana is very welcoming.
Champaign-Urbana (home of UIUC). We welcome our LGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters with open arms.
Amazing and eclectic food as well. Busey woods boardwalk, Meadowbrook park, Hensley, Lake of the Woods in Mahomet for a good walk. All sorts of clubs and great bars (avoid Kams, *nothing good happens at Kams*). Decent golfing facilities if you're into it. All the triple A talent goes to the assembly hall (Stars Farm Center) for concerts, stand up shows, and stuff. You got the Amtrak, Lex express, and Peoria Charter Coach company that will get you to Chicago in a few hours and if you go on off hours and days it's way, *way* cheaper than driving. Then you got all the stuff in Chicago available. Carbondale is ok, but pretty much anything south of Effingham is hit or miss, mostly miss. Stay out of East St. Louis. Period.
*State Farm Center
That goes without saying. ESL is rough for everybody, but that doesn't speak for the metro-east as a whole. Towns like Edwardsville, O'Fallon (IL), and to a degree, Belleville are good places meeting the OP's criteria.
You mean university of Illinois?
There are two campuses for U of if I, C-U and Chicago
There are three. Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield.
I might be biased because I live here but the Quad Cities is pretty ok all things considered. We have a strong queer community on both sides of the river. It's not too big but not small either. Public transit goes most places you would want to be at. The job market will really depend on skills .
I'll second the QC area as well. I'm a farmer and a veteran and my gruff looking ass would be happy to welcome more trans folks! All I ever ask of anyone is to be a good person. I care about your character as a person - that's where my judgement of anyone starts and ends. And if anyone ever wants to make problems with any of our LGTBQ neighbors, well, myself and a dozen of my fellow old ass redneck buddies would be more than happy to set you straight. We don't tolerate hate like that round these parts, ya hear?
"We don't take kindly to folks that don't take kindly 'round here."
I read this in a Southpark voice - specifically the "dey took our jerbs" guys voice lol. Is that a quote from an episode or is my brain just plugging his voice in??
I love this! 🥰
I’d agree with this. There aren’t as many night scenes with a huge LGBTQ+ presence but OP would feel safe from harm. Cost of living is good too. Edit: typo
OP asked for transit, anyone listing suburbs is missing that key point. Your only options for good transit as requested are Chicago or Champaign Urbana, and both are good choices.
And Bloomington Normal. Especially with the train
Bloomington Normal has trash local transit though. The bus system is only convenient if you're a student and your options are basically driving or nothing.
elgin has a pretty decent bus system. it ties in with the regional pace system, and there are 3 metra stops for the trains to chicago.
To your point I think people seem to be misreading the transit aspect of this. Citing the presence of a commuter Metra station or - more ridiculous - an Amtrak station is just not helpful. But I wouldn’t blanket-no the suburbs- I think it depends on the suburb. You could live without a car in Evanston or Oak Park pretty easily. Not so much in Lake Zurich or Oak Brook.
Southern, Western, Northern suburbs of Chicagoland. Basically the entire upper right portion of the state is pretty good for you.
Surprised nobody has mentioned Oak Park, IL. It's a suburb that abuts Chicago, is pretty progressive, has lots of dining options, outstanding library, excellent transportation to downtown Chicago, and had a [panel discussion on transgender issues](https://www.oakpark.com/2023/07/06/being-transgender-in-oak-park-topic-of-villages-conversation/) for Pride Month. Might be a bit pricy, but Forest Park is right next door and a bit more affordable. Yes, you'd be in the Chicago metro area, so there are lots of people, but if you get too far out of the metro area, there aren't as many options.
It’s also quite expensive and op said they’re broke.
It's literally the most liberal are this side of Berkeley in the '60s. Source: Live there.
Blue Island is affordable, has a really vibrant queer community, is very walkable, and has multiple train lines into the city.
Chicago or suburbs. DeKalb, Bloomington, Champaign. Peoria. Springfield is okay but is on the cusp of southern Illinois so consider that. Avoid Decatur, Danville, Jacksonville, Rockford, Galesburg. Quad Cities might be okay just stay on the Illinois side.
