It’s a New Day in the Gayborhood

By Elizabeth Greenspan, New Yorker

Gay bars and clubs have existed since the late nineteenth century, but Ghaziani traces the rise of the gayborhood to the Second World War, when the military discharged thousands of men and women for being gay, and many looked for new homes in the cities that housed or were near their military bases, including San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Miami. Gays and lesbians congregated mostly out of self-protection, Ghaziani explains, but gradually established rich social, business, and political networks that became draws in themselves, giving rise to such fixtures as the Castro in San Francisco, Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., the South End in Boston, and Boystown in Chicago. These neighborhoods shared a few defining characteristics: known geographical boundaries, a concentration of gay residents who celebrated gay culture, and clusters of gay-friendly and gay-owned businesses.

Ghaziani argues that the current “de-gaying” of these iconic gayborhoods results more from gays and lesbians feeling safe outside of them than from straight people pushing gay people out. But he acknowledges that both gentrification and tourism have transformed gayborhoods. Gay couples tend to have fewer children than straight couples, and therefore have more discretionary income to invest in their neighborhoods, he says. After they revitalize an area, it often becomes a prime target for gentrification.