Metropolitan lovers

"From the destruction of Sodom to the selling of Gay Street and from Tales of the City to The L Word, urban life and homosexuality have been made inseparable in Western culture. In this book, Julie Abraham investigates the evolution of this symbiotic relationship over the past two centuries, tracing how homosexuals have simultaneously become model citizens of the modern city and avatars of the urban." "Exploring the lives of prominent gay men and women, literary depictions of gay city life, classic works of urban theory, and the rhetoric of political reformers, Abraham challenges conventional thinking about what it means to be metropolitan and what it means to be queer. From Paris, London, and Manchester, to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, Abraham maps the connections, the exchanges of meaning, and the transfers of value that inform ideas of homosexuality and the city, ideas that have shaped modern life. While the city and homosexuality have long been associated, Abraham analyzes their convergence with unprecedented insight and reveals the inescapable consequences - both positive and negative of this union."--BOOK JACKET.