It's the gay ghetto, and it's only going to get better.

"Chelsea is still a gay ghetto," Ms. Lamar said, crossing one gartered leg over the other.

On February 5, 1981, under his reign as police chief, one of Canada's largest civilian round-ups occurred in the city's gay ghetto.

The difference is that this is not a gay ghetto, but rather a place where sexual orientation is not the defining fact of life.

I feared disease and discrimination, but even more I feared the cultural isolation and anomie of the gay ghetto.

"There are still people who clearly want to live in the gay ghettos," Mr. Nolan said.

His approach, he says, is at odds with the political orthodoxy emerging from the "gay ghettos" of New York City and other cities.