Philadelphia, more than friendly

May 22 2013

by Stéphane Moran / TÊTU

Spontaneously, one would not name Philadelphia among the gayest cities in the United States. Wrong ! a few blocks south of the imposing City Hall begins The Gayborhood. Basically, the gayborhood is in the middle of downtown, between Chestnut Street to the north, Pine Street to the south, South Broad Street to the west, South 11th to the east

How do you find your way around ?
It's simple, look up, the street signs of the neighborhood all have a rainbow. A historic neighborhood of the gay community, this corner of the city was still dirty and poor six or seven years ago. It is the political will of the city council (black, democrat and friendly) combined with the work of the LGBT associations that has given life to these streets : from a drug and prostitution spot, they have become a trendy neighborhood

Today, The Gayborhood looks like a charming gay village, with terraces of bars and restaurants, associations and LGBT businesses.

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A visit to the Gayborhood can start at the William Way Community Center on Spruce Street, an LGBT center opened in 1975. Here you will find all the information you need about the neighborhood, its community life, its cultural events... On your way out, don't miss the huge LGBT mural that covers one of its outside walls.

In the evening, the Gayborhood comes alive at7pm, at the aperitif time. The scooters, very fashionable here, run through the streets. Bands of friends in tank tops show tattoos and biceps. A handsome black man stretches his muscles in a square. Café Twelve near the 12th Street gym fills up.

Teenagers, fat people, Mr. Everyman, shrimps with hair, musclemen, daddys, modasses, pure bombs. We watch, we connect to our computer, we launch Grindr, we swallow an iced latte. What an embarrassment of choice to continue the evening !

Fresco on one of the walls of the William Way Community Center

In a bar ? The historical Woody's, the trendy Graffiti Bar, Tavern on Camac (to sing), The Bike Stop (for leather), Uncle's (for the quinquas), Tabu (to watch a baseball game)... A restaurant ? Knock (American), Mixto (Latino), Valanni (tapas), Sampan (Asian). A club ? Icandy, Voyeur. A sauna ? Club Body Center (1220 Chancellor Street). A gay porn video club ? Spruce Street Video (252 South 12th Street). And everything can be done on foot !

Another must-see in the neighborhood : Giovanni's Room (at the corner of 12th and Pine Streets), the oldest LGBT bookstore in the country since the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York closed in 2009. Competing with online stores, this store opened in 1973 and is still full of old books and magazines of all kinds.

A tip : before coming to Philly, take a calendar. The city holds a series of LGBT events that can be a good starting point for your stay : gay pride in June, QFest, the gay and lesbian film festival, in July, and OutFest, a festive celebration of coming out, in October.

Since the Gayborhood explosion, other, more out-of-the-way neighborhoods have brought out the rainbow flag. Like East Passyunk, near the Italian Market. Several bars and restaurants run by gays have opened in this corner of South Philadelphia. The other area that's on the rise among gays is called Northern Liberties, north of Old City, a neighborhood full of contrasts between industrial wastelands, vacant lots, architects' houses, old restored buildings... Here, you'll come across hippy chic, hooded riffraff, lesbians with piercings, two bearded men hand in hand...

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