What is a Gayborhood?

Contents:

• THE TOP FIVE EMERGG GAY NEIGHBORHOODS OF AMERI
• MEET THE NEW GAYBORHOODS OF THE US
• WHO ARE THE PEOPLE YOUR GAYBORHOOD? UNRSTANDG POPULATN CHANGE AND CULTURAL SHIFTS LGBTQ+ NEIGHBORHOODS
• ARE “GAY” AND “QUEER-FRIENDLY” NEIGHBORHOODS HEALTHY? ASSSG HOW AREAS WH HIGH DENSI OF SAME-SEX COUPL IMPACT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF SEXUAL MORY AND MAJORY YOUNG ADULTS
• SEARCHG FOR SILVER LAKE: THE RADIL NEIGHBORHOOD THAT CHANGED GAY AMERI
• CHIGO STYLELGBTQ+HOME»EXPLORE»CHIGO STYLE»LGBTQ+CHIGO HAS A WAY OF MAKG EVERYONE FEEL WELE. OUR LGBTQ+ MUNI, IENDLY RINTS, DIVERSE NIGHTLIFE, AND YEAR-LONG PRI CELEBRATNS MAKE ONE OF THE MOST CLIVE CI THE UNTRY. VAR PRELOAD = {}; GET TO KNOW LGBTQ+ CHIGOCOME EXPLORE OUR HISTORIC LANDMARKS, WELG NEIGHBORHOODS, AND THRIVG NIGHTLIFE SCENE.EXPLORE CHIGO'S WELG NEIGHBORHOODSCHECK OUT OUR GUI TO LGBTQ+ NEIGHBORHOODSEXPLORE OUR 2-DAY LGBTQ+ CHIGO ERARYDISVER LGBTQ+ HISTORY WH THE TOURS AND ATTRACTNSFEEL THE PRIPRI IS CHIGO'S DNA. AND WE CELEBRATE ALL YEAR LONG.CATCH THE CHIGO PRI PARA JUNEWHERE TO CELEBRATE PRI MONTH CHIGOEXPLORE YEAR-ROUND LGBTQ+ EVENTS CHIGOKEEP THE PARTY GOG AT THE LOL GAY BARS AND CLUBS.EXPLORE WELG NEIGHBORHOODSEXPERIENCE CHIGO'S VIBRANT LGBTQ+ MUNI, CLUDG THE FIRST OFFICIAL GAY NEIGHBORHOOD THE UNTRY.PARTY AT SITRACK BOYSTOWNWHAT DO AND SEE BUZZG BOYSTOWNEAT AND SHOP QUIRKY ANRSONVILLEKEEP EXPLORG
• WELE TO THE GAY IENDLY PHOENIX METROPOLAN AREA
• WHAT IS A GAYBORHOOD?

THE TOP FIVE EMERGG GAY NEIGHBORHOODS OF AMERI

The Mile High Cy hosted one of the first pri paras the USA, gay anizatns (like The Colorado Gay Roo Associatn) were thrivg the early 80s, was one of the first municipali to adopt an anti-discrimatn policy 1990, and PriFt ranks as one of the largt gay pri week- ends Ameri wh more than 350, 000 people celebratg. On The Marlama’s ial “gay-trifitn, ” lols would pot their fger to Club JAM, a gay bar that opened 2007 and first planted LGBT roots the neighborhood, “When Club JAM opened 2007, was the first domo that got thgs movg the Marmala neighborhood, ” says club owner and young entreprenr Jason Olsen. Apart om intifyg as LGBTQ+, a high-e Black female cis-genred lbian, for example, her journey to unrstand and exprs her own sexual orientatn, may have ltle mon wh a middle-e gay genr-queer Asian male who both may have ltle mon wh a middle-age Whe genr-nonnformg trans dividual quietly explorg bisexualy at mid-life.

It is the differenc that fuel a grassroots mobilizatn among LGBTQ+ people to persevere through adversy; gay neighborhoods th serve as cubators for empowerment and social change and serve as home base for social movements and the fight for equaly that ultimately benefs every rner of society. Gay neighborhoods fostered brave pneers and some of the very first efforts to assist people wh AIDS, to unselfishly raise awarens among the general public about safe sex (when ernments were unwillg to do so), and to nurture the value of human life amid profoundly changg circumstanc.

1(Source Image urty of William Ivancic)In Chigo and other ci, rints of gay neighborhoods adapt to COVID-19 guil cludg mask wearg and spatial distancgFull size image2 Nomenclature: Everyone BelongsThe semantics of “gay” have changed over time and the chang reflect shifts attu and shifts the evolutn of mastream perceptn. In this ve, although many gay neighborhoods were historilly anchored by a populatn of gay cis men (Chncey 2008; Podmore 2021), we nsir a “gay” neighborhood to be urban space wh some gree of tolerance clive of gay men, lbian women, trans+ dividuals, tersex dividuals, qutng dividuals, and var other sexual among like-md people, LGBTQ+ rints sought llective secury to addrs their feelgs of disenanchisement and safeguard agast opprsn manifted hostily and vlence (Lria and Knopp 1985).

MEET THE NEW GAYBORHOODS OF THE US

Throughout this chapter and this book, we nsir a neighborhood to be a basic buildg block of a cy (Forsyth 2001), and for nvenience we terchangeably e the terms “gayborhood, ” “gay neighborhood, ” “gay enclave, ” “gay district, ” “gay village” and “LGBTQ+ neighborhood”; we acknowledge the limatns of the labels.

Gay neighborhoods emerged over this perd as a safe haven for ee exprsn and a rpe for all manner of people ostracized or shunned by mastream society om prosecutn, judgement, and gay neighborhoods were seed the settlement and movement pattern of sexual mori begng the first half of the twentieth century, and the history of gay neighborhoods is well documented lerature (Chncey 2008; Ghaziani 2015a; Higgs 1999; Niedt 2021; Orne 2017).

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE YOUR GAYBORHOOD? UNRSTANDG POPULATN CHANGE AND CULTURAL SHIFTS LGBTQ+ NEIGHBORHOODS

Origal and inic LGBTQ+ neighborhoods— large ci such as Berl (Schöneberg), Istanbul (Taksim Square), London (Ltle Compton Street), Los Angel (Wt Hollywood, which beme Ameri’s first gay cy), Mexi Cy (Zona Rosa), Miami (South Beach), New York (Greenwich Village and Chelsea), Paris (LeMarais), Sydney (Oxford Street), San Francis (the Castro), São Plo (Rua Frei Cane), Tokyo (Ni-chōme), Toronto (Church Street), and Washgton, DC (DuPont Circle)—tered maly to gay men (lbians often did not have a notable prence). Each gay neighborhood has s own unique reasons for beg and circumstanc for velopment (Gorman-Murray and Nash 2021) and nsequently the velopment and evolutn of dividual gayborhoods large urban centers—perceived as the “natural space” for gays and lbians (Higgs 1999)—opportuni gay neighborhoods for leisure and socializatn brought together the formative elements for the velopment of muny. 2(Source Image urty of Daniel Baldw Hs)The gay village Manchter, England, surrounds Canal Street and is one of the largt gay neighborhoods anywhereFull size imageMany people intifyg as LGBTQ+ seek eedom of personal exprsn, while others seek anonymy gay neighborhoods, where they n live their liv ee of judgement or persecutn.

Gay neighborhoods and their rints have been wily accepted as signifint forc leadg and advotg for posive urban change and have rced the effects of LGBTQ+ mory stat by helpg to enhance people’s unrstandg about sexual mori (Doan and Higgs 2011; Gorman-Murray and Nash 2021), and LGBTQ+ muny members—and ed all of society—n experience an improved qualy of life when there is an creased level of neighborhoods also provid a means of entry for mastream society to better unrstand LGBTQ+ dividuals and LGBTQ+ culture. As a rult, the gay neighborhoods were ually passed over for large publicly-fund urban renewal projects (Gorman-Murray and Nash 2021), thereby protectg the tegry of the built environment and often sparg the neighborhoods om the urban planng missteps mon the mid- to late-twentieth century (Jabs 1961). 3(Source Image urty of Daniel Baldw Hs)Gay bars are anchor stutns the Stanley Street Gay Quarter Liverpool, EnglandFull size imageWhile gay neighborhoods first emerged as margal outposts, many have transformed (and gentrified) the last few s to bee universally sought-after districts.

