Why do people call gays and lebians the gay and lesbian community?

Question

Its not like there are neighborhoods were its all just gays that live there, like the ghetto's are considered black communities,suburban areas are somtimes called white neighborhoods or some such but I have never been to a place were its all gay people so why name them this.
There all just ordinary people.

Answer 1

A community in this sense does not have to be a physical location. Gays and lesbians have had a tremendous impact on redefining social terms. Gay created their own chosen families where they would get support and protection. Many nongay persons have become closer to their non blood families now than ever before.

Answer 2

I see your point, or what you are getting at.

The fact is that the original meaning of the word community is just a group of people who share something in common. The word has become popular as a synonym for neighborhoods, which technically are a community, as people are sharing living space, but that's not the original intent of the word. The original intent was more along the lines of people sharing an experience. For example, if you read history books, you find mention of the Jewish community in a city, or the Christian community. They don't mean that the people all lived in the same neighboorhoods (althought with minority faiths, like Judaism, they did tend to congregate in one part of a city), they instead are referring to the fact that those communities shared a common faith and way of life.

When people talk about the gay and lesbian community now, they are not talking about neighborhoods, they are talking about the shared experience of being homosexual. In a society that is largely intolerant of homosexuality, there are many shared experiences that unify gays and lesbians, and those experiences form a common bond among them. That's the type of community people are talking about.

Answer 3

There ARE gay 'ghettos' - Surry Hills, Erskineville, Potts Point, Newtown, Waterloo, Elizabeth Bay, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross in Sydney, Australia are suburbs that are almost exclusively gay and lesbian.

Most gay communities are situated in the red-light district of major cities around the world -- where most prostitutes congregate and drug deals happen. I don't know why. Maybe there is protection in the inner-city fortress of 'sleazy' neighbourhoods. Gay men don't get picked on/harrassed/beaten up when surrounded by such overt 'filth'. Christians tend not to want to live in the inner-city alcoves of metropolitan cities because of all the 'sin' - so gays live in peace there....

Answer 4

I don't know what part of the world you live in but where I am there is most definintely a gay & lesbian community. I could mention the name of the section of town & that's the first thing everyone would think of.

Answer 5

I get what you're saying, but wanted to inform you that there ARE indeed places that have neighborhoods that are mostly gay and anyways all gay-friendly. ;)

I think there are times where talking about A gay community is appropriate, but "the" gay community is fictional.

Answer 6

well there are communities where most of the inhabitants are gay...I live in one....but the term came up because it was a means of supporting each other...

Answer 7

because they relate to one other as relatives and a community unto themselves quite often from my observations.why do the scientific community gather in commonality as well? they are just people too.

Answer 8

i dn't know but i heards there is going to be a island for gays and lesbains on the news