Urban Sexuality Across Europe
Do LGBT Neighborhoods Matter?
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1
Free University of Bozen/Bolzano (Italy)
2
University of Naples Federico II
Submission date: 2021-07-06
Acceptance date: 2022-01-04
Publication date: 2022-09-19
Polish Sociological Review 2022;219(3):351-366
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
In the Western world, the “Stonewall Inn riots” of 1969 represent a turning point in the history of LGBT
(urban) rights claiming. They gave a contribution to a morphological transformation of the Western cities, where
there has been a gradual “homo-colonization” of different metropolitan districts, through the creation of the socalled
LGBT neighborhood.
Adopting a territorial perspective, the paper aims to examine the levels of inclusion of sexual minorities in
Europe and if they can imagine expansive possibilities for a life beyond the “gayborhood.”
Examining the relationship among the level of social acceptance of gender and sexual minorities, their civil
rights and the formation of LGBT communities in cities and the social functions they perform in Europe, the
sociological analysis offers a classification of all European countries into 4 classes.
The work concludes with some critical reflections through which the authors consider the implications of
their findings.