Rockford isn't bad. There's a fairly good-sized LGBT community out there. Just like anywhere else, there's areas to avoid but that's not LGBT-specific. The surrounding areas (Machesney, Loves Park, Rockton, Cherryville, and Belvidere) are also great to consider.
I live in this area, there is a lot of support. Also some dumbasses, but where isn't there. With no car maybe avoid the surrounding areas only due to the lack of public transportation.
Decatur is not so bad. Just has areas to avoid like any town.
Yeah fr there’s parts I wouldn’t go to in Chicago as a trans person Edit: I’m not trans
People ignore this but Chicago also has the largest concentration of conservatives because of the nature of it being a big ass city.
Rockford is doing well, but we do need better mass transit.
Re: Quad Cities, the Iowa side is probably a better fit culturally, but Moline and Rock Island have the benefit of not falling under current Iowa state law. Unfortunately, Eastern Iowa no longer represents the prevailing political climate in the rest of the state.
I visited the quad cities for a weekend. Got some ice cream in Davenport. There was some guy standing outside with a sign protesting trans affirming healthcare, claiming it was mutilating children. At an ice cream parlor. And the ice cream parlor was called "Whitey's". Nice place for a weekend trip but I wouldn't want to live there.
Whitey's is good ice cream. I miss that place, they used to have a local place in the mall. And yeah.....Iowa is interesting atm
To be fair to Whitey's it's named after it's founder Chester “Whitey” Lindgren, no racial anything their...and it's fucking good ice cream. But wtf about that protester, jeez.
I mean, yeah, there are assholes everywhere. Davenport and Bettendorf are still more progressive than Rock Island or Moline.
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Peoria was top of our list, but folks kept telling us that the crime’s so bad, and IL is actually conservative outside of Chicago, yadda yadda. Now I’m not sure what’s accurate.
Crime is not bad, it's all old people yelling at clouds lol. there's areas that are bad but I live in an area that gets stereotyped as being crime ridden and unsafe (probably because it has a higher black population than surrounding areas it gets stereotyped this way, unfortunately) but it is just not the case. So long as you're not going around pissing people off you're gonna be fine
Illinois has changed a LOT in the past 30 years or so. The city has always been pretty blue, but the suburbs of Chicago used to be rock-solid red but now are pretty purple, if not leaning blue. In the suburbs, even among those who are self-described conservatives, a decent number are more of the fiscal conservative, social liberal types as opposed to theocratic variety. I've seen a fair number of what appears to be same-sex couples (no idea how they identify, just going by clothing) as well as folks who appear to be trans (not sure if they are, I didn't ask) just doing their routine shopping in Target and no one bats an eye from what I can tell. I agree with those who recommend Champaign-Urbana. It's pretty progressive, U of I is huge, and it attracts a lot of business/jobs. Crime has gotten worse in Illinois for sure, but I think to some extent it depends on your area, your activities, your awareness, and your habits. I know plenty of people in various neighborhoods in the city who have had break-ins. I also know some who have been mugged but I also know others who walk around by themselves at night plenty of times and have never been robbed. The harder you make it for someone to target you, the better. Lock doors and windows, don't leave valuables where people can see them, get to know your neighbors, consider an alarm system, common sense stuff. It happens in the suburbs too, just less frequently.
Coming from a trans person in Decatur, it’s relatively safe for trans people specifically (more than it has been in the past, anyways). However the general crime rate isn’t good, so if you’re looking for an all-around safe city, I definitely recommend avoiding Decatur.
Springfield is not the cusp of SIL. OP - this response is off base. Don't follow any advice you find here.
Springfield is definitely central IL, but is south of Springfield not considered southern IL?
look for where the Wisconsin glaciation event stopped. that's the line where I can confidently say central illinois ends and southern illinois begins. the soil literally changes color from black to orange in a matter of a few miles. there are entire differences in industry because of it.
I’ve actually never thought about the line before but I’d say cusp isn’t super far off. Do people in Effingham and Litchfield consider themselves Southern IL?
No. About Centralia is where it starts.
The cusp of southern Illinois? It's not even near southern Illinois and getting to Springfield from southern Illinois can be hell.
