Wilton Manors | An LGBTQ Travel Gui to Florida's Gayt Cy

Contents:

• FORT LRDALE GAY RTRANTS
• GAY FT LRDALE
• 12 ESSENTIAL GAY BARS AND RTRANTS SOUTH FLORIDA
• GAY-FRIENDLY RTRANTS FORT LRDALE
• BT GAY IENDLY RTRANTS FORT LRDALE - FORT LRDALE FOM
• GAY BARS IN GREATER FORT LRDALE
• FORT LRDALE GAY BARS
• BT GAY CLUBS FORT LRDALE
• WILTON MANORS: AN LGBTQ TRAVEL GUI TO FLORIDA’S GAYT CY
• FORT LRDALE GAY MAP

FORT LRDALE GAY RTRANTS

Gerogie’s Alibi Monkey Bar has served Fort Lrdale sce 1997 as one of the most popular gay rtrants Wilton Manors. It’s easy to see why Gym Sportsbar and Grill on Wilton Drive is advertised as one of the bt gay sports bars the world.

Loted perhaps the gayt strip mall the state of Florida, Java Boys Coffee brgs Wilton Manors a quat, approachably-priced ffee shop, full of eye ndy baristas and ffee addicts!

Gay Ft Lrdale Food & Drk: RtrantsGay Fort Lrdale featur an assortment of rtrants om gourmet to mom and pop jots. Proudly servg South Florida’s gay and lbian muny for over 20 years, we’re known by regulars as a place where good iends nvene and memori are ma. Belt out the ner Freddie Mercury or Gloria Gaynor wh select karaoke nights and get that workout wh dance rd to the wee hours of the night.

GAY FT LRDALE

PetsStatisticsArts and CultureDavey Wavey Travel BlogEvent SpotlightTop 10s, Rat and ReviewsGaytnsOfferCiseInterviewsThe Gay Travel GuCarlos MeliaVios We LoveNews. While you fely will want to go to Wilton Manors durg your stay, I n't thk of any rtrant on the beachh self that is uniendly to gays- they are a signifint part of our tourism bs.

12 ESSENTIAL GAY BARS AND RTRANTS SOUTH FLORIDA

You will fd that any rtrant Fort Lrdale is gay iendly, as mentned before a big chunk of the tourist dtry pends upon the gay market. Rosie's Wilton Manors is one you should fely check out, but as others have said, Fort Lrdale is extremely gay iendly and all rtrants are more than welg.

As an earlier poster mentned, some of the eatg plac there seem to bank on tehir "gay iendls" rather than on good food or a clean faciliy- so do read reviews wh a cril eye and choose wisely. While you might be ially drawn to Miami’s thrivg gay scene or the year-round spectacle that is Orlando, a lser-known statn like Fort Lrdale may not be on your radar. 1 ln visors om the LGBTQA muny every year, Greater Fort Lrdale was named the send-gayt town the Uned Stat by the 2010 cens.

Not only do a lot of same-sex upl live here, the cy and s adjacent gayborhood Wilton Manors—not technilly part of Fort Lrdale, but close enough—are home to over 200 gay-owned and genr-clive tablishments, cludg bars, clubs, rtrants, f, boutiqu, and rorts.

GAY-FRIENDLY RTRANTS FORT LRDALE

And while the tle of “gay beach” is unofficial and anyone is wele, you’ll fely see more Speedos and rabow umbrellas here than at any other beach the cy. The north end is pecially popular among sgle gay men, but everyone is ved to sunbathe and splash around the gentle Atlantic wav—wh as much or as ltle clothg as you please. If you’re feelg peckish and want to support some gay-owned eateri, here are some lol favor:.

This lol pub is one of the most succsful gay bars town, wh multiple awards lg the walls and the tle of “Bt Burger Fort Lrdale” unr s belt. Sophistited and upsle, this chanlier-lan venue is a favore amongst lol lbians and gay upl alike.

BT GAY IENDLY RTRANTS FORT LRDALE - FORT LRDALE FOM

Riversi and Sailboat Bend, wh s Key Wt ambiance, were the first neighborhoods wh sizable ncentratns of lbians and gay men.

Organizatns like the Metropolan Communy Church provid one of the earlit gatherg plac where lbians and gay men uld e together and worship.

