Dr. Christina Hanhardt Safe Space Sparknotes

We have learned from various sources of history that media and society tend to frame social issues in an unjust manner that might alienate or take away from other social issues occurring at the same time. We see this in Dr. Christina Hanhardt’s book, Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence, which summarizes the histories of LGBT communities and activism. She exemplifies different movements in urban communities that focused on sexuality-based discrimination but resulted in racial prejudice. It also places different lenses on LGBT history that reveal how fighting for visibility and rights can create even larger issues. Hanhardt argues that even a radical approach to winning political citizenship can make civil rights
Urban development became a popular device to control crime mainly in inner-city areas, with designated spaces labeled as “safe” by patrollers. These developments had significant impacts on areas such as New York and San Francisco, where the gay community “The Castro” was created (Hanhardt, 82). These designated areas were perceived as environment segregation of an “undesirable” society, the shift toward gentrification gradually increased and created hierarchies based on class within the minority groups. Those not included in the coined term, “gay gentrification” faced more aggressive policing and discrimination. Today, rich gay people living in West Hollywood, or Manhattan, New York, are idealized and accepted, while lower-income, inner-city areas are not considered as areas of acceptance and progression with the LGBT community. Stereotypes in TV shows, such as Modern Family and Glee, perpetuate the “ideal gay lifestyle”, and do not represent the impoverished LGBT people who struggle with more than just sexuality-based discrimination. All minority groups are fighting for visibility, but some successes overshadow the struggles over others, thus creating further divides between marginalized