Detroit should become the San Francisco of Transgendered

[Bloomfield Pills]

I really, really wish you would die.

Blow me. Oh, wait...never mind.

[jtf1972]

AS long as it's in the suburbs, Detroit doesn't need your type.

Detroit doesn't need people with a sense of humor? Geez.... What crawled up your ass and died?

[Bloomfield Pills]

Detroit doesn't need people with a sense of humor? Geez.... What crawled up your ass and died?

....a gerbil?

[ThaFuzz]

....a gerbil?

there's a Mr. Slave quote here somewhere, but I just can't find it.

Seriously, all this speculation is diverting, but guess what? Trannies need jobs to afford all of these gentrification pipe dreams everyone is concocting. I think the slum-to-tasteful-midcentury-decor movement is over, at least in this area. The younger GLBTs are diverting their energy and attention elsewhere. The older generations are reaching retirement age, and unlikely to have the energy and financial resources for house rehabbing.

[erichp77]

Well, I just want to point out that my words about HP were far from political. It's about rehabilitation of an area to it's former grandness which has been done by gay communities in cities around the country. Sure, it's far from happening in the near future as far as Detroit/Highland Park are concerned, but it' not impossible. As the populations dwindle so will crime. Down the road, the time will be ripe for a people to take advantage of the opportunity of creating a vibrant, walkable, and safe community. Why the gay community? I have tons of answers to that but the biggest one would be that I really don't see your average middle class families going for it when the time comes!

[jtf1972]

Most gay people are the same as most straight people. You have good ones & idiots. To make blanket statements that a "gay community" would take care of their area more than an area naturally populated by a populace composed of both gay and straight persons is not only sterotyping, but just plain ignorant as well. Detroit already has a gay population, just like everywhere else. For an example, look at the gay bars. They aren't all amazingly tasteful and well kept. In fact, most are shitholes, just as bad as the average neighborhood bar.

[erichp77]

Jtl1972,

I think you took my post "way" out of context!!!

[hudkina]

I don't think gentrification comes specifically from the gay community, nor does the entire gay community participate in gentrification. However, that's not to say that the stereotype doesn't exist for a reason. Most often the earliest gentrification pioneers are immigrants and gays, as both groups are less likely to be put off by crime rates and terrible schools.

[bailey]

For an example, look at the gay bars. They aren't all amazingly tasteful and well kept. In fact, most are shitholes, just as bad as the average neighborhood bar.

One might ask why most the gay bars here are relics of the days of gay shame when gay bars usually had no windows, all entrances were off the street and well hidden, and all cars backed into spots so no one would casually see the license plates....but then that question doesn't need to be asked when people like Bloomfield Pills post.

[markseth]

Forgive me for stumbling across this thread only recently, but for anyone interested in researching "gay gentrification" further, I suggest you check out Wilton Manors, Florida. There are many many parallels between Wilton Manors and Highland Park. Twenty years ago Wilton Manors [[bordered on all sides by Fort Lauderdale) was a run-down, drug infested, crime ridden city. Gays saw the possibilities in cheap, solid housing, moved there in droves, opened business and today Wilton Manors is a thriving community. The transformation has been astonishing, and it may be one example for revitalizing small communities within Detroit.

[Hermod]

A "gaying" of Highland Park would just be turning back the clock in a way. I knew a number of gay people who lived in HP back in the '60s and early '70s.

In the fifties, well-to-do gays lived in apartments on East Jefferson while the seedier and more flamboyant types lived in cheap hotels near Bates and Farmer.

[Danny]

Trangender in a mostly black metropolis. NEVER!

[dookie joe]

Trangender in a mostly black metropolis. NEVER!

[Zacha341]

Would that include enduring one of those "eye" opening parades? That's be great for the kiddies!

Detroit could open its arms to the transgendered community and create a safe haven for people in need. In return Detroit would be repopulated and fun! San Francisco on the river sounds good to me.

Who's with me?

[Zacha341]

LOL!

Blow me. Oh, wait...never mind.

[Zacha341]

Straight parade! Hah - what a concept!

Well, well, well... Aren't we a little testy.

Calm down, or we might have to have a straight pride parade!

[Zacha341]

Absolutely. It seems the only thing "preserved" on Hamilton is a frozen state of ruin... even the bulldozers avoid that street. Sad.

...As far as Hamilton Ave, I wouldn't necessarily call it "preserved" as most of the buildings are empty shells completely open to the elements.

[exmotowner]

Why in the world would you want to bring us gays back to Detroit. All we would do would be to fix everything up and make the prices of the properties go up. We were ran out of PP once I doubt that Detroit will ever allow a true gay "community" to come back in. We would never come back with the crime the way it was/is. We weren't wanted there and that was made clear by CY so we all left. Just think what Palmer park would be like if it was still the gay center. Damn shame people cant live where they want.

[exmotowner]

"Trangender in a mostly black metropolis. NEVER!"

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!
Black folks are way more predujice against gays than the white community. In the black community being gay is looked upon as being weak. Thats why a lot of black men dont come out. A lot of black men just screw around on their wives with men on the "down low". I dont even see a mostly Gay community in detroit just because of this fact.

[Norwalk]

I'm still hoping the rest of the LGBT community will take a chance on Hamtramck and join me. Please

[maxx]

Homophobia in Detroit? That's something else the ministers should be confronting instead of exacerbating the problem.

[bailey]

Straight parade! Hah - what a concept!

Isnt there already one and isnt it called Mardi Gras?

[markseth]

The major reason gays -and not straights-would be willing to repopulate a city such as Detroit is [[for the most part) schools are not an issue for us. The vast majority of us do not have children to educate so the public school system is not a concern. If I had kids, I would never contemplate moving to Detroit.
When I tell my friends here in Seattle how little a house sells for in Detroit, they do not believe me. I have to prove it by showing them a real estate web site.
Repopulating the city with people who use very little in the way of services [[schools) would increase your tax base with little cost. It has worked in other, albeit smaller communities.
And if a smaller city such as Hamtramck or Highland Park is serious about attracting new gay residents, they should publicize that. And they also need to publicize the fact that gays are welcomed and are protected from overt discrimination. Do you have non-discrimination laws? [[None of my friends has ever heard of Highland Park or Hamtramck, but they all know Wilton Manors, boystown Chicago, West Hollywood, Castro, Key West.... You'd have your work cut out for you in getting the word out.)
The gay pioneers and artists looking for cheap housing may just start a wave of re-settlement. Just a thought.....
And btw, there is plenty in Detroit to sell to gays to induce them to move there besides insanely affordable houses. The arts, symphony, opera, museums, university to name a few. Hockey or football? maybe not so much.

[Danny]

"Trangender in a mostly black metropolis. NEVER!"

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!
Black folks are way more predujice against gays than the white community. In the black community being gay is looked upon as being weak. Thats why a lot of black men dont come out. A lot of black men just screw around on their wives with men on the "down low". I dont even see a mostly Gay community in detroit just because of this fact.

I agree with your comments WELL DONE!

Black gays and Black Lesbians in Detroit will be hidden in the ghettohoods as long they don't get caught. Ferndale should be their haven from all that anti-homosexual folks. But look what we have in Detroit City politics, Charles Pugh, the next 'Harvey Milk' of Detroit. Maybe he would recongize the anti-homosexual problems and give their civil rights.