The Ch. 24 reading by Donovan Lessard examined the ways that common urban ideologies of revitalization regard particular groups of gay people as valued citizens because of their class status and race while they render other groups of LGBTQ people as invisible.
Lessard's case study illuminates spatial processes of urban decline and renewal that lead to differential perceptions of the value of queerness to a neighborhood, exacerbating existing race and class divides among LGBTQ people. Since I cannot access the original book that the Lessard article came out of, I have supplemented a PDF on a similar topic, listed as "Redefining Home in the Land of Inopportunity," on Scholar. The Scholar article discusses extensively issues of media (in)visibility as a crucial, structural, intersectional understanding of LGBTQ inequality in housing.
To discuss queer spaces, let's take a hyperlocal look at the story surrounding the closing of Hershee Bar, one of the (formerly) oldest lesbian bars on the East Coast. The Tidewater Queer History Project led the efforts to keep Hershee Bar open.
Critiques of the Queer Eye reboot on Netflix provide a national example of the lack of visibility and understanding of lower socioeconomic struggles in queer media and discourse.
What thoughts/questions arise for you upon reading and viewing this material? Any connections to previous concepts from this class or other courses you have taken?
Please post a comment (here or on the Forum) by 11:59 pm Friday, April 17.
I ask that you please read through your classmates' comments here and on the forums and maybe even reply to a comment or two (on either format, up to you!) in the interest of keeping it interactive.
This reading really hit home for me. As a white lesbian from a middle-class family, I often feel guilty because I know some other fellow LGBT people have it worse than I do. Although progress has been made toward accepting LGBT folk, there is still a large discrepancy. The traditional image of "gay" in America is two gay white men or two white female lesbians. The traditional definition or view of what gayness is accepted is very narrow. It is pretty much only for LGBT people who are white, middle- to upper-class and gay or lesbian. It completely ignores the experiences of LGBT people of color and other marginalized groups are disadvantaged. Urbanization and revitalization has created a stereotype and pervasive ideology that the only "visible" or "valued" gay are those white, middle- to upper-class gays and lesbians who can gentrify neighborhoods by moving in and creating spaces (coffee shops, gay bars) for them. They are valued because of their class status and race, which makes poor or working class LGBT people or LGBT people of color "invisible" and disproportioned. There is a race and class divide in the LGBT community that only values and accepts a certain image of queerness while ignoring others.
ReplyDeleteThe video about the closure of Hershee bar was sad to watch as the bar brought a safe space for people of the LGBT+ community. A few of the speakers in the video mentioned how Hershee bar felt like home to them, a place where they feel accepted and not judged on their lifestyle. Hershee bar became more than a place of comfort but, a place of refuge from society that constantly scrutinized people of the LGBT+ community. It was disappointing to watch this video recorded in 2018 and then (after doing my own research) discover the bar was not relocated and permanently shut down. Living in 2020, their shouldn't be just a few options for people of the LGBT+ community to feel welcomed. One bar on the entire Peninsula would not be enough to provide comfort to the millions of LGBT+ individuals. Society needs to understand and accept the difficulties people of the LGBT+ community face and support their integration into society without judgement of personal lifestyle choices. The regular attendants at Hershee bar should feel the same level of comfort and confidents when attending any other bar and it's up to us to make that happen.
ReplyDeleteThe reading and additional video to save the Hershee Bar demonstrate some of the unfortunate realities about our society, especially within the depiction and acceptance of the LGBTQ community. As shows such as Queer Eye have brought LGBTQ content into the mainstream, it has also disproportionately left our people of color, and working class or poor members of the community. In the past, I worked as a healthcare disparities researcher for the Department of Health, and many of the papers I would read were about how health care results for people of color in the LGBTQ community were the lowest in the nation because of stigma's still prevalent in the health care industry so reading this paper confirmed that these issues are unfortunately much more widespread then just health care.
ReplyDeleteI watched the video twice in order to completely comprehend what was truly being stated and why the bar was being shut down. After watching the video I was extremely saddened to hear about the closure of Hershee bar and the impact that this had on the LGBTQ+ community. I was confused as to what the city council expected the impact to be and I wonder if they had not paid attention to Hershee bar because it was an LGBTQ+ friendly bar or if they had assumed there were enough bars. Regardless of the actually intent I was saddened to hear about the closure because the line about how regardless if your accepted by your straight friends they will truly never know who you are because they have no shared the same experiences really resonated with me. I agree that no one person has shared the same experiences as anyone else, but this bar was one place everyone felt comfortable and knew they had someone to rely on that has gone through similar things. I will always be an ally but I do think it was wrong and inconsiderate to take away a sacred safe space to an already marginalized group of people.
