Really? I grew up there. Seriously. Born in Bloomington Hospital, went to BDLC, then Bloomington Montessori, then Batchelor Middle School, then BHS South (graduated in '95), then IU (dropped out because I’m a dummy). My mom still lives there, as do a ton of my friends.
It is definitely more queer friendly than a lot of towns, but you go over to the west side of town, a place like Highland Village, and you walk down the street holding hands with your boyfriend, you’ll probably still get harassed at the very least.
There’s still a ton of redneck townies there.
That said, I have the misfortune of living in Terre Haute and we’re planning to retire in Bloomington (unless Trump wins, in which case we’re using my dual citizenship to get the fuck out of here) and my daughter is queer, so I’m glad we’ll be retiring in a place where she can basically feel safe.
What floors me is that Terre Haute got a Pride Center and had its first Pride celebration after fucking Spencer.