Dpe Key Wt's Gay-Friendly History, Gay Marriage Took This Long | WLRN

Contents:

• HOW THE GAYS SAVED KEY WT
• HOW GAY/LBIAN IS KEY WT THE DAYS? - KEY WT FOM
• DPE KEY WT'S GAY-FRIENDLY HISTORY, GAY MARRIAGE TOOK THIS LONG
• GET TO KNOW THE RADIL SPIR OF GAY KEY WT THAT KEEPS CALLG LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS
• GAY KEY WT EVENTS CALENDAR
• GAY KEY WT · CY GUI
• KEY WEST: JUDGE RUL GAY MEN’S CLOTHG OPTNAL RORT CAN’T BAN WOMEN.
• GAY GUI TO KEY WT
• WELE TO GAY KEY WT!
• 10 REASONS EVERY GAY 20-SOMETHG SHOULD GO TO KEY WT BEFORE THEY’RE 30

HOW THE GAYS SAVED KEY WT

Word was circulatg among the creative gay culture New York Cy, Philalphia, Chigo, Washgton, D. Other gay artists, notabl, cultural arbers, doyens, publishers, eccentric illumati and jt cur gay travelers followed wh their own entourag, assorted iends and acquatanc. Back when gay life existed a parallel universe—clared a natnal secury threat by the feral ernment, thlsly vtigated by the Florida state legislature and stigmatized as mentally ill by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, so many this generatn were separated om jobs, birth fai and a harshly tolerant mastream society.

By the 1970s the stream of gay visors to the island had turned to a torrent wh more than thirty same sex gut ho on the small island terg to gay men. It was 1967 that a gay native Key Wter, David Wolkowsky built the first te rort on the island, the Pier Hoe loted at Zero Duval Street.

HOW GAY/LBIAN IS KEY WT THE DAYS? - KEY WT FOM

By the early 1970s word had begun to filter north throughout gay culture that Key Wt was one of the few tly acceptg, e-as-you-are, quirky, fun plac the world where LGBTQ people uld exprs their creativy, their eedom and their love. Other gay thet and lears such as New York attorney Ferdand Court; real tate veloper and Washgton cultural force Bob Alfandre (1927-2014); publisher/thor Joe Famularo; Jam G.

This tasteful ti of sign and rtoratn washed over the island driven by dozens of gay men, and the real tate market rpond wh fervor! In 1978 a group of gay bsmen on the island me together to addrs the specific missn of marketg to the LGBTQ traveler.

DPE KEY WT'S GAY-FRIENDLY HISTORY, GAY MARRIAGE TOOK THIS LONG

It was no secret that gay visors had expendable e and were eager, adaptive travelers and the pk dollar had power! One year later 1979, four iends, all of whom were openly gay bsmen, met to produce one of the most important enomic eng on the island.

Halloween had bee a much-loved holiday the gay world, but historilly the end of October had been a moribund season Key Wt. Bolsterg Key Wt’s fame as an novator and early pneer LGBTQ travel promotn, lol travel agents and hoteliers me together 1983 to tablish the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Travel Associatn (IGLTA), a worldwi anizatn that today boasts 1, 200 members and growg.

GET TO KNOW THE RADIL SPIR OF GAY KEY WT THAT KEEPS CALLG LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS

One of the key movers the foundg of the anizatn was Hanns Ebensten (1923-2006), the first openly gay tour operator the U. And the “Inventor of Gay Travel” who moved to Key Wt the early 1970s wh his longtime partner Brian Kenny.

Ebensten anized the very first official tour of gay men 1972 wh a rog trip down the Colorado River.

GAY KEY WT EVENTS CALENDAR

Not long after Ebensten produced the first anized trips for gay men to the Galapagos Islands, Egypt and Easter Island. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s gay wrers ntued to be drawn to the island matag Key Wt’s legacy as a safe harbor of spiratn, eedom and creativy. By the mid 1980s Key Wt beme a preferred statn of choice for sr of gay men for a very different reason.