ReplyDeleteI found this reading to be really interesting and insightful because I have never heard the assumption that gay people raise housing values and propel gentrification. The results of Lessard's comparison of the two LGBTQ+ spaces emphasizes the injustice in how individuals of color and from a lower socioeconomic status are treated differently. It upset me when Lessard shared that the police would drive by a wild party at Athena and barely bat an eyelash while the police would drive by that same party at Minnemen and interfere. The location and occupants should not affect the treatment of an establishment. I think that Dr. Stern's example of the critiques of Queer Eye relates well to the misrepresentation and misunderstanding of the lower class. I remember from watching a few episodes of Queer Eye that I found it offensive that the guys made fun of people for not being well-off and found their treatment of people behind closed doors vs. in person to be very different and often rude.
ReplyDeleteIt caught my attention in the video when they talked about how LGBTQ individuals are not truly incorporated and accepted in society when you look at statistics such as homeless youth, foster care, and low socioeconomic status. I think that becuase this current social climate is so extraordinarily more accepting of the LGBTQ community than it was 50 years, 20 years, 10 years ago people think that the issue is resolved and LGBTQ rights no longer need to be fought for as a front burner issue. As we have learned through intersectionality dissucssions, marginality tends to fall among lines of discrimination, meaning that a marginalized individual is likely to belong to more than one marginalized demographic, and inturn the more marginalized demographics you belong to, the harder life is likely to be for you. In the example of the Hershee bar, areas of low socioeconomic status tend to be targetted for governement property purchases for land deveolpment projects, and because this particular buisness is an LGBTQ supporting business, the blow hits them much harder due to the lack of funding which is available to them for relocation.
ReplyDeleteHershee Bar was never just a bar. It was a place for people of the LGBTQ+ community to feel safe, comfortable, and free from judgement. What stuck out to me was when Barb James, a frequent goer of Hershee Bar, stated that this bar was the first bar she ever went into. She said that she was young and scared, but the people she met she immediately felt a genuine connection with. This has been a source of her comfort for the past 30 years. Now that it is closed, people like Barb has metaphorically lost their safe haven. What people do not see is that problems like the marginalizing of groups such as LGBTQ+ communities makes members of these communities feel uncomfortable, unsafe, etc. People also tend to believe that problems like LGTBQ+ rights are no longer valid because we have "come so far since 50 years ago," or "gay marriage is legal now." Watching this video and reading chapter 24 it really makes me dishearted and also makes me realize that we need to make members of the LGBTQ+ feel welcome, at home, safe, in every bar, and not just bars strictly for members of this community. People should never have to feel this way.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was very enlightening to me, but as I think more about it, it unfortunately makes sense. As a middle class white cisgender female, in my daily life, or if I go out to a bar, I don't think about the LGBTQ+ community and how they feel about being in an environment that's not like them. I thought it was a good point when it mentioned how we think that the queer community has come so far now that gay marriage is legal, but forget to mention or think about the lower socioeconomic queer members, who struggle with being forgotten about by the government and society. Cathleen Rhodes mentioned how there are many youth queer in the homeless community, and how many violent acts are committed against the queer community and how that gets overlooked by society in equality. The importance of little public places for the LGBTQ+ community, like the Hershee Bar creates a safe place where they can be surrounded by people like them whereas in a regular straight bar, they are the outcasts. The Hershee Bar made Barb James feel a sense of comfort that she couldn't find anywhere else she stepped into that bar at 18 for the first time and ever since then it's helped her become more comfortable being out to the public. It's important to fight and make everyone have the sense of comfort and believe that they are equal in society.
ReplyDeleteThis reading and video were very interesting to me because the discussion is something that I probably would not have considered on my own, but after learning about it, it makes a lot of sense. It really resonated with me when I started to relate it back to my own experiences. I am a black, straight female, and it can often get very uncomfortable to be in environments when you don’t see a lot of people like you. It is important to feel like you have a safe space where you can be yourself with similar people and not be judged for something like your sexuality or race. For members of the LGBTQ community, Hershee bar was so much more than just a bar. People in the video shared how it was like home to them, or it provided them with a sense of safety when the outside world may not have been so accepting. By closing it, it shows people that go to the bar that their safe space does not matter. After doing the reading and watching the video it really made me realize that although we have made steps in the right direction from what the past was, we still have a really long way to go. We have laws in place today, but these laws do not automatically mean the members of the LGBTQ community will feel accepted and welcomed into society. There have been times when I haven’t felt welcomed, and it made me feel very alone. It is important to maintain these social spaces because they make important members of society feel comfortable, welcome and equal.
ReplyDeleteAnother point that I picked out from the video, one of the individuals stated the bar gave them a sense of life. This strong statement also shows just like you said the bar for them was more than just a bar. Some of the individuals look as if they could break out into tears at any moment. The video was heartbreaking to see them so emotional.
