How Gay is Dupont?
When I first came to the District - a closeted, Christian, conservative 18-year-old - I heard of Dupont Circle's history, culture, and overall gayness. It made me both nervous and excited to pass through a focal point in the gay community as I tried to figure out who and what I was.
But the awe of gay wonder surrounding it soon fell away, and for me continues to decline.
Last week, while walking the 2 1/2 miles from Homo/Sonic to my Georgetown apartment, I passed through Dupont alone at 2am. I saw a group of three men and one woman in their twenties walking, with two of the guys roughhousing a little. Soon the four of them were making jokes at the two touchy-feely guys being gay.
Then on Saturday, while getting signatures for a letter to Obama on gay rights, I was surprised at how many people in Dupont gave me dirty looks. Maybe it was just because I was bothering them on the street, but as I asked folks to sign a letter supporting equal rights I often sensed something like, "Yeah, and I bet I know what group you want equality for." Many obviously gay people I asked brushed me off as well, apparently not eager to affiliate themselves with the gay community.
If I can't be comfortably gay in Dupont Fucking Circle, I'm guessing I won't ever find a location that itself makes me feel totally secure and welcome. Gays will always be in the minority, and at least for many decades will be hated by many. I guess I have to find my own way to be comfortable - no magic circle, even a super homosexual one, will do it for me.
7 comments:
Dupont Circle is about as gay these days as Adams-Morgan is still hip and edgy, if you catch my drift.
With popularity, notoriety, and success comes the masses in general; it's just the way of the world.
I think the main problem was that you were asking for signatures on the street, which is irritating.
I think you're doing a lot of projecting. I don't think you can conclude much of anything about people's attitudes toward homosexuals by a snippet of overheard conversation on the street. And just because people don't want to be harassed with a petition doesn't mean they're anti-gay. I'm homosexual and out but I'm wary when I'm approached on the street for a signature, especially if it's for "gay rights" which is usually code for "special rights for married people," which I do not support.
Dupont Circle is far less gay than it used to be. Does anyone else remember The Circle bar on Connecticut Avenue? Try getting something like that open there these days. And an Anne Taylor Loft?! Ugh!
That being said, I as a policy never sign anything nor give money away on the streets. Being accosted, no matter the cause, bothers me in the extreme.
Yeah, this is DC. There are more people seeking signatures than homeless people asking for change. No surprise on that front...
In over ten years visiting Dupont, I've never known it to be a gay utopia. But really, what is the ultimate goal of gay rights: ghettoization or to be an integral part of the society. If you can't be comfortably gay everywhere, let alone Dupont circle, then how will people learn to comfortably accept the fact that you are gay. With time, as straight people in and out of dupont circle see being gay as a normal, comfortable part of yourself (and others), then it will stop being funny too.
Scientology, they hate gays.
Dupont Circle isn't that gay any more and hasn't been for some time. The Anne Taylor loft was just the last straw, the cancerous growth blooming in the open.
A lot of people who would otherwise have settled there in the last 10 years have been priced out and have moved further east and north. Remember that we have a height limit on construction, so even though Dupont could probably be more densely populated, if you can't build up, you automatically have to build out. The gay epicenter is traditionally considered to have moved east, but with significant populations north of the circle and north east.
I do have to echo what the others have said regarding signatures, though I would append that as a District resident I don't have voting rights in Congress, and often see the futility of putting my name to something national.
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