Lawrence, Kansas is promoted as "a LGBT-friendly oasis in the middle of a prairie." It is the only town in Kansas with a gay rights city ordinance. The University of Kansas has a Women, Gender, and Sexuality Department, although I don't see any gay-specific courses. Several local bars have gay nights. There are six gay-friendly churches, three gay organizations, and even a gay neighborhood, Old West Lawrence, near downtown.
But it's also promoted as "the most family-friendly town in Kansas." "Family" is usually a buzz word for "homophobic."
Gay-friendly or family-friendly?
There must be a lot of beefcake at the University of Kansas. with 28,000 students, ranked #53 in public universities in the United States.
Wait -- when I searched, I kept getting Baker University and Kansas Wesleyan instead.
I checked the website -- the University of Kansas doesn't offer men's swimming or wrestling, just football, basketball, and baseball, the big team sports.
Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence enrolls 1000 students from 140 nations. It offers associate degrees in many fields, and four bachelor's degrees, including one in American Indian Studies. Its only men's sports are basketball, cross-country, and golf.
I like the guy sashaying across the finish line.
Ok, maybe the high schools, Lawrence High and Lawrence Free State High.
This popped up in my Lawrence, Kansas search, but it's actually three swimmers from Shawnee Mission High in a suburb of Kansas City.
The Ziegler boys are swimmers, one is a senior, but nowhere in the article do we find out what high school or college, or what city.
Finally I found a Lawrence Free State High School wrestler who became the Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week in 2016. I looked him up on Facebook, but didn't find any shirtless photos, just him posing with his little cousins.
Ok, maybe there are some amateurs.
There are several wrestling clubs in town, like the Sunflower Kids and the Elite Wrestling Gryphons (it's a legitimate alternative spelling). But their wrestlers seem to be a little young. And what are they taking their shirts off for?
At least there is some powerlifting in town.
And pro bodybuilder Keith Williams lives in Lawrence.
