The Future of Gay Life?

It used to be that gay ghettos formed in large, cosmopolitan cities with many cultural options and attractive if decayed housing stock. But that was back in the 20th century.

The nation's newest gay ghetto is in a flat, ugly, strip-mall suburb of Fort Lauderdale called Wilton Manors, Fla. Exactly how this happened I'm not sure, but I suspect it had something to do with people getting priced out of South Beach around the turn of the century. Anyway, it fulfills none of the conditions above: the housing stock is typical '50s suburban, Fort Lauderdale is not unusually cultured or cosmopolitan for a city of its size, and Wilton Manors isn't even on any body of water.

But we've made it our own nonetheless.

The first thing you notice when you park your car is that there aren't many pedestrians; of course not, this is Florida suburbia. But those who are there tend to be same-sex couples, holding hands. And when you walk down to the strip mall in the center of town, this is what you see:





Classically gay, it isn't. But gay, it certainly is.