Tell my friend where to make friends in Ft. Myers

December 10, 2008 1:21 PM

Where do gay men and people who love them hang out in Fort Myers, Florida?

My best friend from high school just got offered a really great job in Fort Myers. He is going to take it, but he is nervous: He currently lives in Miami and he's worried about a lack of a gay scene, or really a lack of anyone with similar interests, in Fort Myers. He is very friendly and wonderful and he is not overly picky or gay-centric about these "similar interests"--he'd like to go to gay clubs every now and then, but he's also just looking to find friends to go to movies with. He's nervous that Fort Myers is a lot more conservative than Miami and that he is going to have a hard time as a gay guy. I told him I'd Ask Metafilter about places he should hang out and things he should do in Fort Myers. I'm pretty sure it is possible to find nice people everywhere, but help me assuage him with concrete suggestions.

posted by millipede to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

If he's into sports, there's a "scene" to get involved in. For baseball fans, there's lots of spring training and minor league teams in the area. There's also minor league hockey nearby. There's some good golfing around, too. It's relatively easy to make friends in the sports fan world. If he's young, there are a few small colleges around, too. They're certainly worth exploring, whether he might be interested in taking a class at night or simply wants to find out what young people are doing in their spare time.

But yeah, it is relatively conservative and boring, especially compared to Miami. The wikipedia article on Ft. Myers contains the line, "[t]he abandoned city scene from Day of the Dead was filmed in downtown Fort Myers." That says it best. On the bright side, St. Petes/Tampa isn't too far a drive.
posted by aswego at 1:37 PM on December 10, 2008

My partner lived in nearby Cape Coral in the late 90s before moving to California in 2000. His ex-partner worked in Naples. He says there are 3 or 4 gay bars in Fort Myers, a gay bowling league, a GLBT help hotline, and so on. A lot of the social scene does take place in parties in people's homes, too.

Of course it's more conservative than Miami; most places in Florida are, especially when you get out of the big cities. However, it's not a wasteland. It's what you make of it.

Also, although it sounds awful, with the incredible number of foreclosures there, it's a great place to buy a house right now.
posted by Robert Angelo at 3:32 PM on December 10, 2008

I live in Fort Myers. Feel free to mail me. I think I've seen two gay guys and one lesbian since I've moved here... three years ago. I can't wait to leave here as I'm an open-minded, accepting, progressive city person. I would not take a job in Fort Myers unless it was absolutely the only job I could ever find.
posted by orangemiles at 9:58 AM on December 11, 2008

@orangemiles: Aside from my partner, I actually met his ex and 4 other gay male friends of theirs -- all 40+, like me -- who live or lived in the area. I doubt, though, that you'd identify any of them them as gay simply because you saw them. :-) Just saying, there's a scene, but it's different from in any big city.
posted by Robert Angelo at 4:01 PM on December 11, 2008