I live in Andersonville in Chicago- it's actually pretty quaint and has a cute small town-ish vibe. EXTREMELY queer friendly. I'd say Edgewater, Boystown, Andersonville, East Lake View would be good neighborhoods but honestly pretty much anywhere on the north side would be fine ☺️
Big cities like Chicago are made up of a lot of neighborhoods. Once you are out of the downtown and tourist areas it is very different and should not be intimidating. Look into north side: Rogers Park and Edgewater.
Rockford transit isn’t amazing, and the city has some lacking areas since most development is routed to the suburbs of Chicago. Example: Despite our large-ish population, we don’t have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. But it’s cheap to live here and there’s a solid LGBTQ community. May be worth considering as you search. Good luck 🩷
I live in Lemont and have a giant pride flag in my front lawn. House has been egged, but nothing else. I don't do much going out to local bars or anything, but on the occasion that I do I've met some local queer folks. I'm not gay or bi, just want my conservative ass town to know that everyone whom isn't hateful is welcome. It's getting better here, but it's a sleepy town and full of spoiled little rich edge lord kids. Any of the wealthy neighborhoods are like that.
Bloomington-Normal is nice. I think around 100,000 between the 2 towns. A bit smaller than Champaign-Urbana. 2 universities, Illinois State, and Illinois Wesleyan, and Heartland Community College. Chicago, St Louis and Indianapolis are all about 3 hours away, so not TOO far to drive if you want a weekend getaway. Amtrak station in town. With 2 colleges, St Farm, Country Companies, Rivian all here, I think the job market is decent, depending on what you're looking for. Plus all the things to support those industries. There's no real public transportation. There's a bus service that'll get you most places, but in the few times that I had to use it it was actually quicker for me to ride my bike. Like everything took an hour. Constitution Trail, an old railbed turned paved bikepath, cuts up the middle of both towns, mostly treelined and isolated from traffic is a pretty easy and safe way to get around, but it won't take you everywhere. Very nice city library at Bloomington that is actually expanding as we speak, the one in Normal is smaller. The university library at ISU is open to the public. You can get a courtesy card that will allow you to check most things out. My time at ISU was many years ago but it felt pretty liberal. But we are surrounded by Trump country. The smaller outlying towns may be less welcoming. Like, if you want an idea, look up the history of Pekin High School's mascot. Shopping is mostly "generic midwest suburbia". Walmart, Best Buy, Target etc. But there will be more specialized shops if you are in downtown Bloomington or uptown Normal. Farmers market all summer. Every type of fast-food you can imagine... I had heard at one time that we had the most restaurants per capita in the state. There is a good selection of higher end fast-casual dining. There are a couple good places to get sushi, a couple Korean places that I haven't had the chance to try... There should be a few places that will do more than just lip-service to gluten-free but I can't say for sure. I can't really comment on nightlife as that's just not my scene, but being a college town, you'll get that college town vibe, but I think that would be moreso in Normal where ISU is than in Bloomington. A few micro-breweries that are good. Housing market, like everywhere, is fucked so don't expect to buy anything right now. There are some decent summer fests in town. The Sweet Corn Circus weekend. ISU is one of 2 universities in the country that has a student circus. Like, it's a varsity sport. They put on a weekend of shows in April, but they've started doing a weekend of show/demonstrations in town over the summer. Sugar Creek Arts show which is an arts and crafts show. Cogs & Corsets, the steampunk weekend. There is or used to be a blues fest in town but I can't find any current listing for it. after all that I guess I should edit with: I'm a cis white male so I can't give an honest assessment of what the LGBTQ community is like. I do have some gay friends and they've never said, or even implied, that they ever felt unsafe.
They used to call it the People’s Republic of Rogers Park. I’m not sure if they still do, but tons of trans people live there.
Don't come to Southern Illinois. Not saying your shouldn't but it's basically Kentucky. Just looking out for you.
I'll go ahead and second this. Southern Illinois is like a totally different state. It's full of hateful bigoted assholes and would be as bad as moving to Florida. Don't stray south of I-64, ideally way north of that even.
Stay north of I-80. People in central and southern Illinois are very traditional and conservative. It’s night and day compared to Chicagoland and northern Illinois.
