Across the world, homosexuals are often persecuted for their sexual orientation. As a result, large populations of gay people have formed communities that support them.

In its most basic definition, a “gay district” or “gay village” is a place where a large number of gay people live and hang out. Gay districts, which are often located in major cities, are highlighted by their many gay-friendly businesses, including bars, bookstores, boutiques, and restaurants.

Often, the pride flag (aka rainbow flag) can be seen proudly on display in these establishments. In fact, Pride Month 2020 is happening right now. Pride Month occurs in June each year because the Stonewall riots in June 1969 ignited the gay rights movement around the world.

On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay club. Patrons and employees of the club fought back when police physically harassed or arrested them. The confrontation became violent, leading to a riot and days of protests. The following year at the first US gay pride parade, participants chanted, “Say it loud, gay is proud.”

Many of today’s gay districts were originally sections of cities that had fallen into squalor. As large populations of the ostracized gay community moved to these areas, they gradually became more attractive. Over time, these portions of the cities often became the most fashionable and expensive. Here are 10 of the world’s most popular gay districts.

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10 The Castro
San Francisco, US

The Castro, a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, was one of the first gay districts in the US. It is also one of the largest in the country. Although most of the gay community in the area lives in the Castro, some reside in surrounding neighborhoods like Haight-Ashbury, which played a large role in the formation of the 1960s hippie movement.

During World War II, the US military dropped off thousands of gay servicemen in San Francisco. These men gathered in the Castro neighborhood, named after Jose Castro, a leader of the Mexican opposition to US rule after Monterey and San Francisco were taken by US forces in the 19th century.

Jose Castro’s life and resistance to oppressive rule parallels that of Harvey Milk, one of the Castro’s most famous residents. In the early 1970s, Milk opened Castro Camera in the district and began a movement as a prominent gay activist. Sadly, on November 27, 1978, fellow politician Dan White assassinated Milk. This popularized the now-infamous legal defense called the “Twinkie Defense.”^[1]

9 Old Compton Street/Soho
London, England

Soho, named after an old English hunting cry, is located in Westminster in the West End of London. On Old Compton Street in Soho, dozens of businesses survive on the “pink pound,” which is the purchasing power of the gay community.

Tragically, a horrific event occurred at the Admiral Duncan pub in the heart of the Soho gay district on April 30, 1999. Neo-Nazi David Copeland planted a nail bomb inside the pub that left three dead and 70 injured. Copeland hoped to stir up racial and homophobic tensions.

However, his plan backfired. The gay and straight communities came together in support. After the attacks, the Metro Police commission set up a crime scene van to take witness testimony. The van was entirely staffed by gay officers. This event became a turning point for what had been a tense relationship between the gay community and the police.^[2]

8 Nollendorfplatz
Berlin, Germany

Nollendorfplatz is a fascinating study when one realizes its proximity to the Nazi regime. Before Adolf Hitler rose to power, Nollendorfplatz had theaters and clubs that catered to the gay community. The Nazis attempted to eliminate all evidence of this subculture by closing and destroying many of the district’s most popular hangouts.

After World War II, the area south of Nollendorfplatz reprised its role as Berlin’s gay mecca and continues to be a major gay nightlife hub today. A small memorial plaque, known as the “Pink Triangle,” sits near the south entrance of the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station. The plaque’s unique color and shape commemorate all the homosexual victims of the Nazi regime who were forced to identify themselves by sporting a pink triangle.^[3]

7 Church And Wellesley
Toronto, Canada

Named after the two main streets that intersect in the middle of the neighborhood, Church and Wellesley is one of Canada’s largest gay neighborhoods. The area was prominently put on the map of Toronto’s gay community after the events of the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.

On February 5, 1981, Metropolitan Toronto Police’s “Operation Soap” targeted four popular gay bathhouses, seeking to silence and put out of business these establishments. On that day, approximately 150 police officers arrested 300 innocent men, destroying the bathhouses in the process.

In the months following the raids, Canada’s gay and straight communities banded together to protest what they saw as the evolution of Canada’s “police state.” In Toronto’s Cawthra Park, the AIDS Memorial holds the names of community members who died of AIDS. The names are etched in bronze and forever remembered as pioneers.^[4]

6 Le Marais
Paris

Le Marais is an emerging gay district in Paris, France. Also known for its large Jewish population, Le Marais is replete with notable architecture and trendy boutiques, all meant to be discovered in a maze of narrow cobblestone streets.

