Key West Gets Rainbow Crosswalks

Via the Miami Herald:

Key West on Thursday installed permanent rainbow crosswalks in the heart of the city’s LGBT entertainment district, at the intersection of Duval and Petronia streets. “Spanning all four corners of the intersection, the crosswalks feature bands of all six colors of the rainbow flag, an internationally recognized symbol of gay and lesbian unity,” according to a tourism news release. “Key West is very happy to be putting in the first thermoplastic permanent rainbow crosswalks in the state of Florida,” said Mayor Craig Cates. “It means so much to Key West to show our diversity, and also it goes perfectly with our ‘One Human Family’ motto.”

Rainbow crosswalks have been installed in other popular LGBT destinations such as the Castro and West Hollywood. (Photo via Aaron Huntsman)

Opening Soon In Dallas

Via Eater:

If you've ever wondered why there wasn't a male version of the skeezy dining establishment that is Hooters, well, your prayers are about to be answered: Brace for the arrival of Tallywackers, coming soon to the gayborhood. Per a help wanted ad on Craigslist, Tallywackers appears to be a bar and restaurant staffed by half-naked men who may or may not offer suggestive raised eyebrows while serving phallic-shaped foods such as hot dogs. Look for it to open soon at 4218 Lemmon Avenue, the space previously occupied by Lolita's and the Catalina Room. If Hooters and Twin Peaks are considered breastaurants, does that make Tallywackers a... dickstaurant? Discuss.

Their Facebook page is here. (Tipped by JMG reader Robert)

Houston Pride Leaves The Gayborhood

For the first since its inaugural event in 1979, next year's Houston Pride will take place downtown instead of in the gayborhood of Montrose. Via ABC Houston:

The decision to move the Pride Festival from Montrose to downtown is getting mixed reviews from the LGBT community. Pride Houston held a community meeting today to explain its decision. The group says downtown provides more space, parking and access for first responders. Some people are excited about the expansion. While others feel the organization should have gotten more feedback first. Ferny Reyes, who opposes the festival move, said, "I think there are ways to make it work. And I don't think they've been really truly reaching out to people in the wider community to figure out how that could happen." On the other hand, others support the decision. "I think being in downtown with a park, having trees and grass with an expanded festival and having the parade go near city hall with fireworks at the end, it's going to be very exciting for the city of houston," Nicolas Brines said.

This weekend the Houston Chronicle published an editorial in support of the change.

The move downtown is a fabulous idea. It symbolizes how far the parade has come, the vibrancy and clout of Houston's LGBT community, and the dizzying advances that the LGBT movement has achieved over the last decade. In 1985, when asked how to combat the spread of HIV, former Houston Mayor Louis Welch infamously joked, "Shoot all the queers." Flash forward 30 years, and Mayor Annise Parker and first lady Kathy Hubbard have become the poster girls for a more diverse, tolerant and welcoming Houston, the subject of rapturous national profiles in the Wall Street Journal and cover stories in The Advocate.

Three decades ago, social conservatives in the Bayou City ran a roster of homophobic candidates dubbed "the straight slate" in an effort to take out then-Mayor Kathy Whitmire, who had championed a measure to prohibit discrimination in city hiring, firing and promotions. Today, City Hall is illuminated with rainbow lighting in honor of Pride in June, and in May, Houston City Council passed a nondiscrimination ordinance. If gay New Yorkers can exuberantly strut their stuff down the vast canyons of Fifth Avenue, then why can't Houston's GLBT community march boldly down Smith Street?

NYC's parade does begin on Fifth Avenue, but it concludes in the West Village on Christopher Street.

RELATED: Houston's pride parade became a nighttime event in 1997 at the behest of then City Council member Annise Parker.

The Castro By Drone

No audio.

STUDY: Gays Are Leaving Gayborhoods

Newly published research confirms what most casual observers have known for years - fewer gay people are choosing to live in traditional urban gayborhoods.

Fewer same-sex couples reside in historically gay neighbourhoods compared to 10 years ago, according to one of the largest studies of sexuality in the U.S. Led by University of British Columbia sociologist Amin Ghaziani, the study found the number of gay men who live in gay enclaves has declined eight per cent while the number of lesbians has dropped 13 per cent. Ghaziani’s research, which is collected in his new book There Goes the Gayborhood, suggests that San Francisco’s Castro district, New York’s Chelsea, Chicago’s Boystown and other “gayborhoods” are changing as growing numbers of heterosexual households join or replace gays and lesbians. He offers several reasons for the shift, including gentrification, changing attitudes among gays and lesbians, and growing acceptance of same-sex couples. The study also identifies new demographic trends, including unexpected clusters of same-sex parents around desirable schools in traditionally straight neighbourhoods and the emergence of districts for LGBT people of colour. The findings also show that same-sex households exist in a record-high 93 per cent of U.S. counties.

