Spokane, Gay Mecca
Many major cities around the country have a neighborhood that is considered the hub of the city's gay activity; Capitol Hill right here, Boy's Town in Chicago, Castro in San Francisco, Chelsea in New York. Seattlest has always been intrigued by how these districts come about. We're sure that each one has its own history, but we're equally sure that all of them have been pretty organic. It's something that just happens. You don't generally see a Pride parade march into, say, Laurelhurst, throw up a bunch of rainbow flags and call it a gay quarter.
Yet that appears to be what's brewing in the red capitol of our blue state. Spokane, Washington, is making international headlines these days for their efforts to establish a gay business district near the downtown area of the city.
Activists have embarked on a radical plan to create a gay business district in the heart of the city. It is a controversial idea in a region known mainly for political conservatism and the growing presence of evangelical Christians. But the idea's backers are determined. 'Bring it on. Spokane won't change without confrontation,' said Bonnie Aspen, a gay businesswoman and one of the scheme's architects.
In ultra-conservative Spokane 'Bring it on' may be apt, and Seattlest imagines the gay business district there to be flanked by rainbow colored walls. The opposition is Spokane's growing evangelical population:
One Spokane church leader, Walton Mize, bishop of the Christ Holy Sanctified Church, has warned of an 'underbelly' of gay culture that will attract sexual predators and be a risk to children. Other evangelical groups have distributed anti-gay literature to city officials claiming that gays will bring disease and mental illnesses into Spokane. Penny Lancaster, leader of an influential body of evangelical groups called Community Impact Spokane, has said the city risks becoming a 'gay Mecca'.
You heard it here at Seattlest, Spokane is in danger of becoming a gay Mecca...
