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The designation, by Girlfriends magazine, a 75,000-circulation monthly based in San Francisco, might have more to do with the communities' general quality of life than its lesbian population.
Jen Phillips, Girlfriends' associate editor, said the two Wisconsin cities were chosen for consideration from a variety of sources, including Money Magazine and the Bestplaces.net Web site. She said the 102 to 105 communities evaluated for the magazine's 2002 top 10 list of "Best Lesbian Places to Live" were listed previously in one or more of the other publications as desirable places for anyone to live.
Milwaukee topped the magazine's list last year, but isn't among this year's cities because the scoring system was modified this year so smaller cities could be included, Phillips said.
The scoring system considered such factors as a community's crime rate, unemployment, housing costs and climate, as well as the presence of gay and lesbian businesses and protective legislation, she said.
"Wisconsin in general has pretty good gay legislation and protective legislation," Phillips said.
"As the 'Berkley of the Midwest,' Madison has great laws, forward-thinking citizens, and affordable housing," she said.
She said cities received points for having community resources and businesses such as bookstores and bars or restaurants that are welcoming or supportive of lesbians. The rankings were based on the number of such services or businesses per capita, rather than just the number.
La Crosse Mayor John Medinger said he hadn't heard about the magazine's ranking, but likes any positive comments about the city.
"I'm always happy when anybody ranks La Crosse as a good place to live," Medinger said. "I want La Crosse to be a warm and affirming community for people regardless of the color of their skin, sexual preference or other differences including age and disabilities."
"La Crosse has definitely been a welcoming place," said Marilyn Levin, social justice director of the YWCA of the Coulee Region.
She said even though not too many lesbians in the community are open about their sexual preference, La Crosse has had a group of adult lesbians in the community for years who meet socially and have their own newsletter.
The newsletter, the Leaping La Crosse News, is believed to be the longest-running such newsletter in the nation, Levin said.
She said the gay and lesbian community is becoming less reticent about publicly acknowledging their sexual orientation because of changing community attitudes.
"The Pride Fest and the Bridge Builders Fund has showed them there's a lot of support out there," she said, referring to the annual summer event that celebrates the diversity of gay and lesbian people and the national grant administered by the La Crosse Community Foundation.
The Bridge Builders Fund was established in 1999 to address the needs of the gay and lesbian population in La Crosse County. The grant is funded by a group of foundations and companies that created the National Lesbian and Gay Community Funding Partnership.
John Magerus of the College of Liberal Studies at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, who is working on a history of La Crosse's gay and lesbian population for the Bridge Builders Fund, said the La Crosse community has a history of being tolerant of other people.
"La Crosse has rather a strange tradition of liberalism, accepting people if they don't push the issue, sort of a benign tolerance," Magerus said. He said that tolerance is evident in the way the community has been generally accepting of Southeast Asian refugees who have settled here.
Gayda Hollnagel can be reached at (608) 791-8224 or at ghollnagel@lacrossetribune.com.
Top 10
The Girlfriends magazine November 2002 edition lists these cities as the top 10 Best Lesbian Places to Live for 2002:
1. Madison, Wis.
2. Bloomington, Ind.
3. Northampton, Mass.
4. Ithaca, N.Y.
5. La Crosse, Wis.
6. Denver, Colo.
7. Missoula, Mont.
8. Cambridge, Mass.
9. Baltimore, Md.
10. Santa Fe, N.M.
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