Florida's LGBTQ-Friendly Destinations Band Together to Promote Welcoming Message

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:35 PM ET, Fri October 4, 2024

Sometime in August, Visit Florida quietly removed pages from its website that provided information for LGBTQ travelers.

Numerous news outlets reported on this development over the summer including The New York Times and NBC. Though it’s not clear when exactly the pages were removed, NBC first reported on the information being missing from the state’s tourism website as early as August 19.

The pages that were removed were filled with blog posts and videos featuring the state’s gay-friendly beaches, annual Pride events and even LGBTQ road trip ideas. The link where the LGBTQ Travel page once existed (https://www.visitflorida.com/things-to-do/cultural/lgbtq/) was changed to direct users to a general “things to do” landing page, NBC reported back in August.

Removal of the LGBTQ information led some to voice concern that it “sends the message that LGBTQ travelers aren’t welcome in the state,” the New York Times reported.

This week, however, a group of Florida destinations banded together to contradict that impression. During an hour-long call with the media that was organized by the Society of American Travel Writers' DEAI committee, the destinations sought to underscore all the things that their communities offer LGBTQ travelers and the many ways they welcome all travelers.

Executives from Visit Tampa Bay, West Volusia Tourism, Greater Miami CVB, Visit Jacksonville and the Florida Keys & Key West joined the call to ensure that the public knows there are many places in Florida that are not on board with the decision to remove LGBTQ information from the state’s tourism website.

“Social inclusion and DEI are massively important to us,” said Patrick Harrison of Visit Tampa Bay, who added that Tampa Bay has always viewed itself as an international melting pot.

The city has had internal and external DEI committees for more than a decade, stressed Harrison. In addition, Tampa is home to a significant Pride festival, which Visit Tampa Bay participates in with a float of its own. There are also numerous LGBTQ+ leaders in the city’s vibrant culinary scene.

“We are open to everybody…We let the politicians do their own thing and I don’t give a damn….We will continue to work with the groups we have [always worked with],” Harrison said. “Our work is our work, full speed ahead and damn the torpedos.”

His sentiments were echoed by all of the destination executives on the call.

Georgia Turner, of West Valencia Tourism, said the community she represents started a Pride festival after the Pulse nightclub tragedy in Florida.

Since then, Volusia Pride, which is headquartered in Historic Downtown DeLand, Florida, has sought to spread a message about "Crafting Positive Change.’' The festival was born out of an effort to provide support, advocacy, and education and to empower the community “to imagine and build a better, more equitable community.”

“This has grown into a wonderful thing in our area,” Turner said. “To watch the movement and everything that’s happened.”

Turner described DeLand as a community of about 40,000 residents in a conservative part of Florida, where nearly everyone has a pride flag or a pride sticker on their business. It’s also the location of three state parks, one of which is the winter home for manatees.

In addition to the annual Pride festival, there’s also a weekly drag show in DeLand at Cafe DaVinci.

“It’s become very much a big part of our community, a valued part of our community,” said Turner.

There’s also an LGBTQ+ community center in the works in DeLand. The center will be a place that provides counseling and outreach, Turner continued.

“As far as what’s next, the sky is the limit,” added Turner. “We have neighbors all around us that want to join in with us."

The city of Jacksonville has been hosting gay pride festivals since 1978, said Andrea Mestdagh of Visit Jacksonville. The city's support of the LGBTQ+ community remains strong, she said, and is evidenced on many levels.

The first week of October is Pride Week in Jacksonville, and that includes a parade, cabaret and a festival. There's also numerous LGBTQ+-friendly bars and restaurants in Jacksonville and a weekend drag brunch in the city.

Miami’s destination representative, meanwhile, pointed out that the beachfront city has been working to promote a welcoming message to the LGBTQ+ community for decades. And well before the official promotional efforts began, the city was a favorite of the LGBTQ+ community.

Miami is home to numerous LGBTQ+ leaders, including within the culinary and arts scenes. But the city’s queer history dates back to at least 1978 when the first gay rights parade took place, said Dan Rios, of the Greater Miami CVB.

Like the others who spoke before him, Rios stressed that decisions made in Florida's state capital of Tallahassee do not reflect how people across the state may feel.

"One of the ways we respond in Miami, is not necessarily by getting in a debate with Tallahassee…but with our actions," said Rios. "At a time in Tallahassee was saying you could not light certain structures in rainbow colors, we did just that….And while some places are turning the volume down, we are saying boldly, 'Happy Pride month.'"

The Greater Miami CVB's newest campaign, meanwhile, is focused on the diversity and beauty of the Miamia community, including its longtime LGBTQ+ community.

“We are among the top 10 largest communities of LGBTQ+ folk in the U.S.,” added Rios. “So we can’t just go, we can just leave. This is our home. We have to stay here and foster change.”

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