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There Goes the Gayborhood?
An in-depth look at America's changing gay neighborhoods
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? Amin Ghaziani 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 evidence―including census data, opinion polls, hundreds of newspaper reports from across the United States, and more than one hundred original interviews with residents in Chicago, one of the most paradigmatic cities in America― There Goes the Gayborhood? 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, this cutting-edge 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.
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? Amin Ghaziani 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 evidence―including census data, opinion polls, hundreds of newspaper reports from across the United States, and more than one hundred original interviews with residents in Chicago, one of the most paradigmatic cities in America― There Goes the Gayborhood? 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, this cutting-edge 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.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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December 27, 2022Read this for class and it was long so I’m counting it.
September 10, 2014
I guess this book could serve as a starting point for further research. But, despite the hundreds of notes from (I presume) reputable sources, I did not find anything truly enlightening about Ghaziani's analysis. There was really nothing there that I have not already pondered or discussed with others regarding the relevancy of gayborhoods in the 21st century.
July 6, 2025
I picked this book up because it had a provocative title. I checked it out because I saw it was largely focused on Boystown/Northalsted, a famous "gayborhood" in Chicago that I am quite familiar with.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book.
Ghaziani reflects on the cultural, demographic, and physical transformation of this neighborhood in the 2000s/early 2010s, as more and more straight couples began moving into Boystown, and more and more gay men moved out to other parts of Chicagoland, and how these shifts came about. Unfortunately, Ghaziani doesn't take that much time to address some of the underlying political and economic features that help explain this - he instead focuses primarily on cultural and social explanations of the relative social acceptance of gay men in society in the late 2000s and early 2010s. While these forces matter, it felt particularly problematic when he discusses how these shifts in social perception resulted in increased property values and the desire of middle class white gays to move to the suburbs "for good schools" for their adopted children- as if that is somehow *not* something deeply embedded in white supremacist capitalism.
The real kicker, however, was how little of this book addresses that Boystown is and has remained a very white neighborhood. Yes, its a "gay enclave", but its a WHITE "gay enclave". Over a decade after this books publication, Northalsted remains roughly as described at the end of this book - many gay businesses, a still substantial gay population, but a much more diverse population with regards to sexual identity and parenthood status. One other thing that hasn't changed, however, is that it is still overwhelmingly white. The whiteness of Boystown/Northalsted is something that queer people of color have been noting for decades - in this book, that is barely addressed until the last few sections, and if anything, the neighborhood is largely portrayed as being very welcoming to queer people of color. I can assure you, that is not the case. This is more than just an omission - it's frankly insulting to the many queer people of color who much prefer other neighborhoods in large part due to the discriminatory white middle class character of Boystown/Northalsted. I understand that Ghaziani is attempting to talk about this neighborhood in a pseudo-colorblind way to emphasize his specific "gay enclave" focus. In so, however, he is doing a scholarly disservice to audiences who are not from Chicago that don't know that he is fundamentally incorrect and dismissing critical nuance of this community's relationship with the whole of Chicago's queer population.
While I did learn some interesting things in this book, it wasn't nearly as useful as I thought it would be. I found the analysis lacking and limited and as a result, can't really say I recommend this book.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book.
Ghaziani reflects on the cultural, demographic, and physical transformation of this neighborhood in the 2000s/early 2010s, as more and more straight couples began moving into Boystown, and more and more gay men moved out to other parts of Chicagoland, and how these shifts came about. Unfortunately, Ghaziani doesn't take that much time to address some of the underlying political and economic features that help explain this - he instead focuses primarily on cultural and social explanations of the relative social acceptance of gay men in society in the late 2000s and early 2010s. While these forces matter, it felt particularly problematic when he discusses how these shifts in social perception resulted in increased property values and the desire of middle class white gays to move to the suburbs "for good schools" for their adopted children- as if that is somehow *not* something deeply embedded in white supremacist capitalism.
The real kicker, however, was how little of this book addresses that Boystown is and has remained a very white neighborhood. Yes, its a "gay enclave", but its a WHITE "gay enclave". Over a decade after this books publication, Northalsted remains roughly as described at the end of this book - many gay businesses, a still substantial gay population, but a much more diverse population with regards to sexual identity and parenthood status. One other thing that hasn't changed, however, is that it is still overwhelmingly white. The whiteness of Boystown/Northalsted is something that queer people of color have been noting for decades - in this book, that is barely addressed until the last few sections, and if anything, the neighborhood is largely portrayed as being very welcoming to queer people of color. I can assure you, that is not the case. This is more than just an omission - it's frankly insulting to the many queer people of color who much prefer other neighborhoods in large part due to the discriminatory white middle class character of Boystown/Northalsted. I understand that Ghaziani is attempting to talk about this neighborhood in a pseudo-colorblind way to emphasize his specific "gay enclave" focus. In so, however, he is doing a scholarly disservice to audiences who are not from Chicago that don't know that he is fundamentally incorrect and dismissing critical nuance of this community's relationship with the whole of Chicago's queer population.
While I did learn some interesting things in this book, it wasn't nearly as useful as I thought it would be. I found the analysis lacking and limited and as a result, can't really say I recommend this book.