Paris was one of the first capital cities to elect an openly gay mayor. In office from 2001 to 2014, Bertrand Delanoe championed an increase in quality of life for all Parisians while criticizing Pope Benedict XVI’s comments about the ineffectiveness of condoms in reducing the spread of AIDS.^[5]

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5 Oxford Street
Sydney

Whereas Le Marais continues to grow as a gay district, Oxford Street in Sydney, Australia, is becoming more “straight,” much to the displeasure of the gay community who once frequented it nearly exclusively. Now, straight bars outnumber gay bars. A few nightclubs even sponsor popular wet T-shirt contests.

Many heterosexual individuals find the gay bars to be a nice change of scenery. Although this increase in visitors has brought more business, it has also spawned negative headlines. Today, Oxford Street has seen a rise in crime, specifically aggression toward the gay community.

Not everything is dire on the street that runs through Darlinghurst, however. Every year in early March, the streets are closed to traffic so that the world-famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, one of Australia’s largest tourist draws, can be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.^[6]

4 Ni-chome
Tokyo

Ni-chome has the world’s highest concentration of gay bars, with approximately 150 bars and nightclubs densely housed together. In a country where a person’s private life is highly prized, most nightclubs are small, holding no more than a couple dozen people.

Marriage is valued in the Japanese culture, which leads many closeted men to marry women and then visit Ni-chome when the nightlife comes alive. Ni-chome’s gay subculture began to emerge after the Prostitution Prevention Law of 1956 made prostitution illegal.

Many of the bars in Ni-chome cater to specialized interests, including the bear community, BDSM, or younger men. Oddly enough, dancing is prohibited at some of these nightclubs. One of the more popular and larger clubs is “Arty Farty,” which elicits a snicker from those of us who are still immature at heart.^[7]

3 Amberes Street
Zona Rosa, Mexico City

Since the 1990s, Zona Rosa, particularly Amberes Street, has become the most popular gay neighborhood in Mexico City. One of three areas in the city where gay bars operate, Zona Rosa is the largest with over 200 businesses spread over 16 blocks.^[8]

Walking the sidewalks, one will encounter many gay couples openly holding hands and being affectionate in public. Zona Rosa and its gay community still face controversy, however.

A few government officials and advocacy groups claim that minors are often prostituted on Amberes Street. Locals refute these claims. They say that those who are antigay are exaggerating the problem so that the gay community will move elsewhere.

Though the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, many young men and women flock to Zona Rosa to escape the pressures of the machismo culture that surrounds them in Mexico.

2 Barrio de Chueca
Madrid

The Chueca quarter lies in the middle of Madrid. It is an avant-garde community that prides itself on its tolerance and open-mindedness. Here, intellectuals and artists gather during the day for a cup of coffee and conversation and at night to dance and drink.

Famous for its annual Gay Pride Parade in late June, Chueca is celebrated for successfully hosting Europride in 2007, a popular event that welcomed over 2.5 million visitors. Based off this experience, WorldPride named Madrid host of its celebration in 2017, where sporting and artistic events celebrated gay culture.^[9]

Madrid as a whole is also known for being one of the first major cities to accept gay marriage.

1 Farme de Amoedo
Rio de Janeiro

A famous street in the Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Farme de Amoedo Street is Brazil’s place to be. In fact, the gay beaches of Ipanema have been voted the best gay beaches in the world. The area is affectionately nicknamed “Barbie Land” for the muscular men who populate the sidewalks.

Rio Carnival is celebrated throughout the city. The most popular Carnival event for the gay crowd is the Banda de Ipanema street parade. First celebrated in 1965, Banda de Ipanema was declared part of Rio’s cultural heritage in 2004. Along with a marching band playing local music, another highlight of the parade is the many drag queens in elaborate costumes walking up and down the parade route.^[10]

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About The Author: A. Greazy currently lives in the vibrant city of Nashville, Tennessee. He enjoys writing, baseball, and licking nacho cheese off his fingers. You can contact him with any questions, comments, or inquiries at [email protected].

Red light districts, a center of sin, sexual vice, and debauchery, are where many go to unwind, escape reality, and indulge in their greatest pleasures. Legalized prostitution, drinking, and every vice imaginable lay within a few mere city blocks. Along with it come organized crime, violence, and sordid tales that are seemingly incredulous yet true. Red light districts have been the dirty underbelly of humankind since the days of Sodom and Gomorra and very possibly before.

