Atlanta loses ‘Gayest City’ crown to ... Minneapolis?

Every year, National LGBT publication The Advocate concocts a dubious formula — no joke, it takes into account the number of times Tegan & Sara have performed in a particular place during the past five years — and uses it to compile a list of the “Gayest Cities in America.” Besides being an excuse for their writers to overuse the word “gayborhood,” The Advocate’s “Gayest Cities” list serves as a guide to gay travelers — a where’s where of friendly places — and it was a source of pride when Atlanta nabbed the top spot in 2010. Well, we made the list again this year, but all the way down at No. 7. The new gayest city? Minneapolis, Minnesota.

How does gayness fluctuate that much in a year?

Hard to say, but here’s what some lazy intern had to say about Atlanta:
Atlanta has always had the infrastructure to be the gay nexus for the South, and if the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has its way there will continue to be an influx of LGBT businesses that will promote advocacy through economics and provide a more powerful voice for equality. Not to mention that Atlanta is awash in burgeoning gayborhoods, from business district Candler Park and eclectic East Atlantic Village to the tree-lined Virginia Highland area, where residents elected a lesbian council member, Anne Fauver.

Project Q pointed out some pretty glaring weirdsies we have here:
1. What the hell is East Atlantic Village? Do they mean East Atlanta Village? Atlantic Station (although I doubt it qualifies as “eclectic,” by any standard)?
2. Candler Park is definitely more a residential area than a business district, right?
3. Um, Anne Fauver isn’t even a council member anymore. And why no mention of openly gay District 6 council member Alex Wan? Lesbian Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner? Openly gay State Rep. Simone Bell?

Besides Tegan & Sara performances, they supposedly take into account the number of gay elected officials, as well as the number of Gay.com profiles, listed officiants for gay weddings, lesbian bars, gay-friendly religious congregations, and Yellow Pages entries with “gay” in the business name or description.

Anyway, being the Gayest City in the U.S. was fun for a year, but this is clearly bogus, right? Read on for the entire list ...