hello, i must know why everybody tell that key West is a kind of capital gay from the florida and from where came this reputation

If you can help me, i'm gonna be happy

Thx all^^

Don't have a lot of time
Nobody else can help me ....

A few explication : I must find this because, I had to take a subjet and i chose gay protection, freedom and key west ... but ... try gay + key west on google and check all porn site you can find on the net ... so I need your help

If you go to keysnews.com you might find some info. They did a story over the weekend (I think Sundays edition) about what you are asking about. If its not on the current page try e-mailing them and see if they will send you the link.

Key West was in great disrepair in the early 70's..the Victorian Homes were falling down...much of the architecture unique to Key West was nothing more than an eye sore. Developers were considering tearing everything down and designing instead, their idea of a tourist mecca, nothing more than the usual "tourist fare" that would reap the most profits for a select few. Believe it or not, there was a time when saving old architecture was not in favor, especially with those who would profit most from building something less costly and new.
Gay men have always had vision and certainly believed that no effort was too extreme to save the very houses and buildings that make Key West the incredible place it is today. The movement to salvage every home and every bit of gingerbread in Key West was spearheaded by Gay men and women (to be fair) but mostly men at that time. Gays began buying property and restoring it down to the smallest detail. As one house once again shone as a thing of Victorian beauty, others were inspired to do the same. More and more men descended upon Key West...some just to have fun, others to work and open new businesses and still others to help friends with their restoration projects. After being goaded into action, heterosexuals (finally) began to see the light and began their own resorations, each and every one...gay or straight with respect to the past.

Even in the early 1800's, Key West was knows as a melting pot for every kind of character imaginable...that special brand of freedom has always been a part of Key West. Pirates, English gentlemen, sea captains and their mates, Cubans and so on were only a small part of the unique population that was and is Key West! Too, the island's weather and genteel, laid back style promotes the sort of "live and let live" philosophy that still runs rampant on the island today. If any ONE group ever dominated the island, it would lose the very thing that makes it so unique and appealing...diversity. So what if gay men walk hand in hand, so what if the "red necks" party all night long, so what if the artists live in another world and so on and so on ad infinitum...it's no skin off anyone's back because no one's lifestyle ever harms or gts in the way of another. Each to his own, as they say?
Everyone feels a part of Key West and everyone is allowed to be who they are!! When gays were often being persecuted in other parts of the country (think Stonewall), Key West was welcoming them into the fold...appreciative of the fine work they were doing on Key West's architecture and in essence, thanking them for being such excellent caretakers for the island paradise...far better certainly than those who simply wanted to tear everything down only to fill their pockets. It is apparent today that they gays did a pretty good job...just take a look around you next time you're on the island. Its beauty is unrivaled, both natural and man made.
There happens to be a current book, How Homosexuals Saved the World, that deals with this very subject among others and the enormous influence gay America has had on America, middle-top & bottom, so to speak! Gays have always been in Key West...at one time more than others but forever a part of its citizenry and proud custodians of its past and future.

wow, thanks Garth -- I think I learned something!

Thanks... you sure do learn something new everyday!

thank you so much I love you all ^^

umm 0k

Gay men and women are an integral part of Key West. Everyone in Key West has a "live and let live" policy and all kinds of people get along on the island. The gay men began coming in the early 70's and restored many of the homes in disrepair...now that just about every home is picture perfect, gay men and women still come to enjoy them or live in them. There are many gay bars on the island and many gay guesthouses, so it's a place where not only gays feel comfortable, but actually everyone, no matter who you are! That's the magic of Key West. Gays are really in every town but not so visible, in Key West it's OK to be visible. No one really pays attention to that sort of thing. Everyone is too busy doing their own thing...and that's just how it ought to be!