Dupont, Other Gay Enclaves Dying Out

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HERE'S JUST another reminder of how areas like Dupont Circle have lost their significance as gay enclaves.

The Associated Press moved a story yesterday that took a look at similar neighborhoods across the country, such as the Castro in San Francisco and West Village in New York City — and the work of New York writer Don Reuter, who's researching their evolution. The trend, AP writer Lisa Leff reports: "Gay neighborhoods are becoming 'Disneyfied' places, with chain stores and other businesses with little or no overt appeal to gays."

Obviously, Dupont Circle is prime example of that changeover, with its Johnny Rocket's, Ann Taylor Loft and Krispy Kreme. Last year, The Post's Chris Kirkham profiled Dupont Circle's changing face, documenting how small, independent businesses were being pushed out because of rising rents and other urban dynamics.

Another factor: With increasing tolerance for same-sex lifestyles, there is a decreasing need for gays to live in clusters. In recent years, Dupont's gay community has spread further to the east into places like Logan Circle, Shaw and beyond — but it would be difficult to define those areas as gay enclaves, as Dupont was in the last few decades.

On a side note, even though New York's West Village has faced similar change in recent years, a symbol of the gay rights movement is back: As The New York Observer reports, the historic Stonewall Inn — the scene of the 1969 riot that's credited with sparking the modern gay rights movement — reopened this week on Christopher Street.

How long will it take for symbols of D.C.'s gay past to find room to reopen? The gay clubs and bars of Near Southeast that had to make way for the Washington Nationals' South Capitol Street stadium still have no new home ...

» "Gay Neighborhoods Worry Over Identity" [AP via Yahoo]
» "Life Around Dupont Circle Takes a New Turn" [WaPo]
» "Stonewall Reopening; Will It Be 'Disruptive'?" [Deeds and Deals/NYO]
» "At a Strip of Gay Clubs in Southeast, One Last Inning Before Striking Out" [WaPo]

Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post