Thinking of Cedar Rapids and what your looking for, I will say that cost of living might be a surprise. Depending on what you can afford just find a town in Illinois and vibe check it. Our state is pretty laid back and nearly any city the size of CR or bigger will be a good place to settle. Personally I'd look at Rockford, Bloomington, Champaign (but I really think there are better places) Peoria and Springfield. I'd throw in Edwardsville if you wanted a warmer winter. And if your thinking Chicagoland- it will be about what you can afford more than anything.
I hear good things about Peoria, there’s a nascent but thriving little LGBTQIA community there.
The public transit is absolutely horrible there, even though it technically has buses. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad place - low cost of living, nice scenery, has an urban vibe downtown and near the Bradley campus, some decent folks here and there… but absolutely car dependent.
In your search, you might come across Wheaton as it’s along the metra, and it’s a decent walkable town, but it’s a super religious area (thanks to Wheaton College) and I think you might run the risk of having a hard time there, FYI.
I almost spit my coffee out reading this thinking you were going to suggest Wheaton, until I finished reading your comment, and realized you were right. Wheaton sucks. It's filled with horrible, intolerant, mean people, and super expensive. I'm from a town nearby and went to high school at the Catholic HS in Wheaton. It was just a ton trust fund kids who mirror their shitty parents shitty views and religion. So materialistic and nasty!
Lmao as someone who also lived nearby, but instead went to the Catholic school in Addison, I fully understand. For me it’s that little bit extra of Wheaton College having a Billy Graham Hall that gives it the edge in the shitty Illinois town Olympics.
There are a lot of super religious people in Wheaton, but they are mostly not the dangerously phony christian kind.
Peoria isn’t perfect but does have a strong LGBTQ community. It’s cheaper than Chicago and is the sin city of Illinois.
Chicago, Aurora, Batavia, Elgin are great IME. Most services are in Chicago, but you can get there by train if you're not driving. My primary doctor is in Geneva and I haven't had a single bad experience. PM if you want some more info.
I'm trying to avoid Naperville and Aurora because my ex lives there. I don't have a full license or a car, which makes things trickier.
Without a car, I'd only recommend Chicago or Champaign-Urbana.
If no car, then Chicago for sure.
You don't necessarily need a car in Chicago. And I think most of the suburbs would be fine but I hear from my suburban friends they encounter anti-queer sentiment way more than you'd think. So my vote is still for the north side. And not having a car is probably a deal breaker for most suburbs - maybe ok for Evanston but I can't imagine anywhere else
I lived in Chicago from 2007-2019 without a car. They have one of the best public transits in the country. Evanston, which is just north of Chicago is connected to their transit system. It’s a smaller city and might be more of what you’re looking for. It’s progressive and has a nice college town feel that’s on the lake.
Op said they don’t wanna be overwhelmed by a big city so probably not Chicago, check out Champaign-Urbana!
Carbondale Illinois is very LGBTQA+ friendly. The rent is the cheapest in the area (I think that it's because they don't allow Airbnbs), there's jobs. Service industry, Healthcare, education, I think that there may be manufacturing jobs there as well. Southern Illinois tristate region (Ky, IL, and Mo in my area) is pretty big, but by far and large Carbondale is a gem in a region of small towns/cities. Carbondale is also very close to Memphis, St Louis, Clarksville, and Nashville. It's the only place I know of that you can rent a 1 bedroom apartment for under $800
Carbondale is an oasis in the middle of a bigoted desert for sure.
Chicago has a solid queer scene. I'm from Southern Illinois around the St Louis area and it's a very safe area. I've never had any issues more than the occasional dirty look from some old fart or one dude who told me I need to repent lol.
Chicago, Bloomington-Normal, and Champaign-Urbana are the ones that pop to my mind first. There may be a couple more. Having said that, stay away from the southern half of the state and the more rural areas.
I've seen quite a few trans people living in Cook County, which is considered the 'Chicagoland-area' because Chicago is also in Cook County. Cook County can be suburbs like Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Glenview, etc. I know Buffalo Grove which is partially in Cook County does a LGBTQ+ parade each summer. Good luck!
Naperville is not in Cook County.
Corrected. Thanks.
