Bill W. at GaySeattle.blogspot (whose headlines, by the way, are always available on seaQwa's homepage under the Qdo heading) has a great piece -- The Impending Death of the Gay Bar -- on one aspect of the much-discussed and ever-changing gayborhoods.

I suppose as the young gays get older and the old gays “get put out to pasture” this idea of the "gay bar” may be dramatically different than it ever has been. Even today so many of the new gay clubs are actually “pseudo gay” and really catering to straights who want the nostalgic feeling that they’re in a gay club.

When traveling, gays are no longer eat at some greasy spoon hamburger joint simply because they are listed in a Gay Guide nor do they visit the gay bookstore when they first arrive in a new city. The line between the activities and businesses that are considered "straight" and those considered "gay-friendly" is becoming so blurred that it becomes difficult to delineate the characteristics of "gay" vs. "gay-friendly." Does this assertion require that gays be present in order to be considered "gay-friendly?" Must a business actively discourage straight patrons in order to be considered "gay?"

Seattle's Capitol Hill, like changing "gayborhoods" throughout the nation, will struggle with these and many other issues as the gay community is forced to adapt to this new reality in the future.

Whaddyathink? His blog (like ours) takes comments.