Perspectives on Urban Gay Tourism and Gay Community Building of the Past

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Perspectives on Urban Gay Tourism and Gay Community Building of the Past University of Nevada, Reno Movement and Change: Perspectives on Urban Gay Tourism and Gay Community Building of the Past A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilments of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography by John Jeffery Auer IV Dr. Kate A. Berry/Dissertation Advisor August, 2019 © Copyright John Jeffery Auer IV 2019 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by JOHN JEFFERY AUER IV Entitled Movement and Change: Perspectives on Urban Gay Tourism and Gay Community Building of the Past be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Kate Berry, PhD , Advisor Jessie Clark, PhD, Committee Member Victoria Randlett, PhD, Committee Member Alicia Barber, PhD, Committee Member Todd Felts, EdD, Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School August 2019 i Abstract This research examines the movement and changes associated with people who historically identified as gay and today are part of the LGBTQ spectrum, both through long-term moves to establish new homes and become part of new communities as well as through episodic, short moves as tourists. This dissertation addresses questions about how and why movement associated with gay urban enclaves has changed as well as considers the ways in which gay tourism has changed during the last half century. One set of questions address how age played a role in the rise and decline of gay urban enclaves in big cities and also how this related to the corresponding increases in gay community building in small cities and rural areas. The argument is made that increased movement of middle-aged and older-aged gay men away from big city enclaves to small cities and rural areas since about 2000 has contributed to the loss of gay urban enclaves and the loss of gay culture within them. At the same time, gay culture has developed in small cities and rural areas as middle-aged and older-aged gay men move in and contribute to gay community building. Another set of questions address how and where annual events for gay tourism flourished and changed in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the conditions associated with these events that elicited backlash against gay people. The focus is on the National Reno Gay Rodeo, which became the largest annual gay tourist event in the U.S. until local politicians and conservative activists twice attempted to stop the rodeo. This ii backlash ensued because gay people were labelled as inherently immoral as were the gay- friendly spaces associated with the rodeo. A final set of questions address how and where more permanent gay places in cities – bathhouses – developed and then were eliminated. Serving both as centers for gay community building and gay tourism in the early 1970s, nationwide there was an expansion of gay bathhouses in cities. Yet, the sole gay bathhouse in Las Vegas, Nevada was eliminated as part of a backlash against the Sexual Revolution. iii Dedication This work is dedicated to my husband and my family. iv Acknowledgments I am grateful to my advisor, Kate Berry for her support and guidance throughout the years. Kate knew I was actually a Geographer at heart. She has been extremely generous with her time and advice. Kate has been a wonderful mentor to me in the Geography department. She has helped me to maintain perspective throughout this rigorous project. I am extremely grateful to Jessie Clark, who has been an enthusiastic supporter of my work. She has been wonderful in welcoming me to the Geography Department. Jessie selflessly gave me more than her time and effort on this project. I am very grateful to Victoria Randlett for helping a new student in the department feel welcome and for providing me with her crash course on urban geography. Her knowledge on the city of Las Vegas proved extremely helpful in pulling this project together. I am extremely grateful to Alicia Barber; as the preeminent historical expert on Reno history I couldn’t have done this without her. From the first moment I took an Oral History class with Alicia, I knew she was an amazing teacher and historian. For her continued belief in my work, I thank her. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Todd Felts. Two former big city gay guys found friendship and working relationships here in Reno. I can’t imagine how I would have pulled this off without him, both personally and professionally. Thank you. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vii Preface ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 Gay Tourism of the Past............................................................................................................... 5 A Note on the History of Terminology ........................................................................................ 7 A Brief Overview of the Historical Geography of Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada ....................... 8 Intersections of Gay Tourism and Gay Community Building ................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Gay Men’s Moving In and Out of US Cities................................................................ 17 Chapter 3: The National Reno Gay Rodeo: 1976-1984 ................................................................. 37 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 37 Being temporary made a difference. If the rodeo happened every day throughout the year, even during the early years when attendance was low, although Reno was gay-friendly there likely would not have had been tacit or active support of as many straight residents. Permanency would have also resulted in the rodeo being associated with more permanent gay places that existed throughout the year. Permanent gay places in the 1970s existed in some urban areas (see chapter 4 for more detailed discussion), but these were often contested because there mere presence could remind heterosexual residents that gay people were around. As the rodeo created temporary gay places it may have been more palatable because of the assumption that the gay people attending them would eventually leave and this may have reduced the chance of gay bashing during the rodeo’s early years. Yet, during the short time the rodeo existed each summer, it created and re-created gay places at the fairgrounds, the hosting hotel, and around the city in ways that overrode normal rules of that area. ........ 39 vi This chapter details the rise and fall of the National Reno Gay Rodeo, with a focus on the linkages between the growth of the rodeo and the subsequent conservative backlash. What I show is that the National Reno Gay Rodeo is an example of how there is a vacillation between acceptance of gay tourism and gay bashing that follows, providing insights into the willingness of society to accept gay tourism, as well as the changes that ensue when gay tourism is left unsupported. ................................................................................................... 40 Origins of the National Reno Gay Rodeo .................................................................................. 40 Spaces for a Growing, Gay, Sex-Free Rodeo ........................................................................ 4544 AIDS Hysteria and the Demise of the Rodeo ............................................................................ 57 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 66 Chapter Four: Geographies of Gay Bathhouses in the 1970s ....................................................... 69 References .................................................................................................................................... 118 vii List of Figures FIGURE 1: Author with Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Washington DC, October 11, 2016 FIGURE 2: Reno Gay Rodeo Program 1979 FIGURE 3: March 9, 1981 Advertisement for MGM Grand Reno in Reno Evening Gazette FIGURE 4: New York Magazine November 4, 1968 FIGURE 5: New York City Bathhouses in 1930s and 1970s FIGURE 6: Bathhouse in Relation to Downtown FIGURE 7: Bathhouse in Relation to Las Vegas Strip FIGURE 8: Sir Gay Advertisement 1971 Yellow Pages FIGURE 9: Vegas Club Baths Advertisement David September 1973 FIGURE 10: 1971 Gay Bathhouses in Urban Centers- Based on the Damron Guide by County Location FIGURE 11: 1975 Gay Bathhouses in Urban Centers- Based on the Damron Guide by County Location FIGURE 12: Cover of Magpie, August 1968 FIGURE 13: Ad for gay travel agency in Magpie October 11, 1968 FIGURE 14: Cover of May/June 1968 Issue of Vector Magazine FIGURE 15: Jackson Travel Advertisement Vector Magazine June 1969 FIGURE 16: Coltours Advertisement and February,1973 Ciao cover FIGURE 17: Advocate Newspaper September 29, 1978 FIGURE 18:
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