WEST HOLLYWOOD AS SYMBOL - THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PLACE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A GAY IDENTITY

The 1984 municipal incorporation of West Hollywood, California offers an opportunity to explore two related themes: (1) the role of place in the creation of identity generally, and (2) the role of place in the creation of sexual identity in particular. Work on the second subject has largely concentrated on the political economy of gay territories, although there has been an ongoing concern with the symbolic importanc e of these places. Although these studies have provided valuable insig hts on these themes, they do not reflect the renewed concern in humani stic geography with the normative importance of place, and the study o f morally valued ways of life. These latter topics provide alternative avenues into questions of identity. In the coverage of the incorporat ion campaign, the gay press presented an idealized image of the city. In defining a new gay identity, the gay press utilized the holistic qu ality of place to weave together the 'natural' and cultural elements o f West Hollywood. This idealized 'gay city' united the place's real an d imagined physical attributes with social and personal characteristic s of gay men. More simply, the qualities of the city itself expressed intellectual and moral virtues, such that characterizations of the cit y became part of a narrative defining the meaning of 'gay'. This new g ay male identity included seven elements: creativity, aesthetic sensib ility, an orientation toward entertainment or consumption, progressive ness, responsibility, maturity, and centrality. The effort to create a n identity centered on West Hollywood was relatively conservative in t he sense that it was not a fundamental challenge to existing social an d political systems. Rather, it reflected a strategy based on an ethni city model, seeking to 'demarginalize' gays and to bring them closer t o the symbolic 'center' of US society.