Real Estate News

Its a Beautiful Day in the Gayborhood


Written By: Jaymi Naciri
Monday, March 25, 2019

The survey also focused on housing discrimination among the LGBTQ community, noting that, ldquo;Federal law and the Fair Housing Act do not yet include protections for LGBTQ clients.rdquo; Although, ldquo;According to the Human Rights Campaign, twenty-one states and the District of Columbia currently prohibit housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, with a further one state prohibiting housing discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity.rdquo;

Members of the LGBTQ community are driven by many of the same factors as anyone else when looking to buy a homemdash;price, value, amenities, convenience. But, given the history of discrimination against this segment of the population and present-day issues, there is also a desire among many gay homebuyers to purchase in an area with an LGBTQ population, or one that is at least considered gay-friendly.

Thatrsquo;s where the ldquo;gayborhoodrdquo; comes in.

Dictionary.com defines gayborhood as, ldquo;an area of a city or town characterized as being inhabited or frequented by gay people.rdquo; Despite a proclamation in 2017 by the New York Times that the gayborhood was dead, having ldquo;straightenedrdquo; over the years, ldquo;There are more of them than you think,rdquo; counters Mashable.

Their recent take centers around the idea that ldquo;gayborhoods are shifting, not dying.rdquo; The piece is based on research from Amin Ghaziani, assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia. ldquo;In his recently published piece, lsquo;Cultural Archipelagos: New Directions in the Study of Sexuality and Space,rsquo; Ghaziani analyzes new research to make a bold hypothesis: The gayborhood hasnt died, and it isnt being diluted out of existence,rdquo; they said. ldquo;Instead, gayborhoods are multiplying and diversifying.rdquo;

Ghaziani takes the definition of gayborhood beyond the more rudimentary description, identifying four main factors: ldquo;Its a geographical center of LGBTQ people including queer tourists, it has a high density of LGBTQ residents, its a commercial center of businesses catering to the queer and trans community, and its a cultural concentration of power.rdquo;

So where are todayrsquo;s gayborhoods? You have your usual suspects: The Castro in San Francisco, The West Village in New York City, Boystown in Chicago. A look at the ldquo;U.S. cities with the highest rate of same-sex married couplesrdquo; from NBC News is also illuminating. According to federal tax data from the year gay marriage was legalized, the cities with ldquo;the largest share of same-sex married couplesrdquo; are:

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Santa Rosa, CAmdash;also a top 20 retirement spot for LGBT seniors
3. Seattle, WA
4. Boston, MAmdash;the first state to legalize same-sex marriage
5. Portland, OR
6. Miami, FLmdash;also named the "greatest gay destination in America" by Thrillist
7. Albuquerque, NMmdash;also a SeniorAdvice most LGBTQ-friendly retirement spot
8. San Diego, CA
9. New York, NYmdash;Home to ldquo;the largest number of same-sex marriagesrdquo;
10. Portland, ME



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