Miami

LGBT Travel Guide

Why you should go to Miami !

Miami and its beaches offer unlimited fun in the sun, cultural activities, outdoor adventures, pulsating nightlife and - most of all - a gay-friendly welcome. Local tourism offices actively court the LGBTQ traveler.  The winter high season is packed with activities and special events, but the area is also a year around destination with lower prices and more Brazilian and Argentine visitors on "winter" vacations in the summer It has a definite international vibe and a wealth of Gay Pride celebrations.  Most LGBTQ events take place in Miami Beach, four miles across Biscayne Bay from Miami, but the South Beach beat has spread to Miami neighborhoods like Wynwood. The January 2015 legalization of same-sex marriage in Florida makes Miami a popular wedding destination.

Miami Beach in 2014 scored a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign's index of best cities for gays, but back in 1977, Miami-Dade County made national headlines in the gay rights struggle after the county commission passed a pioneering ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual preference, making illegal any discrimination against gays in employment and housing. Conservative religious groups, led by Anita Bryant, a singer who was spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission, demanded and won its repeal, but not before a gay activist threw a pie in Bryant's face during a press conference and a national gay boycott of orange juice with gay bars around the country replacing the orange-juice-based screwdriver with the "Anita Bryant" made from vodka and apple juice. The Florida Citrus Commission didn't renew her contract, and many celebrities rallied to the gay cause in Miami. Much of the activism for which the local gay scene is known grows out of this controversy, including Save (formerly Save Dade), organized in 1993 to bring back the gay-rights ordinance. Four years later it was finally back on the books.

Today "gay-friendly" is the rule rather than the exception in Miami-Dade. In addition to the big-name Pride events throughout the year, the LGBTQ community has many professional and social organizations including a gay and lesbian chamber of commerce, a gay men's chorus, social services organizations and special interest clubs centered around tennis, sailing and swimming.

The fabulous circuit parties, mostly in the winter season, make for great photo ops, but many of the best parties are also the biggest fund-raisers for causes like gay consciousness, AIDS and breast cancer. Miami and Miami Beach host several of the world's largest and oldest LGBTQ celebrations like White Party Week, the Winter Party, Miami Beach Gay Pride and Aqua Girl.

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