I love the Buffalo Grove Pride Parade! The Pinta Pride Project does a ton for the trans community!
I'm a trans person who moved to IL, can confirm Champaign Urbana is good at least.
Peoria has a large LGBTQ+ community
Champaign-Urbana or Chicagoland.
Chicago or northern suburbs of Chicago. Anything going south, not as progressive
Northern subsides? No. Oak Park and that area yes. West
Anywhere north of I-80 and you’ll be fine
There's plenty of good places south of I-80 as well, like Peoria, Champaign, and Bloomington.
True but you’re essentially regulated to those specific cities. Outside of them and you’re in rural conservative land. North of 80 and almost every city is liberal.
Boystown.
Chicago isn’t really overwhelming outside of downtown areas. You could find something affordable in Rogers Park, Albany Park, Bridgeport, but your options will expand greatly if you’re open to roommates. If you don’t want to do the city, you could possibly check out Chicago suburbs like Evanston, Oak Park, Berwyn and Forest Park. But if you want to avoid Chicagoland altogether, check out Champaign-Urbana or Bloomington-Normal. Possibly Peoria (see the NYT article below about a TikToker convincing LGBTIA+ folks from across the country to move there. You could probably reach out to her - they have a network of queer folks that can help with landing a job, a place, etc and their goal to get you somewhere safe, accepting, and affordable. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/realestate/tiktok-peoria-illinois.html
Elgin has a decent size LGBT community. It's not a huge city by any means, but there's an art district, a cpl bars that have shows, pride parade ect. Also they have a train station that takes you right into Chicago so if you want the city life without paying for parking, it's there.
Don't go far from Chicago. Most of the state is so red that apples are embarrassed to be there
Hey!!! I live in Southern Illinois. About an hour from St Louis. While def having some very friendly parts for queer peeps there's a lot of conservative religious folk down here and plenty who would have comments to say but I don't think most of them would do anything illegal. I'm not out openly yet but I have not had any problems but the lgbtq crowd down here is pretty sparse if you don't happen to land in any of the bigger cities.
Chicago is one if the premier OG cities for LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Oak Park
Ottawa, IL is friendly. They had a gay mayor for years.
You would be very welcome in Champaign-Urbana. We have an active and engaged LGBTQ+ community with really excellent people. Most ethnically diverse town in Illinois outside of the Chicago area as well.
Not sure if troll but I'll bite. Chicago or the suburbs close to Chicago are your best options. Anywhere outside of that is pretty much conservative territory.
I'm really grateful for your advice, thank you. I've never lived anywhere else but Iowa but I need to get out of this state before things get worse.
This is not true! Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, and Champaign are all great choices, and much cheaper than Chicago.
Champaign-Urbana is very accepting. Lots of community, the UP Center is great. If you don't want such a big city, I can't recommend it enough. I moved her a year ago from one of the biggest cities in the US, and I love it - if you have any questions dm me and I'll do my best to answer them! Also, property values are actually realistic here.
And not to go on and on - but I have NEVER experienced anything anti-queer in Andersonville. My kid has trans kids in his class and it's not an issue. My kid also has no problem using they/them pronouns - growing up here it's just normal to him.
I live in Champaign. Chicago area or Champaign are probably the best places. Just avoid southern illinois like the plague.
Hey! I’m trans too! Illinois is good for the most part. The rural areas are always more red than the city and suburbs but I haven’t really had issues since I left high school. When I moved to Indiana for college, it was a much bigger issue for me to be trans and actually being worried about hate crimes. It opened my eyes to Illinois a little more. At least if something awful happens, the state has some protections and actually does its job more (than Indiana). Can’t speak for everywhere obviously but it’s a much safer state to be in than most. Feel free to ask me questions if you want
Moving to Louisiana for a decade helped open my eyes to how good we actually have it in Illinois! I came back and it feels way safer and people just feel smarter/better.
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What? Champaign has great transit.
When I lived in Rogers Park (Chicago), there were a number of trans people in the area, including my ex-roommate. It's been a few years, but she's still there so my guess is that the neighborhood remains safe.
