Chicago LGBTQ Neighborhood 'Boystown' To Adopt More Inclusive Name

An online petition garnered enough support to change the name of a famous Chicago neighborhood.

The LGBTQ neighborhood “Boystown” will become Northalsted — “Chicago’s Proudest Neighborhood” — after some said the name excluded women, gender nonbinary people and people of color, USA Today reported Monday (September 28).

More than 1,500 people have signed the petition as of Tuesday (September 29).

The Chicago Tribune also noted that speakers at the Drag March for Change recalled instances of being denied jobs in the area because of race.

"The Castro, Greenwich Village, West Hollywood, and many more," Devlyn Camp, who identifies as gender nonbinary, wrote in the petition and eight-week survey. "LGBTQ neighborhoods exist for all intersections of queer identity. Chicago's is the only gendered nickname. Systemic transphobia, racism, and sexism have plagued our neighborhood for decades, and it begins at the top, with the all-male board of the Northalsted Business Alliance. It begins with the BOYSTOWN signs down our street announcing that this neighborhood is 'for the boys,' though the signs hang above our diverse Legacy Walk of several LGBTQ icons in our history."

“[The Northalsted Business Alliance] promised to hold diversity and inclusion training for their business owners, and announced in a press release this summer that they had held training, but they neglected to mention that the board canceled 3 out of 4 seminars with Praxis Group,” Camp said in a statement. “Let’s hope changing the neighborhood name isn’t just another performative gesture.”

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