Places of Pride: Recognizing Gayborhoods as Traditional Cultural Places

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a trend in historic preservation to identify and preserve the heritage of underrepresented communities including those under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. The focus of these efforts has centered around preserving the history of these communities through landmarking of individual buildings, creating public art installations, establishing grassroots memory projects, and activities such as walking tours. While valuable, these efforts fail to capture the living cultural heritage of the various LGBTQ+ communities. Using the historic preservation concept of Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs) established by Thomas F. King and Patrica L. Parker in the National Register Bulletin 38 and research into sense of place theory discussed by Edward Relph in A Pragmatic Sense of Place, this thesis argues that culturally significant LGBTQ+ places should be regarded as TCPs. Additionally, this treatise explores the concepts of secular ritual and civil religion making the argument that culturally significant LGBTQ+ places serve the same purpose and function as did ethnic enclaves for America’s immigrant and minority communities. These communities are already recognized as TCPs within current preservation practice. Through case studies of San Francisco’s Castro District, Washington, DC’s Dupont Circle, and the Massachusetts community of Provincetown the treatise demonstrates how culturally significant LGBTQ+ places meet the criteria to be regarded as TCPs. Potential challenges to the successful listing of LGBTQ+ TCPs in the National Register are explored with recommendations to overcome some of the barriers presented. This thesis demonstrates that there needs to be a paradigm change within the preservation field; now is time that the places to which the various LGBTQ+ communities ascribe cultural value are recognized for what they are: TCPs.