Does the Lavender Belt exist any more? I heard it more recently referred to as ‘The Pink Triangle’, that section of metropolitan Perth bordered by Leederville, East Perth and Bayswater. This is the precinct once regarded as the major residential zone for gay and lesbian people, if not the only one.
When I lived in North Perth for 13 years, most of my gay friends and colleagues lived within this zone. But this was during the 1990’s and the world has changed a lot since then.
Community attitudes around sexuality have shifted beyond comprehension. State and Federal laws have also changed in response to this, and most queer folk no longer feel the need to cluster in a ghetto. This is a good thing, but it also means that the ‘gay community’ (whatever that was), is no more. Today, gay and lesbian people and same-sex couples can be found scattered right across Perth from Jindalee to Hammond Park (where!?).
This community deconstruction has come about not only because younger queers feel perfectly at home in the suburbs and no longer feel the necessity to only socialise in gay venues, but also because the internet brings gay social culture into your home no matter where you live. Gaydar, Pink Sofa, online chat rooms, queer news groups and websites full of counseling and information resources mean that GLBTI people can now establish a social and community network that can remain cyber or organise itself around you, not where you must move to.
Today I live in Bayswater, but it’s not uncommon to see same-sex couples in the local shops or exercising their dogs by the river. But you also see rainbow bumper stickers and Pride number plates in Darch, Aubin Grove, Silver Sands, Bertram and Madelly (where!?).
The other thing which has impacted on queer geography has been house prices. Whereas many same-sex couples and singles might still aspire to the inner city lifestyle, it’s no longer easily affordable. Most of the simple flats and crumbling federation homes in the inner city that once housed gays, immigrants, goths and students are now prime real estate. And as younger people stay at home for much longer, rental culture has changed too.
When I lived in North Perth, rent was $120 per week for my three bedroom home and the median house price was $98,000. Today, it would rent for around $350 per week, while the median house price in North Perth is now around $750,000.
This economic pressure has nudged many buyers and renters further out to ‘middle ring’ suburbs (10-15km’s from the CBD), or indeed right out to the urban fringes for those looking to build a new home. Ellen Brook is now a huge suburb and not just a great drag name.
Real estate agents are more conscious of this too. Agents no longer assume that the man/woman coming with you to the home open is your cousin. Some agents make a concerted pitch to the pink dollar by promoting themselves via queer media, but in the broad sense most agents across Perth will come into contact with samers in an unsurprising way.
Stereotypes and assumptions should be a thing of the past. Especially at a time when more and more straight people are choosing not to marry, fewer people are having children and single people will be the largest population demographic in Australia within the next decade.
Brian Greig is a former Town of Vincent Councillor, Democrat Senator and veteran gay rights advocate. Today he works in communications at REIWA.
