The cost of convenience

Last time I discussed the benefits of the internet for gay people, and the opportunities it opens up. Yet these opportunities have affected the relationship between gays and cities, and not always for the better.
The attractiveness of participating in the mainstream gay social scene has been eroded as other alternatives have become attractive and viable. Websites have been used by gay youth to discuss their sexuality and seek social support, reducing the need to make life-changing decisions, like a migration to Oxford Street or shunning childhood networks of friends.
Indeed, as increasing internet use by gays has combined with other phenomena—such as gentrification and the “mainstreaming” of retail around Oxford Street, disillusionment with the gay scene, and greater tolerance of homosexuality—offline gay space has come under threat.
Furthermore, with the AIDS crisis having diminished a lot as an existential threat to gay men since its heyday in the early 1990s, there’s no longer such a strong need for gay people to live in physical proximity to each other, whether for community support or access to specialised health services.
Oxford Street, as has become apparent for several years now, is in decline. It’s no longer cheap to live in or visit this gay enclave, and it’s become easier for visibly gay people to live gay lives in other places. The net might not be as good or as authentic for many things, but often it’s easier, quicker and more anonymous.
In a sense, gay space has begun to shift away from the physical urban spaces of bars, clubs, shops and cafés, and towards the online virtual spaces of the internet. Perhaps tangible gay space is being partly foregone for its virtual equivalent as many of the social functions served by gay places go digital. Is gay culture now an online culture?
Still, for many, the internet is no nirvana. It’s great for meeting others, hooking up or locating services if you live in the inner city, but what about those gays and lesbians out in suburbia or in rural areas? As a facilitator of face-to-face social interaction, the internet is very much dependent on the geographic concentration of its users. Where the users are, the action is (no pun intended).
Maybe it’s possible that, rather than harming gay bars, the internet will make it easier to meet up with newfound friends for a drink or coffee in the gay district. Maybe it will make more homosexual people aware of what’s on offer in these places, such as services, counselling, community or entertainment.
Or maybe not. But either way, the net has enhanced diversity and participation in the gay community. Undoubtedly that in itself is a good thing, even if gay urban space is adversely affected. Besides, although many gay men and lesbians love a big night out or a spot of shopping in these places every now and then, the gay district isn’t so central to the openly gay existence any more.
When you can live almost anywhere in the city, shop and go out wherever you like and meet new people online, perhaps the erosion of the once solid gay political and cultural territory is a small price to pay for technological and social progress.
Brad Ruting is in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney.
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