In the United States, a country founded with deeply religious ideals against sexual activity, especially legalized activity, many red light districts did not survive to the modern day. We have listed, in no particular order, some of the most lustful, sinister, and sinful American red light districts of all time.

10 Storyville, New Orleans

Created in 1897, as prostitution in America’s original sin city was running rampant into suburban areas, Storyville was the first legal red light district in New Orleans. It was located in what is known as the Treme neighborhood today and was named after a local politician named Sidney Story. While other areas had operated illegally prior to its creation, it became the first fully legal red light district in the city’s history—and the most well-known.

This district was a four-by-four-block radius of brothels, sporting houses, and dance halls. It became a breeding ground for Jazz music and was essential in the development of the music. Mafia activity and other organized crime ran rampant as well. Storyville was closed in 1917 due to America joining WW1 after a federal decree was issued stating that a city could not have both a red light district and a naval base.^[1]

9 The Barbary Coast, San Francisco

Running along what is now the financial district in San Francisco, the Barbary Coast existed from around 1848 to 1911. It developed during the lawless days of the American wild west and Northern California gold rush. As the population of San Francisco grew from 200 to over 10,000 in 1851, local authorities struggled to control the rising population. Organized gangs such as “The Hounds” and “The Regulators” dominated the area, and the seedy history of the coastline began.

It was named after the Barbary Coast of Africa, a coastline where many pirates and slave traders would port, that ran along Morocco to modern-day Libya. The California port of the same name held a similar reputation. Many visitors were often ambushed, murdered, or mugged here at one of its many predatory dive bars. After the 1906 earthquake, the area was rebranded as Terrific Street and would go on to feature dance halls and jazz clubs. A different flavor of sin, but sinful nonetheless.

By 1911, newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst and Mayor James Rolph began to shut the area down permanently by implementing regulations against dancing women in places that served alcohol. By Valentines Day 1917, the final brothel was closed, and the Barbary Coast was no more.^[2]

8 The Sporting District, San Antonio

Hidden deep in San Antonio’s history was a 22-block area near where Market Square is today, known locally as the Sporting District. From 1889 to 1899, brothels were legally recognized in the area. But crackdowns in the area did not occur until the 1940s! Soldiers would often secretly travel here via a special rail trail from Fort Sam Houston.

Upon arrival, they would be handed a “blue book.” Blue books were common in red-light districts of the time and were directories of brothels, highlighting the women inside of them, often including their ethnicities. The blue book of San Antonio was unique, however, as it was published by a police officer named Billie Keilman, who owned property in the Sporting District.^[3]

7 Times Square, New York City

While today Times Square is known as the home of Disney, the M&M shop, and a plethora of costume-wearing street performers, it was not always this way. Once a thriving theatre district, the Great Depression of the 1930s led to its downfall, and by the 1970s, it became the home of porn shops, peep shows, and prostitution.

Being at the center of Manhattan and a major intersection of the subway system, it has always been a major thoroughfare for locals and tourists alike. The New York Times called 42nd Avenue the worst block in NYC in 1960, and this was before the brothels, burlesque shows, and grinder theaters were even fully developed.

The famous disco club, Studio 55, lay on the outskirts of this now-forgotten district. It wasn’t until 1985, as New York fought to regain control over its finances, that a cleanup campaign of Times Square began. A slew of regulations and laws by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani followed, and the area became the tourist attraction we know today.^[4]

6 Gallatin Street, New Orleans

Lesser known than its salacious cousin Storyville, Gallatin Street was the predecessor for the title of “most sinful street in New Orleans.” Laying where the quaint shops of the French Market now reside, right by the docks of New Orleans, it was considered the most dangerous street in New Orleans’s history. Many immigrants would enter New Orleans through the area, never to see any other part of the city.

They were often mugged, murdered, or shanghaied about as quickly as they got off the boat. Operating from the antebellum period to the end of the 1870s, the district produced some of the most violent criminals in New Orleans, a city known for a particularly violent past. With the opening of Storyville, the brothels of Gallatin Street were forced to move to the new legal red-light district, and the street folded. The old buildings were demolished, and the street was renamed French Market Place in 1935.^[5]

5 Hell’s Half Acre, Los Angeles

Along the Southern Pacific Railroad lay a stretch of Alameda Street that, at one point, many visitors were eager to visit. Know as Hell’s Half Acre, it was one of the seediest areas in California history, and much of it still remains a violent part of town today. Women in the area were known to service 13 to 30 men a day and would entice them by standing on wooden platforms outside their homes.

