Study Finds Historically Gay Neighborhoods Straightening

Are Our Gayborhoods Straightening?

There goes the gayborhood?

New research from University of British Columbia sociologist Amin Ghazian has found that historically gay neighborhoods in the U.S. are becoming increasingly less queer.

Specifically, the study found that the number of gay men living in traditionally queer areas has dropped eight percent, while the number of lesbians has dropped 13 percent.

These areas reportedly include Chicago's Boystown, San Francisco’s Castro district, New York's Greenwich Village and Atlanta's Midtown, just to name a few.

According to Ghazian, there are a number of intersecting factors for this shift, including gentrification, changing attitudes among queers and the gradual folding of gays and lesbians into the mainstream.

"The study also identifies new demographic trends, including unexpected clusters of same-sex parents around desirable schools in traditionally straight [neighborhoods] and the emergence of districts for LGBT people of [color]," UBC News reports. "The findings also show that same-sex households exist in a record-high 93 per cent of U.S. counties."

What do you think about this shift? Is it necessarily good or bad? Let us know in the comments below.

Before You Go

Harvey Milk's old Castro Camera shop

Historical Gay Sites

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot