Queer Residencies: Behold, the Future?

Two recent new items caught my eye.  Both are about the development of private, "queer-only" residencies.  One is in Germany, and the other is being built by Olivia, here in the U.S.

Villa Anders - which translates to "A Different Kind of Villa" -- is a multi-generational queer residency being built in Cologne and seeks to provide independent housing units for queer families and individuals.  Here in the U.S., Olivia is building a 334-unit resort-style residency in Tucson, AZ for lesbians.

Maybe I am wrong in seeing two new for-profit residency developments as a trend.  But I do think that it may be, and, moreover, it seems to be a trend that represents an aspect of our modern queer community that I find really, really troubling; namely, a self-imposed separate but equal agenda.

This Election Day, people in three states were fighting for marriage equality.  Queers and straights were fighting as one.  That's an equal rights, integrationist agenda, using integrationist approaches.  And, the arguments being made for it were rooted in a claim - a correct claim - that queers are part and parcel of this nation and as such are entitled to equality under the law.  The opposition has sought to picture the marriage equality movement as part of a larger and secret queer militant agenda, one where we "force schools" to teach same-sex marriage, etc. 

Well, I don't see how the fear-mongering opponents who say we have a "separate agenda" are anything but on track if we, as a community, start to gravitate towards such things as queer-only residencies.  That's a separatist agenda, pure and simple.

I have never chosen to live in a gay neighborhood.  I have never chosen to live in a whites-only neighborhood, an Irish-American-only neighborhood, or a rich-only neighborhood, etc.  People will make different decisions.  But I wonder if we, as queers, can take a conscious assessment of what we want, as a goal for ourselves as Americans - integration or separate but equal - and, if we do so, what answer we will come up with.

(Image compliments of Getty)

Comments

[Tino]

Get at me

[Bryan]

I completely understand where you are coming from on integrating. However, having lived in gay neighborhoods, I have also observed how they tend to be safer and more desirable than most straight neighborhoods. Gays tend to do everything better. How interesting would it be if we actually started forming our own communities and keeping out straight people? They would be the best communities around and the response when straight people were dying to live there would be, "You give us equal rights, we will let you live amongst us."