From New York and Paris to San Francisco, Berlin, and beyond, gay men for several decades have played a major role in urban gentrification. They’ve used the city as a means to create a visible and collective identity and changed the social environment of the urban landscape. Gay areas constitute spaces of freedom, but also normative enclaves where gentrification and social inequalities come under increasing criticism. Based on a comparative study of Paris and Montreal, "Quartiers Gays" (2014) explores the role of gay men in the development of urban gentrification and examines how their influence has shaped the modern city.

Colin Giraud has been a professor of sociology at University of Nanterre since 2012. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, where he earned a doctorate in sociology and a teaching diploma in sociology and economics. His research focuses on urban and gender sociology and especially on the sociopolitical effects of reorganization of the Western metropolis, including gentrification. "Quartiers Gays" (2014) brings together his research on these subjects in France and North America.

This talk is presented by IRWG's Lesbian-Gay-Queer Research Initiative (LGQRI), and co-sponsored by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.