Throughout the recent string of gay-rights victories in the United States, the most vibrant celebrations could be found in so-called “gayborhoods” like New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s Castro district.

Whereas gay parts of town were once associated with derelict urban districts (think of the old Times Square or the Tenderloin in San Francisco), these neighborhoods are now some of the country’s most desirable. So much so, in fact, that theories of the “creative city” that emerged in the early aughts often cited the presence of gay people — implicitly, white gay men — as a sign of areas ripe for urban regeneration, whether as arbiters of culture, diversity, or safety.

It would appear that a particular brand of gay-friendly values has become synonymous with those most prized by contemporary capitalist urban redevelopment.