Police authority was extremely lax, as it was in many other red-light districts across the nation, and prostitution ran rampant. Suicides and drug abuse were part of everyday life, as was violence against women. In addition, women were often extorted for their money at the saloons by their pimps and forced to pay high rents for small squabbles of homes known as “crib houses.”

A man named Barolo Ballerino, known as the “father of the cribs,” was the kingpin of the area. His violent legacy still lives on today as the area still remains impoverished and crime-ridden. These “crib houses” were raided in 1903 due to protests from women’s rights organizations, and the area ceased from ever serving as an illegal red-light district again.^[6]

4 The Tenderloin, San Francisco

Just north of Union Square is one of San Francisco’s poorest and most violent neighborhoods. It has carried that reputation since shortly after the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. By the 1920s, “the TL” overflowed with speakeasies, brothels, and all other manner of sinful nightlife. It is believed its unique name was coined by Police Captain Alexander S. Wiliams because officers who patrolled the area could afford a more expensive cut of beef from the bribes they received there.

Later, it became a central hub for jazz and rock ‘n’ roll musicians. Miles Davis and John Coltrane both recorded live albums at the infamous Black Hawk in the early ’60s. Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane recorded records at nearby Hyde Street Studios in the late ’60s.

The Tenderloin also served, and still does, as a safe haven for the LGTBQ+ community. It was home to one of the nation’s first gay organizations, the Vanguard. While no longer a red light district, the Tenderloin is still the seediest and drug-ridden neighborhood in San Francisco and the epicenter of the city’s homeless problem.^[7]

3 The Levee District, Chicago

Chicago is just one of many American cities closely associated with illegality and violence. From roughly 1893 until 1912— although other districts had operated long before—”The Levee District” dominated the nightlife of Chicago. Running along the north bank of the city, along what is today Wells Street, this area had been a hotspot for criminal activity since the 1850s.

The lower section of the Levee District was known as “bed bug row” and hosted some of the grimiest and most disgusting brothels in United States history. In stark contrast was the Everleigh Club, a 5-star sporting house where women of the area were honored to work. At its height, in 1894, the Levee District had 46 saloons, 37 “houses of ill-repute,” and 11 pawnbrokers.

The Women’s Temperance Union (WTU) fought hard across the nation for women’s rights in red-light districts such as this. They won their battle, and by October 1911, 135 warrants were issued for establishments in the Levee District. Many red-light districts across America were closed due to the valiant efforts made on behalf of sex workers by the WTU.^[8]

2 Little Cheyenne, Chicago

Prior to the Levee District, “Little Cheyenne” dominated the scene shortly after the Great Fire of 1871. It ran along South Clark Street on the south side of the city and encompassed the spirit of the wild west, with every avenue of ill repute possible available to its patrons. Cheyenne, Wyoming, caught word of this and named their red light district “Little Chicago.”

Little Cheyenne operated all the way up until the 1970s. Today, a small portion of it exists in the form of a hotel called the Ewing Annex that rents 5×7-foot (1.5×2.1-meter) rooms to homeless men. These “rooms” are hardly suitable for human inhabitance, separated at times by sheets of chicken wire. This serves as a reminder that the degradation of times past still exists in our modern world.^[9]

1 Cripple Creek, Colorado

Just to the south of Denver lies the little town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. A western town that appeared during a gold boom, it quickly was able to provide “sporting houses” to visiting miners as the female population increased. This was common in the late 1800s across the west. During the days of the American wild west, it was often common for small boom towns such as Cripple Creek to turn into miniature centers of sin and fueled the already lawless young nation.

As part of the wild west as train robberies and shootouts in the streets, the brothels flourished from Kansas to Texas to even Alaska. Generally run by madams, the brothels enabled some working girls to leave the lifestyle for greener pastures. Two of the prostitutes who worked and lived in these brothels went on to marry famous gunslingers Harry Longbaugh—aka The Sundance Kid—and Doc Holliday. One woman, Laura Bullion, even joined Longbaugh’s gang, the Wild Bunch Gang.^[10]