For more than a decade, Wilton Manors has been known anecdotally as South Florida’s gayest city. Day and night, same-sex couples promenade hand-in-hand along the main drag, Wilton Drive, which is lined with rainbow flags, gay and lesbian bars and shops with names like Gaysha sushi and Gay Mart.
Now, the 2010 U.S. Census has provided numbers to back up that reputation: With about 140 per 1,000, Wilton Manors is the No. 2 city nationally in percentage of same-sex couples, second to Provincetown, Mass.
The demographics of Wilton Manors developed over 15 years, after the first major gay bar, Georgie’s Alibi, opened in the boarded-up shell of a shuttered bank in the heart of Wilton Drive and sparked the revival.