Queering the Redneck Riviera: Sexuality and the Rise of Florida Tourism

by Jerry T. Watkins III

Queering the Redneck Riviera recovers the forgotten and erased history of gay men and lesbians in North Florida, a region often overlooked in the story of the LGBTQ experience in the United States. Jerry Watkins reveals both the challenges these men and women faced in the years following World War II and the essential role they played in making the Emerald Coast a major tourist destination. In a state dedicated to selling an image of itself as a “family-friendly” tropical paradise and in an era of increasing moral panic and repression, queer people were forced to negotiate their identities and their places in society. Watkins re-creates queer life during this period, drawing from sources including newspaper articles, advertising and public relations campaigns, oral history accounts, government documents, and interrogation transcripts from the state’s Johns Committee. He discovers that postwar improvements in transportation infrastructure made it easier for queer people to reach safe spaces to socialize. He uncovers stories of gay and lesbian beach parties, bars, and friendship networks that spanned the South. The book also includes rare photos from the Emma Jones Society, a Pensacola-based group that boldly hosted gatherings and conventions in public places. Illuminating a community that boosted Florida’s emerging tourist economy and helped establish a visible LGBTQ presence in the Sunshine State, Watkins offers new insights about the relationships between sexuality, capitalism, and conservative morality in the second half of the twentieth century.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, LGBT

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2018

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry T. Watkins III's Queering the Redneck Riviera, serves as a reminder that queer people and queer stories exist in the most unassuming places.

In the 1950s on the heels of impressive economic growth in the US, Florida's citizens and politicians decide to embark on a massive marketing campaign to create "The Sunshine State" to draw in tourists from around the country. In the panhandle region stretching from Pensacola to Tallahassee, the Florida tourism industry focused on drawing tourists from the working class South. What did not fit with The Sunshine State brand? Queer people. From the 1960s through until the 1990s this region fought the efforts to turn it into the U.S.'s Gay Riviera. And despite this fight queer people flourished in so many ways both politically and socially.

Queering the Redneck Riviera serves as an important reminder that gay history is more than the urban metropolis; that queer people have been living in queer community in rural and conservative regions just as long. The book certainly can have an overwhelming academic (rather than historical) tone at points but the stories still come through. Discover something new and read this book.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent little monograph. Explores the queer history of the Florida Gulf Coast from the 60s to the mid 90s. I would absolutely read a much thicker tome with more in depth discussion, and I felt like the organization was a little wonky, but otherwise this was great.