Here's the trailer for Ghaziani's book.

Advocate's 15 Gayest Cities In America

The Advocate has published its annual and quite silly ranking of the gayest cities in America. Among the ranking criteria is the number of concerts by Marah Carey, Pink, and the Jonas Brothers. Your town also got a point if it hosted a gay rodeo. Eye roll.

Afternoon View - Gaysha Sushi

Directly across from Wilton Manors' all-gay strip mall and next door to the popular bear bar is Gaysha Sushi, whose menu includes the Wilton Rainbow Roll.

New York Times: Washington DC Is The Gayest City In America

From the Sunday Styles section:

Today, having moved here 10 months ago after six and a half years of living in Manhattan, I hardly recognize that closeted, often intolerant Washington I first glimpsed as a 20-year-old. I now live in the gayest place in America. But don’t take my word for it. Consider what surveys by Gallup and the Census Bureau have found about the gay population here. When the District of Columbia is compared with the 50 states, it has the highest percentage of adults who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to Gallup. At 10 percent, that is double the percentage in the state that ranks No. 2, Hawaii, and nearly triple the overall national average of 3.5 percent. The Census Bureau looked at where the highest percentage of same-sex couple households were and also found that the District of Columbia ranked far higher than the 50 states, with 4 percent. The national average is just under 1 percent.

NYPD Steps Up Patrols In Gayborhoods

In reaction to the continuing spree of anti-gay hate crimes, the NYPD announced today that they have increases patrols in the West Village, Chelsea, and Hell's Kitchen.

The patrols — which will feature mobile command units — were announced in response to the shooting death of Mark Carson, 32, Saturday, allegedly by a man spewing homophobic slurs. The increased police presence will last at least until the end of June, which is LGBT pride month.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, other Democratic mayoral candidates and gay leaders also led a massive rally yesterday in Greenwich Village, where Carson was shot while walking with his partner. “The family would like to have justice be served, so that Mark’s death is not in vain,” said the victim’s aunt, Flourine Bompars, one of about 1,000 marchers.

The killer's family continues to defend him.

Morales’ family said he was blitzed on ecstasy and booze that night and had no memory of the savage attack. “It’s a lie to say he hates people,’’ said Morales’ bisexual sister, Edith Gutierrez. “We’re not a prejudiced family. We have African-Americans, Dominicans, gays and Mexicans in our family.’’ Morales is being held at Rikers without bail on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime, menacing and criminal weapons possession.

Counting last night's attack in the East Village, there have now been 24 anti-gay attacks since the beginning of the year, a 70% increase over the number recorded to this date in 2012.

Ace Hardware Names San Diego's Gay-Owned Store "Coolest On The Planet"

WeHo Installs Rainbow Crosswalks

Details.

Cheaper Gayborhoods

CNN Money suggests cheaper alternatives.

San Francisco

Most popular neighborhood among same-sex male couples: Castro, San Francisco ($671 per square foot). Affordable alternative: Brisbane, Calif. ($311 per square foot). Most popular neighborhood among same-sex female couples: Castro, San Francisco ($671 per square foot). Affordable alternative: Redwood Heights, Oakland ($230 per square foot).

New York

Most popular neighborhood among same-sex male couples: Chelsea, New York ($1,199 per square foot). Affordable alternative: Jersey City, N.J. ($452 per square foot). Most popular neighborhood among same-sex female couples: Park Slope, Brooklyn ($664 per square foot). Affordable alternative: Nyack, New York ($266 per square foot).

Los Angeles

Most popular neighborhood among same-sex male couples: West Hollywood, Los Angeles ($481 per square foot). Affordable alternative: Signal Hill, Long Beach ($200 per square foot). Most popular neighborhood among same-sex female couples: West Hollywood, Los Angeles ($481 per square foot). Affordable alternative: Eastside, Long Beach ($207 per square foot).

More cities and suggestions at the link.

Orlando: Second Gayest?

Yesterday I mentioned that the Advocate, using some unusual calculations, had named Salt Lake as "America's Gayest City." But I didn't even notice that my hometown of Orlando had been named as #2. That's....interesting.

America's Gayest Town: Salt Lake City?

So sez the Advocate's, using the above formula for the calculations.

CENSUS: America's Ten Gayest Cities

That is, gayest in terms of the percentage of self-identified same-sex couple households. I'm surprised that Wilton Manors is behind Provincetown, but that's probably due to migration to the recently popular-with-the-gays Oakland Park, which is next door and comes in at #10.

