The queerest cities in America, according to The Advocate

Attention gays of New York and West Hollywood, apparently your cities aren’t queer enough to makeThe Advocate’s list of the 15 queerest cities in America.

Instead of New York, which many a member of the LGBTQ community will tell you is the mecca of meccas for queer people, the honor went to Hartford, Connecticut.

“There are only a few true LGBT megalopolises in America — and that’s often by virtue of their sheer size,” Matthew Breen, editor-in-chief of The Advocate explained in a press release. “What’s more fun, and more illuminating, is to look at the queer quotient of some less-expected locales, using criteria that don’t focus on more expected factors. The results are always unanticipated, and this year’s list delivers some absolutely surprising cities. We love sparking conversation in those places about what makes a city LGBT-friendly — and whether that city’s spot on the list is honestly earned.”

The magazine used an interesting criteria to determine its list of cities:

1. LGBT Film FESTs

2. Non-discrimination protections in adoption

3. Musical Tours: 1 point for each tour of Janet Jackson, Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepson, Madonna

4. Chapter of the national LGBT Chamber of Commerce

5. Openly queer mayor

6. Workout: 1 point for each SoulCycle studio, Barry’s Bootcamp studio, Shaun T Beachbody event

7. LGBT sites on the national register: 1 point for each

8. Gay bookstores

9. Places with landmarks that went rainbow for marriage equality: 1 point for each location

10. Scream Queens/American Horror Story viewing parties

The raw score is divided by the population to provide a ranking based on a per capita LGBT quotient.

Some of these points are a little stereotypical, to say the least, and also don’t really say much about how “queer” a city is.

Here’s the entire list:

15. Berkeley, CA

14. Manchester, NH

13. Waterbury, CT

12. Eugene, OR

11. Rochester, NY10. Boulder, CO

9. Edison, NJ

8. Salt Lake City, UT

7. San Francisco, CA

6. Washington, D.C.

5. New Haven, CT

4. St. Louis, MO

3. Cambridge, MA

2. Inglewood, CA

1. Hartford, CT

Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.