After World War II, increasing numbers of southerners began populating the beaches of North Florida thanks to expanding automobility, better roads, and the new civic virtue: leisure spending. This inaugurated fierce competition for tourist dollars as motels, amusements, and restaurants replaced sand dunes at an ever-increasing rate. The quest for tourists had dramatic impact inland as well, as county governments, state-level commissions, and politicians grappled with maintaining a favorable public image in the search for increased revenue. Conflicts over how best to capitalize on tourism and sell their slice of “The Sunshine State” erupted as municipalities sought to purge an ever-shifting array of undesirables, exemplified by the slogan changes from “Redneck Riviera” to the aspirational “Miracle Strip” or “Emerald Coast.” Gay men, lesbians, and the otherwise queer were an essential part of “The Sunshine State.” Placing them at the center of this story exposes the unique interactions of capitalism, tourism, sexuality, and space. More than just a story of repression, this work also seeks to illuminate the fun that could be had on what came to be known as “The USA’s Gay Riviera” by the early 1990s. Using oral histories, newspapers, and a variety of other sources, this work recovers stories of campy LGBT beach parties, forgotten gay bars, and friendship networks that spanned the South.
Gay Bars, Vice, and Reform in Portland, 1948-1965