GAY BARS IN GREATER FORT LRDALE

And gay owned lol bs like photographers, prtg shops and rtrants began to to advertise openly.

For the most part the emergg gay prence was ignored by the larger heterosexual muny. In the 1954 when Miami went through a brief perd of “moral panic” about the cy’s gay bars, public officials Fort Lrdale assured the cizens that there were no threats and they had the suatn unr ntrol.

In 1967 there was a well publicized Grand Jury vtigatn about crime and homosexualy Broward. The Fort Lrdale News ran a multi-part seri on homosexualy Broward noted for s lack of sensatnalism and tepidns.

FORT LRDALE GAY BARS

The warm weather and betiful beach also ma Fort Lrdale a perfect statn for the growg lbian and gay tourist tra. While some gay men and lbians opened up early gutho and most hotels did not blk when two men or women rented a sgle room, was the openg the mid-1970s of the Marl Beach Hotel as Ameri’s first explicly gay rort hotel that explicly marked Fort Lrdale as a gay tourist statn. However 1972 was rcued when bought by a group of gay entreprenrs wh plans to turn to a top-class rort terg to the emergg lbian and gay tourist market.

They spent over $300, 000 renovatg and 1974 began ad mpaign natnal gay magaz promotg as “Ameri’s premier gay rort, ” makg Fort Lrdale aga the place “Where the Boys Are. It also highlighted Marl Beach and s gay clientele, notg the hotel’s natnal advertisg mpaign and s reputatn as a popular gay rort hotel.

One of his major goals wh to revalize Fort Lrdale tourism, In Clay’s view and the view of most of the cy’s tablishment, the prence of an openly gay hotel on the beach ed any chanc of drawg tourist tra.

BT GAY CLUBS FORT LRDALE

” The head of the cy’s Hotel Rort and Hotel Associatn agreed wh and noted that the prence of a gay hotel would have an adverse enomic effect on the beach. The cy’s major newspaper The Fort Lrdale News headled the story of the mayor’s disapproval “Mayor Shaw is Adamant-The Cy’s Gays Mt Go. ” Acrdg to the newspaper the mayor’s goal was to elimate every vtige of homosexual activy om the beach.

WILTON MANORS: AN LGBTQ TRAVEL GUI TO FLORIDA’S GAYT CY

However Shaw knew that tryg to shut down a legimate bs, even if was gay, was a difficult proposn. Earlier that year Miami, Jack Campbell, owner’s of the Club Baths, Miami’s gay bathhoe, had succsfully sued the cy for harassment their attempts to shut down. And as one 81 year old widow and 40 year rint of the Bach noted, “I n’t object to (the gay clientele).

Shaw orred his cy manager, along wh the police chief and legal advisers to vtigate the possibily of creatg a unty grand jury vtigatn not only of the problem of male prostutn on the beach, but of gay owned bs on the beach and their lks to such prostutn. His overall goal, acrdg the to News, was to stop the proliferatn of “gays and the bs they patronized. Ten years earlier, the threat of a grand jury vtigatn would have been enough to shut down the Marl Beach or at least stop s terg to a gay clientele.

However was 1976, seven years after Stonewall and the emergence of a proud and activist lbian and gay muny, The muny Fort Lrdale had grown strong enough, for the first time, to stand up and fight.

FORT LRDALE GAY MAP

Moreover the straight muny was begng to realize that the rights of lbians and gay men were not somethg they uld dismiss lightly. Jog the hotel management nmng the mayor’s actn was the recently formed muny group: The Broward County Coaln for the Humanistic Rights of Gays.

“It’s a nice polil slogan to get the muny hysteril over beg a gay mec., ” said Bob Kunst. Accg Shaw of homophobia, Kunst ntued, ”The polil terror tactics are not gog to work, The straight muny gets ripped off by them worse than the gay muny while the police are fsg around wh , the regular muny don’t have the same ’s dog this bee he thks the gay muny won’t fight back.

Furthermore as Police Capta Ron Cochran noted, “homosexual men are not typilly volved vlent crim” and tryg to police sexual activy-homosexual or otherwise-required a e of sre police rourc better put elsewhere. Fally the cy manager add, “there is nothg the cy n legally do to stop homosexuals om vatng Fort Lrdale if they want to. In an edorial The Fort Lrdale News cricized the mayor’s for his “Hip-shootg on Homosexuals, ” advisg him that he should first thk before he acts.