From Rainbow Crosswalks to Rainbow Museums

Preserving Key West’s Identity Through Civic Commemorations, Anchor Institutions, and Gay History

The State of Florida’s push to erase our rainbow crosswalks—culminating in their removal on September 9 at the intersection of Duval and Petronia—has energized our community. We’ve shown up loudly and proudly at City Hall and special meetings. We’ve gathered at the intersection for protests and viral photos. And we’ve vented online, at watering holes, churches, and gathering places. After all, these aren’t just painted lines—they’re declarations of identity, history, and resistance. How dare they do this! The common question seems to be: What do we do?

Everyone’s been wracking their brains and generating tons of great ideas on how to respond. I don’t pretend to have the answers—and there are many in our community far more involved and wiser than me. But our identity and place here in Key West isn’t exactly a new dilemma.

Back in January 2024, following the announcement of the closing of the male-only Equator Resort, we wrote an article titled “There Goes the Key West Gayborhood?” asking:

• Is our gayborhood disappearing?
• Is Key West becoming less gay?
• What does the loss of gay spaces mean for the remaining gay businesses and our island LGBTQ+ community?
• And what are some of the things we can do to Keep Key West Gay?

We received heartfelt, thoughtful, and enlightening answers from some of the best minds in our community—including Neil Chamberlain, Cori Convertito, Larry Ketron, Rob Dougherty, Laura Zequeira-Smith, Jeffrey Smead, and Richard McGarry—and shared insights from Guy Ross and Peter Arnow as well.

Eighteen months later, the removal of our rainbow crosswalks brings us to a new crossroads. With more people now engaged and enraged, we wanted to revisit that article and share some of the fantastic ideas from this Who’s Who about how we can Keep Key West Gay. And ask: Are these ideas still relevant? What can we do to move them forward? And what else needs to happen?

That’s what we’ll explore in the story below.

What We Mean When We Say This Isn’t Exactly A New Dilemma

We aren’t equating the closing of a long-time gay establishment or the disappearance of gay spaces with the purposeful hate that the administrations in Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee are imposing on our community. But disappearing and erasing are in the same ballpark—and some of the solutions we explored in our original story may have common ground with what we need to do now, in the wake of our rainbow crosswalks being removed.

In our earlier article, we discussed the rich history of Gay Key West, which began after WWII and by the 1970s had already become an East Coast gay mecca. Fast forward a few decades to 2005, and the New York Times was asking, “Is Key West Going Straight?” By 2024, Key West’s visible gay establishments were down to a handful. And while we wove in context from similar national trends about gayborhoods, we asked local leaders: What’s going on here? And how can we Keep Key West Gay?

Visibility and History Matter in Shoring Up Gayborhoods

A common theme among the research and the community members who participated in our story 18 months ago was that the loss of gay places and spaces was, in part, due to the mainstream’s growing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community over the last couple of decades. That acceptance, while welcome, also negated the perceived need for specifically gay places that had once served as refuge. We could now go—or hang out—anywhere.

Respondents echoed each other, saying that despite the closing of gay spaces, Key West remained such a friendly, gay-accepting place that the LGBTQ+ community would still be drawn here.

We’ll need a follow-up story—perhaps a Part 2 companion to this one—and ask everyone if they still feel the same, given the current political climate.

At the time, nearly every person we talked to emphasized the importance of educating people about the gay history of Key West. That we had a long and storied tradition of acceptance here—and that this history was one way to keep Gay Key West alive.

The research also pointed to two other critical and related ways to shore up a city’s gayborhood and visibility: civic commemorations and anchor institutions. Together these three elements—commemorations, institutions, and history—form the foundation of what we discussed needing to do going forward.

Let’s revisit them out again here.

🏛️ 1. Civic Commemorations

In a conversation between There Goes the Gayborhood? author Amin Ghaziani and then-VOX writer Matthew Yglesias (now on Substack), they discussed how cities can shore up their gayborhoods. One solution they emphasized was civic commemorations—public markers that embody gay history, culture, and collective memory. Said Ghaziani:

“Chicago became the first city in the world to use tax-funded dollars to municipally mark its gayborhood—Boystown. They installed art deco–styled rainbow color pylons along North Halsted Street, which is the main artery of the commercial and nightlife district in the city. We’ve seen versions of this in many cities across North America.”

“Philadelphia installed rainbow flags underneath the street signs that demarcate a portion of the Washington Square West neighborhood. Toronto did the same thing… Vancouver installed permanent rainbow-colored crosswalks in the heart of the Davie Village gayborhood. West Hollywood has done the same thing.”

We’d add that Chicago also installed 14 permanent rainbow crosswalks and created the Legacy Walk—a series of bronze plaques commemorating the lives and achievements of significant LGBTQ+ people along North Halsted.

