Interesting theory (via Tom), but I think I disagree…. I mean, if “The number one thing that correlates with a region’s high-tech success is the concentration of gay people living there,” New Orleans would be a freaky-style tech Mecca. Seriously, we’ve got more fags and dykes than you can shake a stick at–in fact, I’d venture to say we’ve got almost as many as Austin, which is a bonafide locus for high-tech industry.
It’s probably more directly related to the education of the region’s workforce…which would explain the relative lack of Starbucks and e-companies in the fair Crescent City.