Gay Neighbourhoods

Gay neighbourhoods, like the legendary Castro District in San Francisco and Vancouver’s Davie 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 “gaybourhoods” 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. In There Goes the Gayborhood? (Princeton University Press, 2014),Amin Ghaziani argues that political gains and societal acceptance are allowinggays and lesbians to imagine expansive possibilities for a life beyond thegaybourhood. 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 gaybourhoods, like the cities that surround them, are organic and continually evolving places. Gaybourhoods have nurtured sexual minorities throughout the twentieth century and, despite the unstoppable forces of flux, they will remain resonant and revelatory features of urban life.This event is also sponsored by Critical Studies in Sexuality (CSIS) in the Faculty of Arts at UBC.
 University Centre, UBC, Lower Level, Room 176, 6331 Crescent Road, Vancouver