ARE “GAY” AND “QUEER-FRIENDLY” NEIGHBORHOODS HEALTHY? ASSSG HOW AREAS WH HIGH DENSI OF SAME-SEX COUPL IMPACT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF SEXUAL MORY AND MAJORY YOUNG ADULTS

4(Source Image urty of Daniel Baldw Hs)The Zona Rosa (“Pk Zone” English) is loted near the historic center of Mexi Cy and featur retail outlets and nightlife venu amid a gay munyFull size imageEstablished gay neighborhoods now embody a virtual dimensn for LGBTQ+ nnectn (Mil 2021), perhaps refg the importance of physil place. The closure of gay bars, emergg virtual gay spac, generatnal disnnect, and chang the character of gay neighborhoods are remrs that as the plac transn om beg home to generatns rooted stggle to playgrounds of generatns beneftg om that stggle, now may be a germane time to exame the prent plate the trajectory of gay neighborhoods.

SEARCHG FOR SILVER LAKE: THE RADIL NEIGHBORHOOD THAT CHANGED GAY AMERI

5 Empiril Plan for This BookDrawg on a tradn of scholarship about the spatial basis of LGBTQ+ inty (Bnie and Valente 1999), this book explor perspectiv about the past, current, and future ndns of gay districts ci as a means to better unrstand the ongog evolutn of gay neighborhoods. The lol, natnal, and global upheaval related to the COVID-19 panmic will likely change how people live and perceive urban neighborhoods, perhaps stigatg further—and at prent unknowable—transformatn to recent books have provid var perspectiv on the velopment, growth, and change of gay neighborhoods (Notaro 2020; Ryan 2020; Crawford-Lackey and Sprgate 2020; Martel et al. Consequently, chapters wh the book give special attentn to two phenomena particular: (1) the forc of gentrifitn that have changed the character of gay districts durg the last two s (Hs 2019; Bterman 2020), phg out long-time gay and lbian rints as the number of non-LGBTQ+ rints and visors creas; and (2) the changg views toward gayborhoods of succsive generatns of LGBTQ+ rints, wh generatnal-attudal perspectiv as a signifint factor changg mand among LGTBQ+ groups for gayborhoods (see Fig.

1 A Note Regardg LimatnsThe geographil reach of the chapters here is broad, sce phenomena relatg to the velopment, maturatn, and life cycle of gay neighborhoods is not uniform om untry to untry or even om cy to cy (Gorman-Murray and Nash 2021; Doan and Atalay 2021; Bterman and Hs 2021).

Accuracy of broadly applible asssments regardg “the emergence of” or “the ath of” gay neighborhoods is challengg given the legal, social, and enomic landsp and what may be happeng one gay neighborhood may not parallel what is happeng acknowledge the var limatns that this eded volume prents. Followg legislative and social advanc—cludg human rights protectns, civil rights, and same-sex marriage—LGBTQ+ people have over recent years bee creasgly more visible across a variety of lotns and are ls likely to be nfed to or ncentrated gay neighborhoods (Gorman-Murray and Nash 2021). The most accsible plac for some male same-sex upl, for example, clu enomilly vibrant, “child-iendly, ” mostly suburban neighborhoods where they may feel unwele or not accepted (Sprg 2021), which monstrat difference sential requirements for different groups unr the LGBTQ+ umbrella to create gay neighborhoods.

CHIGO STYLELGBTQ+HOME»EXPLORE»CHIGO STYLE»LGBTQ+CHIGO HAS A WAY OF MAKG EVERYONE FEEL WELE. OUR LGBTQ+ MUNI, IENDLY RINTS, DIVERSE NIGHTLIFE, AND YEAR-LONG PRI CELEBRATNS MAKE ONE OF THE MOST CLIVE CI THE UNTRY. VAR PRELOAD = {}; GET TO KNOW LGBTQ+ CHIGOCOME EXPLORE OUR HISTORIC LANDMARKS, WELG NEIGHBORHOODS, AND THRIVG NIGHTLIFE SCENE.EXPLORE CHIGO'S WELG NEIGHBORHOODSCHECK OUT OUR GUI TO LGBTQ+ NEIGHBORHOODSEXPLORE OUR 2-DAY LGBTQ+ CHIGO ERARYDISVER LGBTQ+ HISTORY WH THE TOURS AND ATTRACTNSFEEL THE PRIPRI IS CHIGO'S DNA. AND WE CELEBRATE ALL YEAR LONG.CATCH THE CHIGO PRI PARA JUNEWHERE TO CELEBRATE PRI MONTH CHIGOEXPLORE YEAR-ROUND LGBTQ+ EVENTS CHIGOKEEP THE PARTY GOG AT THE LOL GAY BARS AND CLUBS.EXPLORE WELG NEIGHBORHOODSEXPERIENCE CHIGO'S VIBRANT LGBTQ+ MUNI, CLUDG THE FIRST OFFICIAL GAY NEIGHBORHOOD THE UNTRY.PARTY AT SITRACK BOYSTOWNWHAT DO AND SEE BUZZG BOYSTOWNEAT AND SHOP QUIRKY ANRSONVILLEKEEP EXPLORG

