Where Are All the LGBTQ Meeting Places in Second Life?

Maitimo

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Good suggestions, all, keep'em coming!
(My similar post on the SL Community Forums is not getting much response at all.)
I posted this one over there:

Adventures of Dust. Anyone who is LGBT-friendly (with an adult avatar) is welcome, any gender/sexuality, but it's particularly popular with twinks and femboys. Furries welcome too. Clothing-optional but it's not a sex/cruising venue. Euro-centric but English-speaking and events generally happen between noon and 6pm SLT daily. It reminds me a lot of Boots Beach, from days of yore.

But this is really a problem with all interests in SL, not just LGBT. People in general no longer hang around in public places unless they are attending an actual scheduled event, or they are cruising for some kind of adult activity. And unsolicited IMs from strangers are almost universally hated by anyone whose avatar is or appears to be female. This is a change in SL trends - ten years ago people did just hangout in cafes, on beaches etc. Now, there are very few such places and nearly all of those are newbie arrival zones like London City.

Try looking at "What's Hot" in the destination guide and what do you find? Clubs with events on, skill-gaming regions, and newbie regions.

Finding silent groups is easy. Finding people willing to chat is not.
 

RyanSchultz

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Thank you, everybody, for all your suggestions! I will compile them into an update to my blogpost, once I get a few more from here and from the official SL community forums.
 
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Jessica Ravynheart

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Hello, hello y'all! I saw the headline asking where all the LGBTQ meeting places are in SL. As CronoCloud mentioned, Zue Nightlife is one of them. Zue has been open continuously since 2015 and has recently relocated to its own sim called, appropriately, Zue Nightlife. For fear of sounding like an ad, I will say that Zue is a women's only venue, open 24/7 with DJ sets beginning at 4pm until Midnight SLT. Zue caters exclusively to lesbians, bi-girls, M2F and all women regardless of sexual preference. Male avis are not allowed and those with male bits must have them covered.

Though Zue is not billed as a hangout, many do. Also, by popular request, a voice cafe was established on the other side of the sim for those who wish to voice, dance a little or play games. Zue is not a sex/cruise sim, but many, many people have met their partners there and many have extended that to RL relationships. Zue is a family with each member being a part of that family and as such, members have a enormous influence on how the club is operated and what events are presented.

I am the sole owner of Zue, and I build each and every venue on the sim, most of it meshed myself. Our members wanted diversity in their venues, so we build whatever it is they desire. We have the main club, voice cafe, Beach Club, Deco Ballroom, !950's style Lesbian University and gym where we hold 50's style dances, Space Station, a replica of the Hall of Justice for superhero parties, Rockfest, Texas Style Country Dancehall and I am currently finishing the enormous replica of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Germany.

In addition, we have special sets such the Halloween surreal event as well as Christmas and New Years. We also bring in SL's top live singers throughout the year, including, ARRA, Shaye & Gary Jonstone, Gabriel Da Silva and Agatha. Also, all Zue Marketplace sales go back into the club.

We love our members and are steadfast in giving them a SAFE and pleasant environment to enjoy themselves.

Thank you for giving me a chance to tell you about Zue and please stop by our new sim and say hello. Also, check us out online at Zue Nightlife Online
 

Kara Spengler

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Just an aside, but it would be really nice if LL would do something to encourage hangout sorts of places - I'd love to make something, but really cannot justify the expense.
Every time I have seen them do it was a disaster. They would do things like make places agree to extra rules but not do things like make it attractive to them to be in the programs.
 
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Argent Stonecutter

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I would say at least 80% of furry avatars have "female" checked in appearance because the male Linden avatar is awful.
 

Imnotgoing Sideways

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There are straight places in SL beyond their sex clubs?
I unironically ask the same question. As far as I know, every community I'm aware of in SL is LGBTQ except "freefak4ubobandvagena" locations. If you're looking for places nail up signs saying "We're the gays here", that'll likely be a limited list. But, the SL I'm aware of is nearly globally LGBTQ.
 

Monica Dream

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Every place is straight by default.

You may have the odd lgbtq customers there, but the music, sensibilities, humor, attitudes, etc are ...mixed, at best.

I can't count the number of clubs I've gone to over the years that have made "man in a dress" jokes, for instance.
And I left every one of them, quietly, because saying something would have been pointless. I wasn't their target demographic.
 
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Ahem...




F and M? The problem is, most LGBTQ-focused spots have the same problem, because thank you no mod.
 
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nebula

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For males or people identifying as male Atonement gay beach is really nice. They allow anyone in pretty much. Human spot, but they let furries in too.
 

Imnotgoing Sideways

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Every place is straight by default.
I beg to differ. That is, maybe I just gravitate away from the SC places or they're totally beyond my blind-eye and tunnel-vision. That is, I find what I look for. The only places I've regularly found to be SC are ultra-ultra-G or rife with stubby-arm-triangleman syndrome.
 

Amity Slade

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If a place's description mentions that it is LGBTQ-friendly, at least that may be an indication that the place's owners have put thought into making the place LGBTQ-friendly. And to the extent that anyone searches and reads those places descriptions in making choices of where to visit, hopefully it means a generally LGBTQ-friendly crowd.

If a place does not mention that it is LGBTQ-friendly, then maybe it will nevertheless welcome LGBTQ people, but maybe it won't. The chances of either probably reflect the chances of finding either in real life.

I don't think that someone who is heterosexual and cisgendered faces that kind of roulette. If the place description says nothing specific about gender, then a heterosexual and cisgendered person is welcome. A heterosexual and cisgendered person can probably safely assume that they will not be unwelcome at a LGBTQ-friendly place. There is only a reason for pause if a place specifically excludes heterosexual and/or cigendered people (something that may exist in somewhere SL, but I don't think I've seen it in 13+ years).

So I think it's fairly accurate to describe everywhere in SL as straight by default.
 

Imnotgoing Sideways

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So, I guess I only ever go to LGBT places but I don't read the sign at the door. We typically find what we look for. Your mileage may vary.
 

Monica Dream

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As I said above; my experience in going to places which aren't specifically labelled are a very, very mixed bag.

It's not uncommon for me to hear homophobic and/or transphobic jokes/sentiments/whatever when I go to clubs. Sometimes I brush it off, mostly I take it as an indicator that I'm not actually welcome there. That I'm only welcome there to the degree I'm willing to put up with their heterocentric viewpoints. As a rule, that kills any interest I have in the place and I bail out.

Amity made a good point; by and large CIS/Heterosexual people can safely assume that unless it's stated otherwise (eg men on a women's only beach) that they're welcome.
 
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CronoCloud Creeggan

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As I said above; my experience in going to places which aren't specifically labelled are a very, very mixed bag.

It's not uncommon for me to hear homophobic and/or transphobic jokes/sentiments/whatever when I go to clubs.
Most social places I've been to are heterocentric by default. Think of how many times you see a same sex couple dancing in a place like Muddy's or Blackhearts.
More sexually oriented places like the Chamber tend to be even more heterocentric. I'm also aware that some of the big ballrooms had a no same sex couples rule.

And we all know some lesbian places don't want transfolk around. My current regular sapphic social venue has an explicit no-trans rule, supposedly to keep out cis-guys. The owner ignores my presence, and get this....is trans herself! Don't ask, the whole situation is ridiculous.

Goddess I miss The Duchess.