Further research revealed other cities renaming streets and plazas, dedicating monuments and memorials, and blending pride symbols into architecture. In Philadelphia’s gayborhood, for example, street signs feature a rainbow flag emblem beneath the name. Commemorative plaques, sidewalk markers, statues, murals, and even permanent rainbow lighting on bridges and buildings have all been used to honor LGBTQ+ history.

Closer to home, Key West has its own AIDS Memorial, the City’s adoption of the One Human Family motto, and the official flying of the rainbow flag at city functions. And of course, we had our own rainbow crosswalks installed in 2015 at Duval and Petronia—until the State of Florida removed them in the dead of night on September 9, 2025.

Why do we need civic commemorations? Visibility. They remind us—and everyone else—that we’re here, we’ve always been here, and we’re not going anywhere.

So, the question becomes: What more can we do? And perhaps we’ll revisit that in a future article or Part 2.

🧭 2. Support Anchor Institutions

The second “visibility” measure discussed by Ghaziani and Yglesias was the promotion of anchor institutions—organizations, businesses, and community centers that give a gayborhood its distinct identity and cultural staying power. Says Ghaziani:

“These are particular organizations or nonprofit community centers and businesses that have particular importance or significance for the LGBTQ community. This could be something like the community center on Halsted in Chicago. It could be a particular bar that may have existed for a while that has special significance in the community. These anchor institutions will continually inspire people to visit and spend time in the neighborhood even if they no longer live there.”

In his book, Ghaziani also talks about gay newspapers and periodicals, and the idea of providing subsidies to anchor institutions to help them thrive.

In our 2024 article, we highlighted the then-recent bright spot of the Aqua Plex property, which beloved gay Key West icon Michael Ingram sold to Jonathan and Michael Barrett—a gay couple from Michigan who wanted to carry on the legacy. We contrasted Michael Ingram’s desire to preserve Aqua’s drag bar tradition with Richard Hoy’s sellout of the Equator Resort. Think of the other places that serve as our anchor institutions:

• The Tennessee Williams Museum
• 22&Co
• The La Te Da complex—including its cabaret, piano bar, and Tea Dance
• 801 Bourbon Bar and Saloon One
• The Bourbon Street Pub and New Orleans House complex, with their famous New Year’s Eve shoe drop
• Bobby’s Monkey Bar
• Island House Key West Resort
• Alexander’s Guest House
• Graffiti Menswear
• In Touch
• Leather Master of Key West
• Q Magazine
• The Key West Business Guild and their welcome center at 808 Duval
• Queer Keys Community Center at 1100 Truman Avenue

Given Key West’s long, vibrant and fun gay history, either of these ideas would have plenty of material to work with. How can we make this happen? Other ideas to keep history alive include:

• Support Tim Dahm’s wonderful No Closet Space – the History of Gay Key West film so it gets wider distribution
• Walking tours
• Oral history projects
• Public art installations
• Collaborations with schools, libraries, and museums to integrate queer history into local education

What else could we do?

Why the Entire Island Should Want to Keep Key West Gay

One can’t really imagine the history of Key West over the last 80 years—since World War II if not earlier—without acknowledging the LGBTQ+ community. After all, as Guy Ross put it: “The gays saved Key West.” And they invented Fantasy Fest.

Key West is a wonderful and magical place because of the gay community. It’s part of the island’s very fiber. That magic—the One Human Family ethos, the live-and-let-live spirit, the welcome for misfits and dreamers—starts with the visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s what draws people here. It’s what keeps us here.

And it’s not just about residents. That magic draws visitors too. It’s vital to our economy. People want to travel to places that are unique and authentic. For 80 years, Key West has been exactly that.

But if the LGBTQ+ community is silenced or erased—even a little—doesn’t that chip away at the very essence of what makes Key West “close to perfect, far from normal”?

Can Key West survive if it becomes just the southernmost version of mainland Boca Del Vista?

No. No, we can’t. So, here’s what we need to do:

• Everyone should by flying the rainbow flag in front of their business and home
• Get involved with the Key West Business Guild and Queer Keys
• Come up with ideas and funding for new civic commemorations
• Support, embrace, and love our anchor institutions
• Find ways to educate America that Key West was one of the original gay safe spaces—and still is

That’s how we respond to the erasure of our rainbow crosswalks.

We’ll leave you with this wonderful video produced by the fantastic team at Island House that encapsulates this message.

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Chris Hamilton is the founder of Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown, a local advocacy group championing sustainable mobility and vibrant public spaces. Subscribe to the blog and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Substack for updates. All stories are cross posted at KONK Life News. Originally from Washington, D.C., Chris spent over two decades leading nationally acclaimed initiatives in transit, biking, walking, and smart growth for Arlington County, VA’s DOT. Since moving to Key West in 2015, he has embraced a car-free lifestyle downtown, dedicating his time to non-profits and community projects. Explore all Streets for People column articles here.