This was further propelled by the famous relocation of Gianni Versace to Casa Casuarina in 1992, and then the premiere of The Real World: Miami in 1996. The LGBT community proved absolutely instrumental in transforming Miami Beach from a town known for criminals and retirees to the glittering gem of all things fabulous it would become. This further boosted the economic development and the rise of Miami Beach throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with the latter best referred to as the Versace Era, known its extravagant parties, glamour, and celebrities. By the 1980s, Miami Beach was becoming known as a bohemian mecca for queers around the country, a place where everyone could live freely and openly. However, Anita Bryant led a campaign against the pioneering antidiscrimination law, and it was repealed in June of that year.īut that didn’t slow down the LGBT community. In January 1977, an ordinance passed banning discrimination against gays and lesbians. Most were located in Miami, but there were plenty of Miami Beach spots such as Club Benni on Alton Road and Club Echo and Circus Bar on Ocean Drive, as well as the Mayflower Lounge and Basin Street. In August of that year, hundreds of gays and lesbians joined thousands of protestors at the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.”Įstablishments where queers could congregate reached an all-time high, becoming even more prevalent than they are today. Two weeks later, the law was struck down by a federal court.
According to The Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures, “The first organized gay pride week was celebrated in Miami Beach in early 1972 with a march on Lincoln Road protesting a city law banning cross-dressing.
Activism prevailed, and things began looking up in the 1970s. The backlash against the Johns committee was swift, with Dade County officials threatening legal action and the Florida Attorney General demanding that distribution of the Purple Pamphlet cease immediately.ĭespite the persecution, Miami’s LGBT community remained tenacious in their fight for equal rights. Filled with pornographic pictures, it attempted to portray queer people as degenerate disease carriers worse than child molesters. In 1964, a Florida legislative committee led by Senator Charley Johns published Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida, also known as the Purple Pamphlet, as part of a witch hunt to seek out gays and bisexuals working in schools, universities, and government jobs, who they believed were determined to “subvert the American way of life by controlling academic institutions and by corrupting the nation’s moral fiber,” according to Carryin’ on in the Lesbian and Gay South.
This mistreatment continued until the end of the 1960s, escalating to targeted murders, harassment, and public shaming via stories in local newspapers. This silent film shows a police raid on a Miami gay bar in 1957. Raids would shut down queer establishments on an almost nightly basis, but they kept popping right back up again. Of course, it didn’t happen right away, and the early gay nightlife scene of the 1930s was not long-lived. A place with its own chamber of commerce dedicated to the queer community since 1997, and where Art Smith hosted and officiated a mass gay wedding for more than two dozen couples this past February. From then on, it would be a rollercoaster of ups and downs, filled with progress, failure, celebrations, and heartbreak in Miami LGBT history, leading to our current status as a gay mecca that attracts more than 1 million LGBT visitors a year. Steps from the Art Deco District and just two blocks from the ocean, Kimpton Angler's Hotel South Beach is your private haven in the center of it all, inviting you to discover South Beach like never before.Miami has had a gay nightlife scene as early as the 1930s. The delicious additions of Seawell Fish N’ Oyster, serving locally sourced fare, and Minnow Bar, luring you with clear spirits, complete this story of revelation. This mood-setting play of light and dark continues throughout the hotel's interiors.Ĭrowning our new wing is a panoramic rooftop pool and sundeck. In contrast, 132 modern and airy guestrooms celebrate the sun and sea, and feature an uncommon mix of studios, lofts, suites, villas, spa villas and poolside bungalows. Here, an intimate, dramatic lobby welcomes guests with refined and raw materials. The journey begins in our all-new architectural space. With its seductive tribal origins, agricultural heritage, and sea-faring beginnings, Miami’s rich past is brought forward in the newly reimagined Kimpton Angler's Hotel South Beach. Sunny sanctuary at our Miami Beach hotel A new discovery awaits in South Beach