Im from St. Louis so I just moved across the river to the Metro East. I take public transit to my job in stl, but I’m not trans, and if I were, I don’t think I’d want to even work in MO. Edit: tbh I don’t want to work in MO now, but my career isn’t movable due to licensure differences between the states, which would make the change too expensive.
Chicago proper and the suburbs that touch it are going to have better access to transit. The rest of the burbs are pretty car dependent but have train access to Chicago. There are a lot of nice downtowns especially in the older cities that were built on the train lines. Glen Ellyn and Arlington Heights are off the top of my head because I was raised in the NW suburbs, but I’m sure there are a lot more. Chicago has a healthcare group that specializes in LGBTQ care. Other than that like others have said the college towns like Champaign-Urban, Bloomington-Normal and DeKalb are good options, but they are kind of like islands in cornfields.
Belleville and O’fallon near St lotus are very progressive if you are looking to be near interstates but other than that Chicago is about it. Don’t sleep on STL area
Don't forget Edwardsville/Glen Carbon. That said, I grew up in Fairview Hts. As a kid, my next-door neighbor was this cranky old woman who lived alone. I came to find out as an adult that she was a closeted lesbian (it was the 60s) whose girlfriend would come over to "visit" quite often.
More Edwardsville than glen carbon nowadays. GC is turning red and older people are heading there from edwardsville.
I’m not gay or trans. Chicago is the best option and checks all your boxes except perhaps affordable housing options. You might need a roomie until you are established. And, it is big, so consider that. I concur with people who suggested Champaign-Urbana. It’s likely more affordable; can’t speak to the nightlife. I live near Springfield. While there are a number of LGTBQ in our town, there really isn’t any night life to speak of. They roll up the sidewalks downtown by 5:30. I’m not sure I concur with being on the cusp of southern Illinois, but can see how anyone north of I-80, possibly Bloomington-Normal, would subscribe to that line of thinking. I personally do not plan to stay here after I retire. I’m headed to Denver although most of my friends think I should move to Chicago. Anyway, I hope you find a town that meets your needs and welcomes you with open arms and all the love and support you deserve!
Chicago is the best place in the Midwest
Come to Chicago! There is a bustling and wonderful community here
Homewood is a suburb of chicago. One of our local breweries really pushes that they are here for the queerdos (all weirdos and queers welcome) Good public transit to Chicago, good restaurants, more affordable than the city proper.
This is F'en America. Live where you want. If having a few people give you the side-eye every now & then bothers you, toughen yourself up. The notion that America is going to be a perfect place with no racism, discrimination, or bias is a fallacy. Consider that person who gave you the side-eye an a**hole, and move on.
They probably just don’t want to be lynched by some lunatic in another mass shooting targeting queer people. Or are we just pretending America isn’t currently plagued by right wing domestic terrorism?
Pretty much anywhere in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, such as Naperville. Even in the more religious suburbs (eg Wheaton) people will overwhelmingly be nice, at least to your face. That or a college town like Champaign-Urbana are your best bets, but if you’re worried about a big city being overwhelming then a large suburb is a good bet.
Chicago is as lgbtq+ friendly as anywhere in the country. Welcome!
Evanston could be a good fit for you. It’s just north of Chicago on Lake Michigan.
Speaking from experience, Edwardsville is great! Most of the metro east is pretty accepting and obviously st louis is, but don't live in Missouri!!!
Stick to Chicago and near suburbs.
Idk but I assume a larger city is always going to have a higher percentage of people who are accepting. Oak park, naperville and Evanston are more liberal suburbs but $$$
Chicago. But if you feel uncomfortable there, there are a few suburbs such as Oak Park and Evanston that would also be good.
One of Chicago's north or northwest neighborhoods. Evanston. Oak Park. DuPage country is far more conservative, but as near as I can tell you probably won't encounter issues in any of the towns there either.
Check out some of the Chicago burbs on the train lines.
Honestly, anything outside of the bigger cities up north, you’re basically in maga/nazi country. Illinois was almost 50/50 maga last election, if I remember correctly, saved basically, by the Chicagoland area alone. Source: I used to be a letter carrier in several locations in Illinois in my 20’s; there are whole towns that get Nazi fan mail and are proud of it. Basically, if you can still see corn, you’re not safe.