THE CASTRO-FICATION OF ST PETERSBURG

The influx of gay residents and visitors — and the culture and industry they brought with them — to San Francisco’s Castro District in the ’50s is what sparked its nationwide rise to fame. So when similar industry emerged in St. Petersburg around 2002, it led local media to ponder: was the Grand Central District becoming the new Castro?

The Grand Central District, located in central St. Petersburg, had recently become an unusual blend of residential and commercial areas thanks to a city-wide zoning change that took place two years before. The district was re-zoned as an “Urban Village,” meaning both the district and its individual properties can be mixed-use—for example, a residential complex above a ground-floor commercial space. Small businesses were then encouraged to open in these urban villages and target the customers who lived nearby.

The redevelopment plans for the Grand Central District were created with input from the residents of the adjacent neighborhoods — the equally gay-friendly Historic Kenwood and Central Oak Park districts. Both the Grand Central Lofts and the Urban Village Townhouse project were developed at this time. Storefronts that were once boarded quickly transformed into thriving minority-owned enterprises.

When St Pete Pride was founded in 2003 by Brian Longstreth and George Kessinger (the founder of George’s Alibi gay nightclub), the Grand Central District quickly became its home base.

try and the world promoting the concept of Gay Key West. “I would say that he’s single handedly made Key West,” said Ross. “He was the next jump of making Key West known to the world.”

Four openly gay businessmen who were friends gathered one year later, in 1979, to create one of the island’s most signi cant economic engines. In the late 1960s, Joe Liska and his business partner Frank Romano relocated to Key West and founded the now-famous skincare company Key West Aloe.

Owners of the renowned department store Fast Buck Freddie’s, Tony Falcone and his business partner Bill Conkle, were good friends of Liska and Romano in 1971. The end of October had traditionally been a dormant season in Key West, but Halloween had grown to be a treasured festival in the LGBT community. The four men founded Fantasy Fest, one of the most well-known festivals in the US that takes place the week before Halloween and brings millions of dollars to the island’s economy every year.

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), a global organization with more than 1,200 members and expanding, was founded in 1983 by local tourism agencies and hoteliers to support Key West’s reputation as the inventor and early pioneer in LGBTQ travel promotion. Hans Ebensten, the “Inventor of Homosexual Travel” and the rst openly gay tour operator in the United States, was a major force in the establishment of the organization. He and his longtime companion Brian Kenny relocated to Key West in the early 1970s. In 1972, Ebensten organized the rst ever authorized gay men’s tour, which included an exhilarating journey down the Colorado River. Soon after, Ebensten organized the rst vacations for gay men to Egypt, the Galapagos Islands, and other destinations.

Over the years, the Key West local economy and LGBTQ culture exploded, mainly due to the waves of travel and tourism the local LGBTQ community attracted.

“We would estimate that 30% of the visitors coming in our visitor center on Duval Street identify as LGBTQ+,” said Kevin Theriault, Executive Director of the Key West Business Guild/ Gay Key West Visitor Center. “We also track the number of visitors that attend our events – Key West Pride, Tropical Heat, and Womenfest. We receive that information from our ticketed events, LGBTQ+ guesthouses and hotels, and our event hosts. There is de nitely an increase of LGBTQ+ visitors during these events.”

“Beyond Key West, other regions of the Florida Keys Island chain also welcome

LGBTQ+ travelers looking for a wide range of experiences found only in the Florida Keys,” said Stacey Mitchell, director of the Florida Keys & Key West tourism council. “I believe the Keys’ lengthy tradition of having an all-welcoming and accepting mindset is an important reason for our success. The tourism council’s longstanding marketing e orts support that philosophy and communicate that all-welcoming mindset.”

The positive impact of LGBTQ travel and tourism is evident everywhere in Key West. The traditional gay scene on Duval attracts gay and straight visitors alike, day and night. Gay bars such as Bourbon Street Pub, 801 Bourbon Bar, Aqua Bar and nightclub, and Bobby’s Monkey Bar welcome and are visited by gay and straight, as are the straight bars that are gay-friendly, such as The Bull, clothing-optional Garden of Eden, Chart Room Cocktail Lounge, Durty Harrys, and 22&Co; including the long-standing institutions Captain Tony’s Bar, established in 1970, built in 1851; Sloppy Joe’s, established 1933; and the oldest bar in Key West, Green Parrot Bar, established 1890.

Created in January 2000 then adopted as the island’s o cial philosophy in October 2000 and by the whole of the Florida Keys in 2001, One Human Family, by openly gay, local artist J.T. Thompson is meant to unite people regardless of their race, nationality, sexuality, and other di erences that the artist believes “are super cial distinctions and cannot be allowed to be twisted into cultural divisions.”

“The phrase ‘One Human Family’ reclaims the word ‘family’ from being an exclusive word by the religious right to being an inclusive word,” said Thompson. “Like ngers on a hand … we are all di erent and unique. We are all of equal value. We are all created to work together. And although we appear separate, we are all linked to — and a part of — each other.”

That is profound thinking. Whereas “family-friendly” promotes the exclusion of gay people, “One Human Family” advocates the inclusion of all people.

Today, no one on the island looks back over their shoulder and mutters “Go back to Greenwich Village” anymore. In the tidal change of human culture, that is an advancement, not a retreat. Life at high tide. An advancement carried to shore on the backs of LGBTQ visitors. An advancement invited by the LGBTQ who were there rst.

Editor’s Note: A version of this article by the same author was published in the fall 2022 edition of FORUM, the Magazine of Florida Humanities.

7. FANTASY FEST

Conceived in 1979 by gay businessmen Bill Conkle, Tony Falcone, Joe Liszka and Frank Romano to celebrate Key West’s creativity and attract LGBTQ tourists during the otherwise dormant month of October. The world-famous festival is now a fundraising and awareness leader for people living with HIV and AIDS.

(a.k.a. Drag Queen Drop) debuted on New Year’s Eve 1996 at Bourbon Street Pub. Drag queen Sushi was perched in a giant red stiletto and lowered from the balcony at midnight. The event was broadcast live on CNN for many years.

9. AIDS MEMORIAL

Completed in 1997 and believed to be the only o icial municipal monument of its kind, the Key West AIDS Memorial bears the names of more than 1,200 people who died from AIDS.

10. PRIDE MONTH

A 1.25-mile-long, sea-to-sea rainbow flag was unfurled along Duval Street during Key West’s 2003 Pride celebration to commemorate the flag’s 25th anniversary. Sections of the massive flag have since appeared at Pride events around the world.

Congrats

TO THE BOYS OF POPWRAPPED ON 25-BILLION SOCIAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS! FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT SOTOMAYER MEDIA