Homo-genation Of The 'Hoods

I stepped out of my box today and brought up the potentially uncomfortable topic of equality with a few people at work today. It is known that I am gay around here, I've always been open about that and refuse to bury any part of myself for some one else. The odd thing is that I've never talked to people in my office specifically about equality and why it's important.

So as I was grabbing lunch with a few people (more like I joined them while they were eating, but that's beside the point), I broached the subject. The conversation started a bit rough, because I brought up that today was A Day Without A Gay, and that led into what I'm doing at work which then led to my reasoning for being at work and wanting to talk to my co-workers about equality. I admit, it was a tad awkward, but more than anything it was enlightening, for me and (I hope) them.

One of the questions that struck me was one woman at the table asked "Why do you all always clump up? Like in San Fransico and Boystown?" At first I laughed, but when I realized she was serious, I had to point out to her that is simply human nature. We stick to our own. Whatever part of ourselves we most identify with will generally also identify where we live, and that belief is easily exampled by looking at Chicago.

Chicago, for however diverse it is, is pretty well segregated into its various communities. Boystown is gay. Humboldt Park is Puerto Rican. Hyde Park is African-American. South Loop is up-and-coming professionals. West Loop is students and recent graduates. Lincoln Park is rich and white. So on. It's not that people in this city are racist or segregationists, but people have a tendency to migrate to the areas that have the most amount of people they identify with. It feels safe and home-y.

So we Gays "clump up" because we like to hold hands with our boyfriends or girlfriends and not get beaten in the streets. We "clump up" because we like to know that the coffee shop down the street is going to be gay friendly (or straight friendly, as they prefer to be called in B-Town) or else they aren't going to be in business long. Believe me, there are many gay people that would prefer to live in other neighborhoods, but they don't feel as safe.

What shocked me about that question is that she did not realize that about herself as well. She didn't realize that she lived in the particular suburb that she did because that 'burb is packed full of mid-income white families with younger children. She didn't realize that she herself "clumped up" with other people just like her, and so it was odd to her that minority groups would have the balls to do such a thing. I'm not sure she meant to sound ignorant, in fact I think she was genuinely curious, but what it said most to me was that the "mainstream" America needs a lot more education about society as a whole and diversity in particular before true advances can be made.