Pride, prejudice, and the promise of community: Identity enclaves in the global city

In the global city, minorities must invent themselves against the grain by colonizing a public space that has been intensely gendered, racialized, and sexualized. This study locates the external factors that encourage or prohibit minority colonization of public space, concentrating on sexual minorities and their allies, but drawing upon parallel ethnic and religious minorities. Quantitative analysis of 200 North American cities reveal that degree of external prejudice and other measures of hostility have little impact on the efficiency of minority colonization of urban public spaces. However, cultural sophistication and economic prosperity are significantly correlated. I conclude that access to political, economic, and cultural capital plays a far greater role than the presence or absence of hostility in fostering diversity in global cities.