The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods: Renaissance and Resurgence

Description

This open access book examines the significance of gay neighborhoods (or ‘gayborhoods’) from critical periods of formation during the gay liberation and freedom movements of the 1960s and 1970s, to proven durability through the HIV/AIDS pandemic during the 1980s and 1990s, to a mature plateau since 2000. The book provides a framework for contemplating the future form and function of gay neighborhoods. Social and cultural shifts within gay neighborhoods are used as a framework for understanding the decades-long struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and equality. Resulting from gentrification, weakening social stigma, and enhanced rights for LGBTQ+ people, gay neighborhoods have recently become “less gay,” following a 50-year period of resilience. Meanwhile, other neighborhoods are becoming “more gay,” due to changing preferences of LGBTQ+ individuals and a propensity for LGBTQ+ families to form community in areas away from established gayborhoods. The current ‘plateau’ in the evolution of gay neighborhoods is characterized by generational differences― between Baby Boom pioneers and Millennials who favour broad inclusivity―signaling various possible trajectories for the future ‘afterlife’ of these important LGBTQ+ urban spaces. The complicating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a point of comparison for lessons learned from gay neighborhoods and the LGBTQ+ community that bravely endured the onset of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in various disciplines―including sociology, social work, anthropology, gender and sexuality, LGTBQ+ and queer studies, as well as urban geography, architecture, and city planning―and to policymakers and advocates concerned with LGBTQ+ rights and social justice. Foreword Preface References Contents Editors and Contributors About the Editors Contributors Part IIntroduction 1 Who Are the People in Your Gayborhood? Understanding Population Change and Cultural Shifts in LGBTQ+ Neighborhoods 1.1 Introduction: Beneath the Crowded LGBTQ+ Umbrella 1.2 Nomenclature: Everyone Belongs 1.3 The Other: Refuge and Refusal to Change 1.4 Marginal to Memorable: The Evolution of Gay Neighborhoods 1.4.1 The First Great Plateau 1.5 Empirical Plan for This Book 1.5.1 A Note Regarding Limitations 1.6 Takeaway Messages 1.7 Conclusion: Resurgence and Renaissance References Part IIContext and Composition 2 Breaking Down Segregation: Shifting Geographies of Male Same-Sex Households Within Desegregating Cities 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Data and Methods 2.2.1 Decennial Census Data 2.2.2 Segregation Scores 2.2.3 Gay Neighborhoods 2.2.4 Other Neighborhood Characteristics 2.2.5 Analysis 2.3 Results 2.3.1 Trends in Segregation and Neighborhood Change 2.3.2 Characteristics of Neighborhoods Within Desegregating Cities 2.3.3 Increasingly Segregated Cities 2.4 The Demographic Future of Gay Neighborhoods 2.5 Future Research: Census 2020 and Beyond References 3 A Queer Reading of the United States Census 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Heteronormativity and Urban Development 3.3 The Census, Heteronormativity, and LGBTQ Populations 3.4 A Queer Reading of the Census 3.5 Testing the Variables in Four Neighborhoods 3.6 Non-family Household Results 3.7 Never Married by Sex Results 3.8 Divorced by Sex Results 3.9 Sex Ratio of Age 25–54 Cohort Results 3.10 Discussion 3.11 Comparison to Same-Sex Unmarried Partner Data 3.12 Conclusion References 4 Why Gayborhoods Matter: The Street Empirics of Urban Sexualities 4.1 Introduction: Gayborhood Studies 4.2 Why Do You Live in the Gayborhood? 4.3 Conclusions References Part IIIIdentity and Evolution 5 The Rainbow Connection: A Time-Series Study of Rainbow Flag Display Across Nine Toronto Neighborhoods 5.1 Rainbow Flag: Visibility, Implication, and Meaning 5.2 A Capsule History of the Rainbow Flag 5.3 The Rainbow Flag as Place Brand for Gay Neighborhoods 5.4 The Power of Graphics in the Built Environment 5.5 Concentration and Persistence of Rainbow Flags Define Boundaries of Gay Neighborhoods 5.6 Empirical Plan for the Visual Assessment of Rainbow Flag Display 5.7 Observations and Findings 5.8 Diaspora as Practical Identity 5.9 Rainbow Proliferation: Synthesis and Conclusions 5.10 Takeaway Messages Sources 6 Wearing Pink in Fairy Town: The Heterosexualization of the Spanish Town Neighborhood and Carnival Parade in Baton Rouge 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Consuming Gay Culture 6.3 Baton Rouge Mardi Gras and the Spanish Town Parade 6.4 Methods 6.5 The Bohemian 1980s in Spanish Town 6.6 Spanish Town Parades as Part of Gay Cultural History in Baton Rouge 6.7 Homophobia and Queer Culture in