Gay Guide
Listing and event details can change quickly. Please verify with the venue directly before visiting. Lavender Atlas is not responsible for third-party accuracy.
About LGBTQ+ Key West
In 1983 Key West elected Richard Heyman mayor, making him the first openly gay mayor in the United States. He had arrived a decade earlier and opened an art gallery in Old Town. During his time in office the city passed a resolution barring employers from firing people who had HIV or AIDS, which put a town of twenty-five thousand people ahead of every state in the country. Key West had already become the first American city to market itself deliberately to gay travelers in the late 1970s, and in 2018 it elected Teri Johnston, Florida's first openly lesbian mayor.
Duval Street carries the nightlife, and it is concentrated at the quieter end. The 801 Bourbon Bar runs drag upstairs and down, the Bourbon St. Pub complex sits behind it with a pool, and Aqua, Side Bar and Saloon One fill the surrounding block. La Te Da manages to be a hotel, a bar and a cabaret at once without any of the three suffering.
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The guesthouses are the real point of this island. Island House is men-only and clothing-optional with its own gym and sauna, and Alexander's, Azul, Eden House, the Lighthouse Court, New Orleans House and the Mermaid & the Alligator run the same gracious, low-key model in restored Conch houses.
Higgs Beach is the swimming, and the Key West AIDS Memorial sits on the waterfront there, listing the names of hundreds of islanders. For a town this size, the scale of it is the point.
Key West Pride takes June, and Fantasy Fest overruns the whole island in October. Key West is four hours from Miami at the end of a hundred-mile chain of bridges, and that remoteness is exactly why it became what it is.
Upcoming Events
Key West leather and fetish bar tucked behind 801 Bourbon, known for a darker late-night atmosphere and themed events.
Home to the world-famous "801 Girls" drag troupe and classic cabaret entertainment.
A gay guesthouse on Fleming Street in Key West offering adults-only accommodation with a heated pool and clothing-optional courtyard. A popular choice for LGBTQ+ visitors in the heart of the island.
Key West LGBTQ+ multi-bar nightclub on Duval Street with drag shows nightly.
Key West men's clothing-optional LGBTQ+ resort with pool, sauna and bar.
Gay men's guesthouse in Old Town Key West above Bourbon St. Pub, with a clothing-optional courtyard, pool, and easy access to Duval Street nightlife.
A popular Atlantic-side beach in Key West, Higgs Beach is a favourite with the local LGBTQ+ community for its relaxed atmosphere, beach volleyball, and proximity to the island's amenities.
A legendary Key West institution on Duval Street combining a gay-friendly boutique hotel with a cabaret bar and rooftop lounge. Known for nightly entertainment including jazz and drag shows, La Te Da has been a fixture of the island's queer scene for decades.
Key West's annual Pride celebration, held in June. One of the US's most relaxed and beloved Pride events, running across the island with parties, bar events, and community gatherings in one of America's most LGBTQ+-friendly towns.
An open-air gay bar on Duval Street in the heart of Key West, Bourbon St. Pub is a perennial favourite for its pool deck, go-go dancers, and a party atmosphere that runs from afternoon into the early hours.
Adults-only bed and breakfast in Key West's Old Town, set in a restored Victorian house a short walk from Duval Street.
A gay men's resort in Key West offering adults-only accommodation with a pool and clothing-optional sunbathing area, close to the Duval Street strip.
A gay-friendly boutique property on Truman Avenue in Key West, Azul offers stylish rooms and suites in a historic setting close to Duval Street.