Beyond breathtaking sunsets and sour, gelatinous pie, Key West, Florida, has historically been famous for its gay culture. Queer icons from Divine to Leonard Bernstein used to slut it up at the many gay bars and men-only guesthouses the island was known for in the 1970s and 80s. Tennessee Williams, the ultimate daddy, lived for years in a small house on Duncan Street with his “secretary” Frank Merlo .
“Now please don’t hurry down here: the island has finally run out of coral rock extensions into the sea,” Williams once wrote of Key West. “Almost no one plays bridge, and there is almost nothing to do but drink or swim or —.”