Gay pride parade florida 2014
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For decades, the island remained the go-to destination for those in the gay community, and their allies, to seek sun and acceptance. But it was Williams’ arrival and the playwright’s increasing fame while he lived there that turned the gay community’s attention to Key West with a focus like never before. Thus, Key West had established itself as a desirable destination for those looking for a tolerant (and warm) place to unwind long before the island became known as a gay hot spot. Key West had always been a multicultural hub without a railroad linking it to the mainland until the 1912 completion of the Overseas Railroad, the island’s early residents of New England, Bahamian and Cuban heritage were forced to co-habitate in the very limited square footage. Williams, like many before him, had initially been drawn to the nonchalance of Key West, where - perhaps initially due to the size of the island more than anything else - there existed a widespread sense of mutual understanding to live and let live thanks to the lack of extra land, everyone was neighbors with everyone else, and a feeling of general inclusivity ran across the island. Indeed, it is Williams who is often credited for establishing Key West as an official gay vacationland, thanks to his unabashedly open celebration of his sexuality. When celebrated American playwright Tennessee Williams arrived in Key West in the late 1940s with his longtime partner, Frank Merlo, he quickly established himself as what Out Traveler magazine would later call him “The Gay Grandfather of Florida’s Southern Isle,” throwing flamboyant soirees and attracting a cadre of likeminded friends and fans. And in the charged and ever-changing political climate of America’s LGBT-rights movement, celebrating Pride Week in the city that helped define gay pride serves as a reminder of just how important it is to celebrate such things, lest we forget how hard they were fought for, and how vital it is we continue to fight to ensure their future survival. Which is why, from June 8-12, Key West will host its annual Pride Week, a celebration of the past and present gay culture of Key West. Key West is still gayer than a tea dance at La Te Da, and we’re dedicated to keeping it that way.
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For a place with literal rainbow-colored streets (yes, the city recently installed permanent rainbow crosswalks on Duval Street) it’s clear that, while what was once referred to as “Gay Mecca” of yesteryear may have changed a bit, over the course of the 10 years since The Times asked its scandalous question, Key West has its answer: No.
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Or enjoy a leisurely half-clothed brunch at the male-only Island House, after which you can ditch the rest of your garb and join an all-male naked paddle boarding tour through the mangroves. Or ask one out of every three locals that you pass in the grocery store (you can spot them if you look for the dreaded permanent flip flop tan) since one third of the island’s permanent residents are estimated to identify as homosexual. Is Key West going straight? Pop your head into the Bourbon Street Pub, one of Key West’s most fabled gay bars, and over the view of the bouncing buttocks’ of Adonis-like dancers strutting up and down the bar, you might think otherwise.
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It was the end, The Times posited, of Key West as the Gay Mecca the Southern bookend to Massachusetts’s Provincetown was being replaced by Fort Lauderdale, Costa Rica, Palm Springs, and even - gasp! - Orlando. One by one, the island’s longtime visitors and residents lamented the loss of historically gay hangouts drag shows were replaced with Margaritavilles, all-male guest houses were converted to condos, and the streets that had for so many years been rumored to be paved with, not gold, but rainbows, saw a new surge of foot traffic from frat bro’s on Spring Break escapades with their lithe sorority girlfriends. According to the press, it was a combination of an increase in global gay vacation spots, coupled with the island’s meteoric real estate prices, that was to blame for Key West’s increasingly heterogeneous crowd - with a heavy emphasis on the hetero. IN 2005, THE NEW YORK TIMES PUBLISHED an article by Robert Andrew Powell with the sensationalist title “Is Key West Going Straight?” Apparently, the island once deemed Gay Paradise was slipping from its coveted spot at the top of the best gay vacation destinations in the country - and then, literally, when a 2012 issue of The Advocate dropped Key West from the magazine’s list of America’s Top 25 Gayest Cities.