Whither gay Sydney: the decline of Oxford Street as gay space

Despite (or perhaps because of) these changes, “gay” lifestyle has lost its appeal to many younger homosexuals. Many openly gay people feel comfortable living and working right across the Sydney area and further afield. The Internet has reduced the need for gay services and entertainment to physically locate close together, and radically transformed the way gay people meet.

Diversity and individualism are also becoming more prevalent within the gay community. Younger gays are rejecting stereotypes about what their sexuality should entail, instead seeking out more meaningful communities. Cliché-gay is still popular, but it’s losing ground to a smorgasbord of other identities. Often, ethnicity, religion or one’s job define one’s identity more than homosexuality does.

Oxford Street no longer represents gay nirvana, the right-of-passage once sought by many young gay men. Conformity and the gay “scene” are going out of fashion. Arguably, this increased individualism marks the height of gay political achievement. Wasn’t the ability to be and act oneself the ultimate aim of the gay liberation movement?

Gay Sydney is losing its cultural distinctiveness along with its spatial concentration and character. Oxford Street is likely to remain “gay” in the near future, but other places are attracting more and more gay residents (such as nearby, cheaper, Newtown). The lifestyle benefits of the inner city (such as community services and jobs in creative industries) are likely to remain gay drawcards, but these are even being diluted as Sydney grows.

Oxford Street’s long-term gay future is unclear. Have changes to the retail and entertainment mix turned the precinct straight? Are increasing numbers of homosexuals perceiving Oxford Street to be little more than an over-rated, commercialised “fauxhemia”?

Perhaps the biggest existential concern of gay territories has changed from repression to assimilation. In post-industrial cities worldwide, visibly gay communities are fragmenting. It must be asked: Have diversity and acceptance lead to decline?