Gayborhood

The Gayborhood: From Sexual Liberation to Cosmopolitan Spectacle explores the lived experiences of LGBT+ persons in an era of heightened visibility. Gay urban enclaves, known colloquially as gayborhoods, illustrate the evolution of LGBT+ political capacity building. Since their emergence after World War II, gayborhoods have homogenized at the expense of women, transgender, and nonwhite persons due to neoliberal policies promoted by urban planners. Thus, their popularization and economic vitality correlate with a loss of collective identity and space for some inhabitants. While gayborhoods were once diverse and inclusive spaces that rejected normative institutions of marriage and assimilation into dominant society, the stakeholders of these areas have now unashamedly aligned themselves with conformity and profitability to legitimize their existence. The contributors within The Gayborhood invite readers to reflect on the future of LGBT+ politics and look beyond the commercialized rainbow spectacle of gayborhoods to the communities and aspirations within.

The Gayborhood is a valuable contribution to the study of gay neighborhoods, helping to map the growing body of scholarship on LGBT-identified localities. The book's chapters could be assigned for undergraduate or graduate courses in sexualities, LGBT studies, and urban research. The book will be particularly helpful for scholars who study queer life, the intersection of sexuality and race, and space.-- "Sexualities: Studies in Culture and Society", The Gayborhood: From Sexual Liberation to Cosmopolitan Spectacle, edited by Christopher T. Conner and Daniel Okamura, is a provocative collection of essays that collectively provide an outstanding overview of the historical evolution of the sociology on gay urban enclaves. The contributions push the debate beyond the simplistic question of "are queer urban spaces disappearing?" to explore many social, technological, and cultural forces reshaping them. Most important, the volume challenges us to think more seriously about the many ways that race, class, and gender stratification are driving change in contemporary queer urban communities. The essays are wonderfully engaging and well written, and the collection is a welcome contribution to the fields of urban sociology and the sociology of sexualities.--Eric Wright, Georgia State University, Mapping the field of gayborhood studies, this volume is a masterful one-of-a kind collection that invites readers to rethink what they know about queer communities. The rich contributions from a wide range of scholars fill an important niche and makes it a must-read. A wonderful accomplishment.--Georgiann Davis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, author of Contesting Intersex: The Dubious Diagnosis

Christopher T. Conner is visiting professor of sociology at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Daniel Okamura is a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.