What do Tulsa; Plano, Texas; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Anchorage, Alaska, and Jacksonville, Fla., have in common?

Not much. However, The Advocate, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender magazine, has named Tulsa among those "top five emerging cities for gays and lesbians."

According to the magazine, Gary Gates, a senior research fellow at the Williams Institute at University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, "used the 2006 U.S. Census estimates of the country's 100 largest cities" and "ranked those cities by the portion of same-sex couples (again, determined by Census data) among all couples and compared that to the figures from 2000."

Tulsa, which had 7.74 same-sex couples per 1,000 households in 2006, went from a rank of 77 in 2000 to 46 in 2006.

Plano moved from 98 to 16; Fort Wayne from 90 to 52; Anchorage from 74 to 54 and Jacksonville from 63 to 44.

"I think The Advocate did pick a set of cities that sort of demonstrated, at a city-level, some of the broader trends that we're seeing," Gates said in a telephone interview. "The counts of same-sex couples are growing dramatically higher in more conservative parts of the country. And my read of that is that it is, perhaps in large part, due to acceptance of lesbian and gay people is starting to move beyond the coasts in the U.S."

The Advocate piece includes 30-year-old Tulsan Justice Desiree Waidner, who is executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, which seeks equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and their families.

"I think that it's a recognition that's really well-deserved," Waidner said of The Advocate story. "I've been really proud of Tulsa and our community for the way that we have really worked to create a visible and vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community."

The Rev. Nancy Eggen of the United Campus Ministry at the University of Tulsa said of The Advocate's data, "I hope this trend continues because if it doesn't, then it means people aren't feeling welcome here, and that's not the Tulsa I want to project to people."

Eggen, who is heterosexual, mentioned that her 4-year-old daughter recently told her grandmother that families come in a variety of forms: "Some have one mom, one dad; some have two dads; some have two moms."

After recalling that conversation, Eggen said, "I love that she's growing up with that idea -- and that she's doing it in Tulsa, Oklahoma."

Tim Gillean is board presi dent of Openarms Youth Project Inc., a local organization dedicated to the safety and well being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth and their friends. He foresees Tulsa "continuing to move forward and be a friendly, diverse city."

However, Gillean also said, "I don't think Tulsa is so friendly that we're keeping our gay youth here."

Waidner left Tulsa after high school in search of "a place that I perceived as more open and affirming," she recalled.

But after attending college in Massachusetts, Waidner returned to Tulsa and discovered, "a really wonderful community that is really rich and deep in its abilities to connect with people."

These days, Waidner encourages youth to explore the world but adds, "I definitely also believe that this is a home that can be returned to, and it feels really good when you are able to come back."