Miami is not exactly a trendsetter this way. Other cities loudly and openly protest for and end to oppression, even in the early years when those doing so are in the extreme minority in the nation. And Miami in and of itself is hardly known for its activism on any topic. Unfortunate, but many people in the South don't speak out about social equality until it seems like a majority of people will agree with them. The same thing happened with racial segregation, which Miami was also behind the times on vs.
When that is illegal, the moderate majority start to think more carefully about what they're doing. If the govt says it's alright, a lot of people think it is morally ok to oppress other people. Laws make a huge difference in how people see things though. So all of those things conspire to make Miami far less LGBT-friendly than areas that have none of those influences in any strong representation.
Plus the influence of Florida state southern politics, and other Caribbean cultures (Haitian, West Indian, etc.) that tend to be extremely homophobic. It's a mix of the superficiality of Miami, the old Southern culture, and the now dominant Latino/Hispanic culture that is somewhat tolerant but also pretty machismo. Miami tends to celebrate the superficial gay male body, and no other kind of LGBTQ person. NYC, Chicago, and LA are just a few examples, but many cities, including quite a few smaller ones, are far more openly embracing of differing sexualities and gender expression where way more people are out. Also, pretty much any large Northern or Western city would beat Miami for tolerance.
Which cities do you think have more acceptance than Miami ?Īny city where it is illegal to fire someone for being gay.