Gayborhood Officially Renamed Gayborhood

Not content to let the city’s gay tourists find the Gayborhood just by looking for the transvestite prostitutes and drug dealers, our fair city has finally officially designated the Gayborhood the, uh, Gayborhood.

Well, there are now rainbow flags on the street signs from 11th to Broad and Chestnut to Pine. (Aw, I guess I miss living in the Gayborhood by a block or so.) Says Tami Sortman of the Philadelphia gay tourism caucus: “If we’re welcoming gays and lesbians, then we need to show them where the gayborhood is.”

Fair enough. Strike a blow for civil rights — if, uh, rainbow flags on the street signs in an area where there are already 2.2 million rainbow flags can be considered such — and make some sweet cash at the same time? Now that’s a good idea.

Not that everyone is all that excited. NBC 10 spoke with area resident Kathleen Vaughan, who worries the official Gayborhood designation will, uh… I dunno.

“It’s a mixed group of people,” [Kathleen] Vaughan said. “The Parker Hotel used to be a place for mentally ill.”

Despite the opposition, Philadelphia joins San Francisco, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto, which all have gay-friendly districts.

Yes, despite the opposition of Kathleen Vaughan, the Gayborhood remains popular in large liberal cities. Anyway, the mentally ill can live in the Mentally Illborhood. Or call it Midtown Village. Actually, that’s much worse than any other name.

Gayborhood Gets Official Designation, Recognition From City [NBC 10]
Nov. 10: Gayborhood Renamed In Secret Election, 13th Street Now Free Of Drugs And Transvestite Prostitutes