Riots Close British Gayborhood

Birmingham's gay village was shut down yesterday due to widespread looting and fires. ZONE Magazine reports:

The London riots have spread beyond the capital to Birmingham, including the Gay Village. Popular gay bars Missing, The Loft Lounge, Equator, Purple Bar and The Angel Bar were all closed on the advice of police at around 9pm last night. The police have confirmed that at least 35 arrests have already been made. The Birmingham Hippodrome theatre, which is located on the edge of the gay village in the Southside area of Birmingham, was on a 'lockdown' with up to 2,000 theatre-goers locked inside watching We Will Rock You. Following the performance, police escorted patrons to the safety of their cars in the Arcadian Centre.

There was widespread looting in the city centre, including the Armani shop in The Mailbox. Kevin Breese, General Manager of Birmingham's Harvey Nichols shop, confirmed that the ajacent Armani shop has been completely looted. 'They were very well organised youths, with wirecutters and concrete blocks,' he said. West Midlands Police continued to tackle the disorder occurring in Birmingham last night. Several premises were attacked, with some shop windows smashed and property stolen in various locations in the centre, as well as some surrounding areas.

Hit the above link for live updates on the situation.

Afternoon View - Visitation & St. Catherine

In the summertime, the main street through Montreal's gay village is closed to traffic.

Vote For Father Tony!

Now that he's a retired man of leisure, our beloved Father Tony has entered GayTravel.com's contest to become their Gay Travel Guru, a six-month gig which would take him all around North America to sample and review gay hotspots. The contest has now entered its second round and is open to voting from the public. Please click over and view Father Tony's sample videos and consider throwing him your support. (Make sure you rate him a "5.") And here's his direct plea for support from JMG readers, shot from his oceanside balcony in Fort Lauderdale. Tough life, I know.

On The Decline Of Gayborhoods

Straight columnist Matt Katz laments the spiraling decline of the nation's gayborhoods.

Gayborhoods were in their prime when they struck the right balance of seedy and shiny, with porn shops, hourly motels and peep-show joints next door to home decor shoppes, vegan bakeries and restaurants serving foix gras and $15 cosmos. In this way, they became the vanguard of something different, something that’s really more exciting and interesting than gay, per se, and this right at the time that every other place in America began to look increasingly the same. The gayborhoods succeeded in their fundamental mission: to offer safety, community and empowerment. But maybe they succeeded too well, because it turns out other people want that stuff too. Suddenly, everyone wanted to live there. And like avatars on Pandora, that popularity is what killed it. The rainbow flag that gays planted signaled to other assorted demographics – hipsters, liberal-leaning couples with young kids, actual artists, myself – that the neighborhood had been conquered, with flair. So we came, hungry for cheap space and a higher cool quotient. The death may have gone unrecognized by some. But for me, a straight man with a proclivity towards societally marginalized people (and neighborhoods), the kind of gayborhood where I lived has disappeared.

Read the entire essay, it's both sad and lovely.

Key West Day One

Not quite 24 hours on the island and as Divine said in Lust In The Dust, my ass is on its last legs. Steve Smith, our host from the Key West Business Guild picked up our group (myself, Father Tony, EDGE's Michael K. Lavers, freelance journalist Rod McCullom, LOGO's Mike Diamond, SiriusXM's Frank DeCaro, and filmmakers Josh Koll and Josh Helmin) at the airport. Less than an hour after arrival we were whisked off to an absolutely riotous street party and Coronation Ball for the King and Queen of Fantasy Fest. The winners earned their crowns by raising the most money for AIDS Help.

Then came a fancy dinner, then Steve gave Father Tony and me a private tour of some packed and shenanigans-laden bars on Duval Street (more about that later.) At 2am, we finally crawled back to our guesthouse, Island House. (More about that later.) Up with the rooster's call (literally), we breakfasted this morning at Big Ruby's Guesthouse, then took the LGBT Historic Trolley Tour, then had lunch poolside at Casa Marina Resort. I've got just enough downtime to get this post up, then we're off to a sunset dinner cruise. I'm wiped! I'll get a slideshow of the first day up as soon as I get photo approvals from our fussy colleagues. And watch out Key West, we are now on mopeds.

UPDATE: Here's the slidehow for Day One. Some photos possibly NSFW, mostly due to one young entrepreneur who was working the sidewalk outside a Duval Street gay bar.

UPDATE II: Father Tony's first post is up, where he titled the below photo "Curmudgeon By The Sea."