the Contemporary Parade References 7 A Tale of Three Villages: Contested Discourses of Place-Making in Central Philadelphia 7.1 Background 7.2 The Space in Question 7.2.1 Gayborhood 7.2.2 Washington Square West 7.2.3 Midtown Village 7.3 Discursive Moments 7.3.1 Snapshots from the Gayborhood 7.3.2 The Skeleton of Washington West 7.3.3 Welcome to Midtown Village 7.4 Further Directions 7.5 Conclusion References 8 Are “Gay” and “Queer-Friendly” Neighborhoods Healthy? Assessing How Areas with High Densities of Same-Sex Couples Impact the Mental Health of Sexual Minority and Majority Young Adults 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Background 8.3 Method 8.4 Results 8.5 Discussion 8.6 Limitations and Conclusion References Part IVCo-Relation and Dialectic 9 Let’s (not) Go Outside: Grindr, Hybrid Space, and Digital Queer Neighborhoods 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Situating Sexualities, Cities, and Technologies 9.3 Location-Based Dating Apps and Their Hybrid Queer Spaces 9.4 The Ambiguous Impact of Location-Based Media on Existing Gayborhoods 9.5 Conclusion: Space for Co-Existence? References 10 A Gay Neighborhood or Merely a Temporary Cluster of “Strange” Bars? Gay Bar Culture in Antwerp 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The Emergence of a Gay Bar Culture in Antwerp 10.3 The Paradigmatic Case History of Café Strange in the Central Station Area 10.4 The Decline of Gay Bar Life in Antwerp References 11 Recovering the Gay Village: A Comparative Historical Geography of Urban Change and Planning in Toronto and Sydney 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Historical Geographies of Gay Villages: Segregation and Integration 11.3 Historical Geographies of Sexuality in Toronto 11.3.1 A Nascent Gay Village: Toronto in the 1970s 11.3.2 Neoliberalism and Toronto’s Gay Village 11.3.3 Toronto’s Village Today 11.4 Historical Geographies of Sexuality in Sydney 11.4.1 Consolidation of a Gay Neighborhood: Sydney in the 1970s to the 1990s 11.4.2 An End to Village Life in Sydney? 11.5 Thoughts on Historical Legacies and the Future of the Gay Village 11.6 Concluding Remarks: Wider Implications for Urban Planning and Policy References 12 After the Life of LGBTQ Spaces: Learning from Atlanta and Istanbul 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces 12.3 Midtown, Atlanta 12.3.1 Centripetal Forces in the Atlanta Case 12.3.2 Centrifugal Forces in the Atlanta Case 12.4 Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey 12.4.1 Centripetal Forces in the Istanbul Case 12.4.2 Centrifugal Forces in the Istanbul Case 12.5 Discussion References Part VSignifiying Meaning and Memory Across Generations 13 Far Beyond the Gay Village: LGBTQ Urbanism and Generation in Montréal’s Mile End 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Methodology 13.3 Generation Queer 13.4 Divergent LGBTQ Urbanisms 13.4.1 The Gay Village 13.4.2 Queer Mile End 13.5 Conclusion References 14 Understanding Generation Gaps in LGBTQ+ Communities: Perspectives About Gay Neighborhoods Among Heteronormative and Homonormative Generational Cohorts 14.1 Introduction 14.2 A Brief Overview of Generational Cohorts 14.3 The Contemporary Heteronormative Saeculum and Events that Shaped the World 14.4 Exploring LGBTQ+ Generations: Through the Eyes of Warhol, Vidal, Capote & Hudson 14.5 The Homonormative Saeculum and the Events that Shaped a Century of LGBTQ+ Culture 14.6 The Intersection of LGBTQ+ Generational Cohorts and Gay Neighborhoods 14.7 Future Possibilities for Gay Neighborhoods 14.8 Synthesis and Conclusion: Connections for LGBTQ+ People Across Generational Cohorts 14.9 Takeaway Messages References 15 Commemorating Historically Significant Gay Places Across the United State 15.1 Generations of Gay History 15.1.1 Violence and Commemoration 15.2 Significant LGBTQ+ Sites 15.2.1 LGBTQ+ Heritage Initiative 15.2.2 Protecting American LGBTQ+ Heritage 15.2.3 Aim of Landmarks Dedication 15.2.4 Initial Results of the LGBTQ Heritage Initiative 15.3 Current Status of the Preservation of LGBTQ+ Sites 15.3.1 Constancy of Application 15.4 The Future of Preserving the Past 15.5 Takeaway Messages References 16 Plateaus and Afterglows: Theorizing the Afterlives of Gayborhoods as Post-Places 16.1 Introduction 16.2 The Phenomenology of Place 16.3 Post-Phenomenological Perspectives 16.4 Plateaus and Afterglows 16.5 Post-Placing Gayborhoods 16.6 Conclusion: Beyond the Gayborhood in Space, Time, and Scholarship? References Part VI Epilogue 17 After/Lives: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Gay Neighborhoods 17.1 Introduction: Once More, Without Human Contact? 17.2 Do Places Matter? Empirical Trends for the Future of LGBTQ+ Spaces 17.3 Concluding Remarks: Beyond the Master Metaphor of the Gayborhood? References Index