There Goes the Gayborhood?

Abstract

Gay neighborhoods, like the legendary Castro District in San Francisco and New York's Greenwich Village, have long provided sexual minorities with safe havens in an often unsafe world. But as our society increasingly accepts gays and lesbians into the mainstream, are “gayborhoods” destined to disappear? This book provides an incisive look at the origins of these unique cultural enclaves, the reasons why they are changing today, and their prospects for the future. Drawing on a wealth of evidenc—including census data, opinion polls, hundreds of newspaper reports from across the United States, and more than 100 original interviews with residents in Chicago, one of the most paradigmatic cities in America—the book argues that political gains and societal acceptance are allowing gays and lesbians to imagine expansive possibilities for a life beyond the gayborhood. The dawn of a new post-gay era is altering the character and composition of existing enclaves across the country, but the spirit of integration can coexist alongside the celebration of differences in subtle and sometimes surprising ways. Exploring the intimate relationship between sexuality and the city, the book reveals how gayborhoods, like the cities that surround them, are organic and continually evolving places. Gayborhoods have nurtured sexual minorities throughout the twentieth century and, despite the unstoppable forces of flux, will remain resonant and revelatory features of urban life.

Identities and Identifications: Changes in Metropolitan Bisexual Men's Attitudes and Experiences

“…This fits with a broader trend where sexual minority youth eschew sexual identity labels, defined by Savin-Williams (2005) as a "post-identity" phase (see also Ghaziani, 2014). …”

“…We contend that this is attributable to two key factors: 1) declining homophobia has had a profound effect on the sexual identities of young people in terms of their more positive realizations of being bisexual and a shift toward bisexual identity having less importance in their lives (see Ghaziani, 2014;Savin-Williams, 2005); and 2) different recruitment procedures -moving away from relying on bisexual communities, LGBT groups and counseling services -means that the bias toward 22 samples with particularly negative experiences is not found in our research (McCormack, 2014).…”

“Gay capital” in gay student friendship networks

“…Traditionally, gay men's social networks were oriented around LGBT community venues, political organizations, and support groups (Levine, 1998), structured into particular geographical areas within cities (Ghaziani, 2014). It was in these locations that gay male friendships developed, providing a valuable defense against the homophobia they might experience in the broader culture (Weeks et al, 2001).…”

“…This period has also been characterized as belonging to a "post-gay" culture, in which gay people are increasingly assimilated into the mainstream; sexual identity is no longer viewed as the defining characteristic of a person and gay men's social networks have expanded to include heterosexuals-despite the persistence of some heterosexist social norms (Walters, 2014). As Ghaziani (2014) summarized, "Those who consider themselves post-gay profess that their sexual orientation does not form the core of how they define themselves, and they prefer to hang out with their straight friends as much as with those who are gay" (p. 9). However, youth belonging to this post-gay generation continue to form friendship networks which are predominantly or exclusively gay; as Ghaziani has noted, rather than being "un-gay," being post-gay is about viewing one's sexual identity in a less restricted way, without the assumption of victimization found in the older literature.…”

Measuring urban sexual cultures

“…Similarly, a post-gay space like a bar is one where "the need to clearly define and delineate our sexualities is largely deemed unnecessary" (Brown 2006, p. 136), while gayborhoods in a post-gay era no longer demand "the assertion of one identity or another. Most times they contain a majority of heterosexuals" (ibid., p. 140) as lesbians and gay men disperse across the city (Ghaziani 2010).…”