January 1, 2024
So obviously I’m reviewing a book from 2014 and things have changed a lot. I liked parts but had to give it a low rating because I have to question, did this book consider the WHOLE LGBT+ community? So within a Chicago context it consistently mentions one gay bar and one nonprofit. While both are staples of Chicago and the queer community, both have been notoriously racist in their practices. The bar is notorious for banning rap/hip hop and perpetuating harm against the BIPOC communities over the years, and the non profit having their main (and only well funded) location on the northside of Chicago, leaving the Southside location under funded and understaffed. These have both been talked about within the community for YEARS. As in way before and during the publication of this book. So if this book didn’t consider this well known “secret” than does it really consider and take in the nuance of the gayborhood and its effects on the WHOLE LGBT+ community? I would say no because at least within the context of Chicago, the gayborhood is well known for perpetuating racist harm, and that wasn’t discussed nor considered in this book. So good try but for me for it to actually achieve its scope it would need to include and understand the experiences of the whole community and not just white gays.
January 29, 2017
I found the analysis in the book, particularly the beginning, to be repetitive but that could just be me being rusty at reading nonfiction with a more academic slant. The author focuses on Chicago - specifically Boystown and Andersonville - while trying to uncover why gay meccas seem to be losing their gayness or moving to different areas in the same cities or metropolitan areas.
A lot of the discussion boils down to cultural assimilation of LGBT people leading to the "degaying" of these areas. LGBT people don't feel the need to live there and expand to different areas of the city. But cultural anchors in the areas (namely Sidetrack bar, Unabridged Books, and Women & Children First Bookstore) have kept it so Boystown and Andersonville continue to be considered gay areas. The Center on Halsted and Howard Brown Health Centers pull in more queer youth of color to use their resources too, leading to shifting demographics and unfortunately a fair amount of racism from the predominantly white people living in the Lakeview area.
I would only suggest this to someone already very interested in the subject.
A lot of the discussion boils down to cultural assimilation of LGBT people leading to the "degaying" of these areas. LGBT people don't feel the need to live there and expand to different areas of the city. But cultural anchors in the areas (namely Sidetrack bar, Unabridged Books, and Women & Children First Bookstore) have kept it so Boystown and Andersonville continue to be considered gay areas. The Center on Halsted and Howard Brown Health Centers pull in more queer youth of color to use their resources too, leading to shifting demographics and unfortunately a fair amount of racism from the predominantly white people living in the Lakeview area.
I would only suggest this to someone already very interested in the subject.
February 16, 2020
Probably more like 3.5 stars: It’s dense and academic and I found the writing cumbersome, but the content is fascinating and enlightening. While I think he hits some obvious conclusions (e.g. straights who move into gayborhoods are suspect; many gayborhoods are toxic for folks of color and women; etc) too hard/repeatedly, Ghaziani does find some powerful and compelling insights about the evolution (rather than demise) of gayborhoods. I also appreciated the meaningful engagement with the experiences and perspectives of lesbians, trans folks, QTPOC, queer youth, and small-town queers.
June 25, 2023
I think this book has really good research but would have benefited on focusing only on gay men and also taking race/ethnicity into account. I don’t think there was enough time and space given to the intersectionality of gender and race when considering shifts in geographic trends in the queer community, and nearly no mentions of non-binary or trans people. I agree with a lot of other reviewers that this is a good starting point, but not the complete story.
October 12, 2022
Read for class.
Ghaziani has some interesting research on gayborhoods and how they are surviving in unique ways but he also ignores gentrification completely. I found the conclusion to be the most interesting part of the book.
Ghaziani has some interesting research on gayborhoods and how they are surviving in unique ways but he also ignores gentrification completely. I found the conclusion to be the most interesting part of the book.
September 14, 2020
The author assigned me this book as required reading for sociology 400 level class that I did not have the pre-requisite courses for and he told me I’d have to “work extra hard and read it xtra papers” but instead I just slacked and got the highest mark in his class filled with sociology majors so..... suck it, higher education :p But really, it’s all just a measure of how good you are at following instructions not how well you learn or think or problem solve.
Anyway, the book was relatively good, nothing earth shattering. My favourite part of that class was seeing the professor in drag at one point. Also the fact that same sex marriage was legalized in the states WHILE I was in this course was truly perfect timing! If you’re in his class, my advice is: he doesn’t want your dang opinions on his tests, he wants the answers FROM the readings! Silly arts courses.....
Anyway, the book was relatively good, nothing earth shattering. My favourite part of that class was seeing the professor in drag at one point. Also the fact that same sex marriage was legalized in the states WHILE I was in this course was truly perfect timing! If you’re in his class, my advice is: he doesn’t want your dang opinions on his tests, he wants the answers FROM the readings! Silly arts courses.....
February 5, 2016
Focusing on Chicago 19s gayborhoods of Andersonville and Boystown, Ghaziani looks at the origins of these enclaves and the impact on the future prospects, character, and composition of these neighborhoods in this 1Cpost gay 1D era due to changes in political and societal acceptance of GLBT individuals. Well documented, yet the overriding flaw was that the title assumes the end, yet that is not what his research finds. Do the neighborhoods change--yes. Also, the assumption that there is movement away from enclaves is not documented. There are no efforts to actually focus into those who have moved from enclaves besides census data.
February 3, 2015
Very interesting content and argument but sometimes lacking in cohesion or flow
December 2, 2015
The richness of the ethnographic work really made this a pleasure to read. The conclusions aren't necessarily surprising, but important to recognize nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews