Remaking South Beach: metropolitan gayborhood trajectories under homonormative entrepreneurialism

This paper contributes to research on metropolitan gayborhood trajectories and homonormative urban entrepreneurialism by assessing a South Florida case study. We probe allegations of gay men being displaced from South Beach and the opposing narrative of a sexually diverse city with undiminished appeal. To that end, we present expert informant interviews, participant observation, media archives, and census data showing that the remade gayborhood coexists and competes with other, more affordable LGBT nodes. While socioeconomic, demographic and cultural characteristics differentiate these clusters, exploratory spatial data analysis indicates that the majority of metropolitan same-sex households reside elsewhere. We acknowledge Miami Beach’s recent pro-equality efforts, yet argue that homonormative politics conditions them. Public–private actions adopt corporate formats, prioritizing tourist-oriented initiatives and spectacular events that promote nonthreatening, market-friendly forms of sexual dissidence. The conclusion discusses implications for queer community-building in metropolitan regions fragmented by socio-spatial inequality and competitive city-marketing catering to heterogeneous yet exclusive global audiences.