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Lavender Heights is a centrally located district in Midtown Sacramento centered within and around K & 20th streets. The area owes its name to the high number of gay-owned homes and businesses residing there.
Lavender Heights is a marketing name given to the hub of Sacramento's gay and lesbian community with many gay bars and restaurants. It is considered Sacramento's equivalent to The Castro (San Francisco) and Dupont Circle (Washington D.C.) as the city's LGBT district. Community resources for the LGBT community in the area include the Sacramento LGBT Community Center (formerly the Lambda Center) and the Lavender Library. Most of the gay bars in Sacramento are located in the Lavender Heights area. Hate crimes and gay bashing have been an issue since the early 1990s in the area. A wave of "religious refugees" including "Slavic evangelicals" has added to the tensions, many were drawn to immigrate by Sacramento evangelical churches who sponsored them including the Assemblies of God Capital Christian Center. In September 2009 a security guard hired by several gay nightclubs in Lavender Heights was killed.