ABSTRACT
Most major American cities have neighbourhoods that are popular with gay men or that are predominantly gay. Exhibiting varying degrees of gay commercial and residential concentration, these areas offer opportunities for socialization with other gay men and provide access to specialized services ranging from bookstores to bars to clinics. In this chapter, I am particularly concerned with what I will call ‘queer spaces’. These are areas that, being more than just concentrations of gay men, have come to be identified in and outside the gay community as gay spaces. By exhibiting a degree of social control by the gay community, queer spaces create the perception of being ‘safe spaces’.
