Photo by quigley_brown (Jim Hamann).

The Advocate, a national gay news magazine, has proclaimed our fair District the 8th gayest city in America. However, how they got to naming the gayest cities in America is a little interesting.

At least they’re honest that their metrics are not scientific. To determine the gayest cities, The Advocate counted the number of gay.com profiles, listed officiants of gay marriage within a 50 mile radius, elected openly gay officials, Tegan and Sara performances over the past 5 years (yes, really), lesbian bars, gay-friendly religious congregations, and entries in YellowPages.com of businesses with “gay” in the title, and then divided that number by the population in the city limits.

Some cities that were not included, New York City (a pretty gay friendly city by most accounts), Boston (gay marriages legal for 7 years and counting), for example are a bit confused. Even more confusing, Minneapolis tops the list as the gayest city and cities like Oakland, Ca., Cleveland, and Vancouver, Wa. make the cut. So, even though the metrics don’t quite make sense and some obvious contenders weren’t on the list, I still think being called the 8th gayest city in America by the Advocate is something to be proud of.