Nonconformity is one commonality among the various identities allied under the LGBTQ + umbrella and while life challenges may be different among certain subgroups, members of the LGBTQ + community maintain respect for the relations between the subgroups as a means of self-preservation. Over the past five decades or so, LGBTQ + individuals, couples, and families have made their homes in gay enclaves in cities around the globe. Perceived differences between heteronormative and LGBTQ +-normative creates an overgeneralized binary that become especially problematic when researching “gay” neighborhoods. Cooper’s observation calls attention to a heteronormative propensity to generically lump all sexual minorities under a broad LGBTQ + umbrella, but further raises the question of what homonormative might look like. Examined in this way, the term “out” may refer metaphorically to exiting the proverbial closet, but may also refer to stepping outside of the heteronormative mainstream. Cooper questioned the value of such a broadly inclusive umbrella and suggested that those who identify as LBGTQ+ are nonetheless united in that they live outside what is considered to be the mainstream norm (CNN 2019). Democratic Presidential Candidates Town Hall in April 2019, reflected that though the LGBTQ + acronym contains many divisions of identity, the groups contained within reflect people who share vastly different experiences. All, however, may potentially share in the experience of feeling “ othered,” or living outside of predominant heteronormative society.ĬNN anchor Anderson Cooper (who identifies as gay) while speaking with presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (who also identifies as gay) during the U.S. Apart from identifying as LGBTQ+, a high-income Black female cis-gendered lesbian, for example, in her journey to understand and express her own sexual orientation, may have little in common with a middle-income gay gender-queer Asian male who both may have little in common with a middle-age White gender-nonconforming trans individual quietly exploring bisexuality at mid-life. Though all of these groups live outside the heteronormative mainstream, little else in common is shared among some members of these groups. Shades of the rainbow umbrella denote various identities of individuals: gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans +, queer, questioning, intersex, allies, and others. The rainbow-colored LGBTQ + umbrella is broad and encompasses many people underneath it. Introduction: Beneath the Crowded LGBTQ+ Umbrella We conclude by observing that while gayborhoods have experienced a certain level of de-gaying, the trend toward viewing gayborhoods as inclusive and gay-friendly places de-emphasizes the self-segregation aspects of gayborhoods that were important to their initial formation consequently, while gay neighborhoods may become less gay, other neighborhoods may also become more gay. At this point in their maturity, gay neighborhoods have reached a plateau in their evolution from here we pause to consider the current state of gay neighborhoods-and trajectories that might describe their future form-as we contemplate the importance of gay neighborhoods in the ongoing advancement of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. In this time of social change, economic inequities, public health crises, and technological evolution, gay neighborhoods provide a culturally and historically significant template for communities in confronting adversity, fear, and discrimination. Findings suggest that shifts in patterns of residence, socialization, and entertainment for LGBTQ+ residents and visitors across metropolitan space have resulted in certain gay neighborhoods becoming less gay while other neighborhoods become more gay. Seeking to address these concerns, this opening chapter of the book The Life and Afterlife of Gay Neighborhoods: Renaissance and Resurgence presents eight important takeaway messages distilled from the chapters in this volume that, taken together, provide an in-depth overview of the formation, maturation, current challenges, and future prospects of LGBTQ+ spaces in urban environments. This confluence of change has created for many people anxiety related to the belief that gay neighborhoods may be dissolving or even disappearing altogether. The relevance of gay neighborhoods-originally formed to promote segregation of individuals who identify as sexual minorities-is lately challenged by advances in technology, experiences with pandemics, shifts in generational opinion and social values, increasing acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals, and (in certain places) increased rights and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. Gay neighborhoods, like all neighborhoods, are in a state of continual change.