DeleteIt most definitely matters to be in a space of people who look like you, sound like you, and have similar experiences. I think for me this is why I pull so close to the Black Student Union at CNU. I enjoy my experiences at our campus in our classrooms, but I often still realize I am a minority. To have those safe spaces is very important.
The Hershee bar story is heartbreaking. Just for some context, my brother-in-law came out of the closet a year and a half ago. He is still married to my sister, but both have significant others and are all living together during the pandemic. They are all great friends and my nephew basically has four co-parents and loves it. They are a great example of what a modern day family looks like.
ReplyDeleteMy brother-in-law and sister would often go to gay bars or clubs when they went out because he felt more comfortable in that atmosphere with him then identifying as bi (now gay). He now plays in a queer sports league and him and his boyfriend love spending time with people who understand them and are similar to them. Marginalized groups find comfort in similarity and actively spending time around people like themselves. People in the LGBTQ+ community want to feel safe and accepted and safe places like the Hershee club allow that. Without those places around, people are more likely to face harassment or discrimination for the way they live their lives, which is heartbreaking.
As a straight white female, I feel safe in most places but refuse to go drinking with my gal pals unless we have a guy with us I trust because of harassment I have faced in the past. The fact that people in LGBTQ+ community have that fear all the time without that safe place is so sad. Safe spaces are crucial for communities and members so they can feel welcome, safe, and part of a community that accepts them for who they are.
Having a safe spot is always comforting to have and it hurts to see a safe spot get taken away from people. It hurts even more to hear that there has to be a safe spot because there are still people out there that criticize the LGBTQ+ community and don't make them feel welcome despite that its 2020 and we should be welcoming and accepting of one another no matter who they love, who they identify as, or where they come from. Even my mom's friend, Randal, who about to turn 50 and is a gay man, has safe spots like Hershee Bar all over Richmond and it would crush him to see his spots taken away.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article and then watching the video, I can almost feel the emotions of people not having a safe space to express themselves. In the textbook Athena is often busted down by the police after individuals in the neighborhood complain of the loud noises, and then also in the video the Hershee bar has its last call as the city council closes them down. The two situations are disheartening that people are losing their place of comfort, and for some individuals it was probably the only place that they could be their true selves.
ReplyDeleteI picked out some of the quotes from the individuals in the video that I felt were very important and truly highlighted this issue. The first included, "It matters to be in a space of people who look like you and have similar experiences." I agree with this statement whole heartedly because it hits home for me. When you are the only one in a room based on different characteristics, it is often uncomfortable. We often become adjusted to these scenarios. However, if you never find your safe space to vent I can only imagine what life is like never having at least one space of comfort. Another individual in the video stated, "If they had never found the bar, they would be afraid to be who they truly were in the fear of being neglected by their family and friends." We would like to think our family and friends will always love us for who we are. However, in some cases this is not how it always works out which is very sad. From the video and the reading, we can see the safe spaces give people a sense of hope.
I like how the reading added the perspective of an intersectional lens which relates to other readings we have done this semester. This approach has been very important to our course. We are able to view how the topic is effected from different angles of interlocking aspects. The beginning of the article discusses how same-sex marriages from certain statistics look as they are beginning to be more accepted, but it is when we look at the numbers from an intersectional lens, we are able to see the "true" answers. The reality of the situations is what's most important. As Lessard (2016) states we must look at multiple forms of identity including race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and ability to see the whole picture of LGBTQ+ acceptance in our society.
This video truly opened my eyes to many things that are often overlooked when it comes to the LGBTQ community. There is a never a question or concern of needing heteronormative spaces because everywhere you go is a heteronormative space. There is rarely ever a doubt or uncertainty about the comfort when you are heterosexual. As mentioned in the video, there is a lack of incorporation of the LGBTQ community in mainstream media. However, the importance of these queer specific spaces is to provide comfort to people in a world that does not provide it for them. They have the opportunity to engage with people like them, people who have gone through the same things as them, and people who understand them in a way that the rest of the world cannot. This world is geared to approach the LGBTQ community with violence, whether that be mental or physical violence. Places like Hershee Bar mean more than the public can even recognize. The perception of queers and anyone else in the LGBTQ community are very one sided because there is no possible way for people to understand the struggles that they go through. We as people no matter what have to understand the importance of sacrete spaces to provide comfortability.
ReplyDeleteA physical space... it's quite a complex idea that has many dimensions to it. It's hard to imagine what it's like to consistently negotiate with oneself about if the space one is in is safe and if you are able to show up as your true self. It's quite inspiring that a physical space can have such an emotional spirit of connection and community. To truly commit to allyship, it's about working with a community that thrives on physical spaces to feel safe and ensure such spaces are provided.
ReplyDelete