Rearch by Nash and Gorman-Murray (2014) suggts that rather than unrstandg changg genred and sexual landsp as maniftatns of cle, is more suable to unrstand gayborhoods as part of relatnal geographi between neighborhoods supportg visible queer populatns and markg greater social hn. Many rearchers have vtigated the impact of gentrifitn on gay villag cludg the displacement of LGBTQ+ merce and hoeholds and the “-gayg” or the loss of LGBTQ+ nsumers and the tegratn of the broar public to lol markets (Doan and Higgs 2011; Ghaziani 2014; Gorman-Murray and Nash 2016; Rutg 2008).

We nclu this sectn by observg that while gayborhoods have experienced a certa level of -gayg, the trend toward viewg gayborhoods as clive and gay-iendly plac -emphasiz the self-segregatn aspects of gayborhoods that were important to their ial formatn (Moss 2017); while gay neighborhoods bee ls gay, other neighborhoods bee more gay.

WELE TO THE GAY IENDLY PHOENIX METROPOLAN AREA

Contrary to the perceptn that technologil change—onle prence and virtual nnectn through social media (datg and hook-up apps)—has hastened the cle of gayborhoods by rcg the need for physil prence, we argue that technology enhanc rather than replac the social aspects of gay neighborhoods. Onle environments and apps may perhaps facilate the cle of gay neighborhoods, permtg LGBTQ+ people to stter om gay villag to new rintial settgs across metropolan space: “queer datg and hook-up apps are varly blamed for stroyg gay neighborhoods and celebrated for revigoratg them; dismissed as impediments to queer muny by some and hypothized by others as virtual s for new and often liberatory muni of their own” (Mil 2021, 210).

WHAT IS A GAYBORHOOD?

The disappearance of gay neighborhoods uld dimish safe spac for LGBTQ+  perceived cle of gay neighborhoods has produced ncern and anxiety among the LGBTQ+ populatn about possible disregard for the origal acplishment of tablishg gayborhoods as safe and clive urban space for LGBTQ+ dividuals. Gay neighborhoods served as the geographic centers of a cross-generatnal movement, and gay neighborhoods rema important to the shared cultural memory of the stggle for digny, rights, and civil protectns—aspects that unrgrad LGBTQ+ pri celebratns today—for gay men and lbian women. The survival of smaller gay districts (and gay districts loted small- and mid-sized ci (Forstie 2008)) is more threatened than tablished gay districts larger metropolan areas wh cril mass LGBTQ+ muni (Ghaziani 2021) and some lotns have rmally memorated LGBTQ+ signifint plac wh or near gay neighborhoods, as shown Fig.

2021), most rearchers believe that the strs ed by sexual stigma and prejudice is the most signifint factor, and gay neighborhoods n help migate this strs across the lifpan, though younger generatns not directly participatg the stggle for LGBTQ+ civil rights may be unaware of the importance of muny that gay neighborhoods provi and support (Bterman and Hs 2021). Visual asssment evince neighborhoods around Toronto dite the emergence of enclav of LGBTQ+ people livg away om the tablished gay village (Bterman 2021), supportg siar observatns Atlanta where greater tegratn has shifted LGBTQ+ life to peripheral parts of the metropolan regn (Doan and Atalay 2021).

Importantly, we note, a spatial diffn of LGBTQ+ culture away om gayborhoods do not suggt a plete or pendg mise of gay neighborhoods; stead, we argue that gay neighborhoods have arrived at a plate om which ntuo and dynamic re-spatializatns across metropolan space (Coff 2021) and the memorializatn of gay neighborhoods and plac wh them (Miller and Bterman 2021) may occur.