Boston: A “Gay Haven”?

Dublin Core

Title

Boston: A “Gay Haven”?

Description

Massachusetts is well-known for leading the nation in revolutions, from its role in Independence from the British to its being the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004. The gay rights revolution is a relatively new social revolution, and Massachusetts’ early start in showing support towards the gay community has earned Boston the reputation of being a “gay haven,” attracting young gay and lesbian adults to the area, helping Boston economically and intellectually. However, is Boston really a “gay haven”? Which sites have helped it earn such a reputation? Furthermore, Boston has a diverse populous of Blacks, Latinos, Hispanics, Asians, Irish, and other ethnicities that are often marginalized in society. Are marginalized people equally represented in LGBTQ sites, which pride themselves on being an accepting place for all types of people? Or has the movement become white-washed and catered to the strong presence of white, middle-aged, middle-to-upper class homosexual men? For this project, I visited four different bars throughout Boston, in Dorchester, Fenway, and the Downtown Boston area. I examine the presence of racial or gender-based segregation in these sites, as well as whether they and their surroundings seem welcoming to LGBTQ-identifying youth.
Attached area few pictures. The first is a map of the gay bars in Boston. There are a handful of bars in Boston Proper, but Dorchester is the only of its suburbs to have even a single gay bar. The second is a picture of the side of dbar which is facing towards the street. The blinds are drawn, the door is permanently shut, and its surroundings are desolate, on a Saturday night at midnight. And the third is a picture of the hallway leading to the bathrooms at Club Café, which I found to be the most diverse and welcoming of the bars I visited. This hallway looks almost as if it belongs to another building. The first door is to the men’s room while the second is to the women’s room. In most establishments women’s rooms are located closer for convenience, but this establishment reverses that, revealing its focus on attracting male patrons. Women would have to walk down this sketchy hallway in order to use the restrooms.

Creator

Elliot Silva

Files

http://dighist.fas.harvard.edu/courses/2015/USW24/files/original/390441a07c28480dfa2a1429fadd7d7f.png

Citation

Elliot Silva, “Boston: A “Gay Haven”?,” USW24, accessed March 29, 2024, https://usworld24.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/items/show/40.