GAY KEY WT · CY GUI

Diagnosed HIV posive and often rejected, even spurned back home, the gay men fled to the warmer, more acceptg embrace of the island. Openly gay physician Jerome Covgton and his straight practice partner Mark Whi were at the foreont of the HIV tsunami that h the ltle island the early days, and they performed heroic work on behalf of the gay muny.

And much like other LGBTQ enclav at the time, the island’s lbian muny stepped up as primary regivers to so many of the gay men sufferg their last days away om home and away om fai. In 1997 a group of lol gay philanthropists on the island me together to tablish a visible, meangful monument to the memory of the victims of this horrific panmic. The recently retired Chief of Police, native son Donie Lee, is openly gay as is the recently retired Supertennt of Schools and noted philanthropist, John Padget.

Gay rints are woven to the fabric of the island and serve the fire partment, school system, sheriff’s office, non-prof anizatns and bs muny.

KEY WEST: JUDGE RUL GAY MEN’S CLOTHG OPTNAL RORT CAN’T BAN WOMEN.

For much more on gay lerary history Key Wt, see “Shootg Midnight Cowboy” by Glenn Frankel (Farrar, Strs and Giroux, 2021). Herlihy me to love Key Wt “largely for the same reasons that had attracted (Tennsee) Williams: …beg part of an exclive unofficial club of gay artists who supported each other.

At a time when homosexualy was not accepted the mastream, the rort proved to be a sanctuary for the gay muny. Suated on Flemg Street the heart of this tropil gay mec, the Island Hoe is one of the olst operatg gay rorts.

GAY GUI TO KEY WT

As one of this year's Stoli Key Wt Cocktail Classic featured partners, we took a dive to s past and the importance of the Key Wt gay muny wh Jefey Smead, Marketg Director wh the Island Hoe:OUT: Let's start wh Jon Allen and Mart Kay, who purchased Island Hoe back 1999. There was somethg special about beg seclud on the end of the road and beg able to create your own muny that appealed to the younger gays of the 1970's.

As the gay populatn moved, they began to purchase and rtore the bety to the old, historic hom.

WELE TO GAY KEY WT!

After talkg for a while at the event, the topic of the Cocktail Classic me up and, bee so many of the gay bars Key Wt had bee inic the queer muny, we thought Key Wt would be the perfect settg for this that meetg LA, we brought Patrik to Island Hoe and he immediately h the ground nng, meetg wh our gay and lbian bs guild and several lol bs, and the procs to start the first annual Key Wt Cocktail Classic began. I want all of our Pri visors to thk the Island Hoe is the greatt gay rort the world and want to e back, which has proven very succsful!

Word was circulatg among the crcive gay culture New York Cy, Philalphia, Chigo, Washgton, D.

Back when gay life existed a parallel universe separate om jobs, birth fai and a harshly tolerant mastream society the LGBTQ muny opted to vatn out-of-the-way statns like Key Wt.

10 REASONS EVERY GAY 20-SOMETHG SHOULD GO TO KEY WT BEFORE THEY’RE 30

By the 1970s the stream of gay visors to the island had turned to a torrent wh more than 30 same sex gut ho on the small island terg to gay men. By the early 1970s word had begun to filter north throughout gay culture that Key Wt was one of the few tly acceptg, e-as-you-are, quirky, fun plac the world where LGBTQ people uld exprs their creativy, their eedom, their love. Other gay thet such as Ferdand Court, Bob Alfandre, Joe Famularo, Jimmy Pepper and Hugh Key soon followed su, snappg up shabille properti all over the island and rurrectg, refurbishg and rtorg them to former glory.

Halloween had bee a much loved holiday the gay world, but historilly the end of October had been a moribund season Key Wt. One of the key movers the foundg of the anizatn was Hanns Ebensten, the first openly gay tour operator the U. And the “Inventor of Gay Travel” who moved to Key Wt the early 1970s wh his long time partner Brian Kenny.

And by the way, some people would be surprised at the large number of gay people workg at Disney. The appeal means any marriage licens for gay upl are put on Key Wters have been celebratg the cisn anyway, llg a tone for the island Wt has long had an openly gay muny.