Post Key West Reflections

The husband and I returned on New Year's Day from a week long visit to Key West.  It was my 15th trip to Key West since 2009 and approximately my 10th stay at the Equator (pictured above), an all male, gay guesthouse/resort that later this month will change its name and become "all welcoming."  Indeed, the reason for the trip was to have one last hurrah, if you will at the Equator where we have made friends (mostly couples of varying age brackets) from around North America and Europe.  With the end of the Equator, only two gay guest houses will remain in Key West, the Island House up Fleming Street four blocks from the former Equator, and the Orleans House on Duval Street, both of which historically have catered to younger, often single travelers, and are far more open to hookups and the like.  Neither are really what the husband and I enjoy, which leaves us with the option of staying with friends who live in Key West or finding a different get away destination. 

What has happened to gay guesthouses in Key West that once numbered close to a dozen in some ways mirrors what has occurred with gay clubs in cities across America.  Locally, in Tidewater Virginia, only three gay clubs survive, down from twice that number or more a dozen years ago.  Part of what has happened is due to younger gays being more widely accepted socially and at other venues.  Part may be due to the wider public acceptance of gays and same sex marriage.  Frighteningly, with Donald Trump on the verge of returning to the White House with a circle of anti-LGBT extremists surrounding (and who seemingly now control the Republican Party), the need for gay clubs and gay guesthouses may be about to increase significantly if non-discrimination laws and public accommodation protections are stripped away under Trump 2.0.  Worse yet, if Project 2025 proponents surrounding Trump and the extremist cabal on the U.S. Supreme Court seek to end same sex marriage, the situation may become dire indeed. 

Here in Virginia with statewide elections in November - we never have a break from elections - we (I, the husband and other LGBT Virginians and our allies) will work hard to insure that a Democrat again occupies the Executive Mansion and that Democrats control the General Assembly so as to blunt some of the horrors that may flow from the White House and/or the the GOP controlled Congress.  Thus, I am not giving up, but the never ending battles do grow tiresome.  At the same time, the husband and I will continue to travel, but I suspect that Florida will not be a future destination. Perhaps Puerto Rico or Mexico or destinations in blue states such as New York and California to name but two. 

Stay tuned for future thoughts and updates.