Urban Space and Homosexuality: The Example of the Marais, Paris' 'Gay Ghetto'

Abstract

'Gay ghettos'—neighbourhoods dominated by homosexual men and women-have emerged during recent decades in many cities in North America and western Europe, including in Paris' historical Marais quarter. The gay Marais resulted from economic and social factors such as initially low rents and real-estate prices in a run-down neighbourhood ripe for gentrification, a central location with good public transport and the emergence of an urban gay community eager to establish a territorial base for its political militancy. In addition, gay businessmen consciously set out to establish commercial venues in the Marais that would embody a more openly gay lifestyle. The Marais and this lifestyle have become objects of bitter attack from both outside and within the gay community. Residents resent the intrusion into their neighbourhood, while others denounce the formation of a distinct gay identity as 'communitarianism' and a threat to French national values.