Gay Town, USA?

Culture | Homosexual activists seek district, acceptance outside the big city | Mark Bergin

A propagandistic theory may soon be changing life in a city near you, and maybe your own.

Gay activists are insisting that openly pro-homosexual environments can help the economies of cities by attracting the type of "creative class" that can foster economic growth. Carnegie Mellon professor Richard Florida's 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class, contends that workers in creative industries will run tomorrow's economy and suggests that gay-friendly cities are most likely to attract "creative people." His work has encouraged cities like Philadelphia, Orlando, Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Chicago to embrace gay districts—and now the push is extending to smaller cities like Spokane.

Mr. Florida visited that city two years ago, and since then eastern Washington gays have pushed for official designation of a portion of Spokane's downtown as a haven for homosexual culture. The gay district would pattern itself after similar neighborhoods in Seattle and San Francisco, where housing, businesses, and entertainment cater to homosexuals.