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an article in GAYSWEEK (pages 5-7)
published in New York City; July 24, 1978KEY WEST
by Sheldon Ramsdell
Florida hangs down on the map like a great phallus. The first love drop of this phallus-like peninsula on the sea is the tiny island of Cayo Hueso, Spanish for bone island, today known as Cayo Oeste or Key West.
This island was first settled in the 1840s by Bahamians, and according to a historical myth its first residents were pirates, pimps, whores, and thieves. Key West does indeed have a reputation as a tough outpost, with its heavy population of shrimpers and US Navy personnel on an island pervaded by a pirate mentality. Right now, for example, shrimpers and crab fishermen are engaged in a jurisdictional feud over fishing grounds.
The island is home to many minorities, such as Cubans, gays, blacks, and writers. Among the last group are Thomas McGuane (92 IN THE SHADE and THE SPORTING CLUB); James Kirkwood (A CHORUS LINE, P.S. YOUR CAT IS DEAD); Evan Rhodes (AN ARMY OF CHILDREN, THE PRINCE OF CENTRAL PARK); James Leo Herlihy (MIDNIGHT COWBOY, BLUE DENIM); and of course Tennessee Williams (A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF), who is the patriarch and inspiration to most. It is ironic that Williams, a gay writer, has taken the helm from Ernest Hemingway, the original macho-man and longtime Key Wester.
The Cubans began migrating to Key West in the 1830s, and many of them think they are still in Cuba. An example of this mentality showed up in the fight, in 1973/74, between environmentalists and high-rise condominium developers. A lawyer of Cuban descent got up in the city commission meeting and declared, "Those people against the high-rises are all foreigners, they are from the United States." The Cuban community enjoys a high standard of living with important business and political positions and expects to do very well with the new tourist boom.
High employment among the unskilled blacks with no political clout keeps them in the ghetto. Rarely do they venture out into the mainstream of Key West life. The black population, although dispersed throughout the island, lives mainly in the ghetto known to locals as Blacktown. This community can expect a major emigration soon because it is strategically located on prime development land between the main tourist street (Duval) and the abandoned US Navy submarine base, which is now in the hands of the city. The base has the best docking facilities and the finest beach on the island and will soon be developed as part of the growing tourist business. Property values in Blacktown will soar, and blacks who own little or nothing will be forced out. The new property buyers are saying "Buy in Blacktown."
Chances are nowadays that you will not see much of the Navy. The few sailors who do visit Old Town Key West are in civilian clothes so it is hard to tell them from the rest of the crowd. Most Navy personnel are based at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station two islands east of Key West and most live on Stock Island, which is one island to the east of Key West.
The Navy submarine base, which was in operation up until 1974, allowed gay men their pick of sailors. As one resident puts it, "You could walk into Delmonico's Bar and see a line of white ass buns (white sailor suits) sitting on stools and take your pick. If a (female) tried to horn in you chased her away, no problem. She would charge $30, I was free."
In the winter of 1973 a crew of Brazilian sailors arrived to take over a decommissioned American submarine. Those swabbies were out on the town dancing every night with American men, and more often than not took them to an alley, or to the Rest Beach area for a quickie, then back to dancing. Then there was a party at Tennessee Williams's Duncan Street house that resembled a comeback of ON THE TOWN, with a conga line of Latin sailors.
Shrimping is the second most important industry in Key West after tourism. The fleet is always sailing in and out for two-week trips with shrimpers from Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and the Carolinas. The crews are a rough-and-tumble lot who tend to hang out at a few waterfront bars. They seldom go to the tourist discos and bars in Old Town. But if a shrimper offers you a swig from his bottle don't refuse because that would be considered unfriendly.
Key West is not a great center for the arts. Good artists have come but few remain. The most famous and successful resident artist is a CONCH, Mario Sanchez (a CONCH is a native-born inhabitant, named after the sea animal). Mario's primitive and colorful art, which reflects Key West's old customs and vanished landmarks, span the range of two to four thousand dollars.
The exciting gallery in town is the Gingerbread Square Gallery on Duval Street. The Gallery's opening night parties are among Key West's finer social events. Promoter Richard Heyman and artist John Kiraly opened the Gingerbread Square in 1974. Kiraly exhibits permanently and recently sold all the 75 to 100 paintings in his "Sidewalks" series. "Sidewalks" are composites of cracks, textures, and patterns of Key West sidewalks. Kiraly is now at work in earth tones, and rock-form crevices--sensual, erotic, suggestive shapes. Be sure to check out the fine collection of erotic art in Gingerbread's backroom. In the great transient population of Key West you will find craftsmen such as carpenters, cabinet makers, and electricians, as well as glassblowers, canvas seabag makers, hatmakers, goldsmiths, and workers in metal macram, and rattan.
Key West and Fire Island are similar because of their guest houses, restaurants and discos. But Fire Island is quite different from Key West in that Fire Island has two small overcrowded, exclusively gay communities--the Pines and Cherry Grove. These settlements are made up of quaint, picturesque houses known as share rentals. Fire Island above all is epitomized by the sexually homogenized bourgeois dressed for sex, walking for sex and taking drugs for sex. In Key West quite the opposite is true. Being heterogeneous in its makeup Key West is more sociable and mixed company is the rule at nearly all parties and gatherings.
Key West is also a little like Palm Beach because of the renovation of grand old CONCH houses. The truly wealthy do not gather at Key West. It is a little like the Hamptons in that new writers are isolating themselves in compounds to work on their next novels with an option to be absolutely alone or go off on a quick and easy flight via Air Sunshine to Miami and from there on to any part of the globe.
It is not unusual to see Tennessee Williams, in line at the post office, telling friends how he just returned from Japan and will be off to England in a few days.
All this is very charming, but how GAY is Key West?
There are eight or ten gay guest houses and motels, all very attractive in a funky way, with swimming pools set in a lush tropical garden. Most of these inns will not admit gay women. The reasoning behind this policy is not clear, but Key West is a white middle- and upper-class gay male resort. You need only look in at the Monster and Delmonico's, the two gay discos, to see the makeup of the gay minority.
The Monroe County Beach, or Higg's Beach as it is sometimes called, is the gay beach and sits on the Atlantic side of the island. It has a small white coral sand patch and a long wooden pier, clusters of coconut palms and gazebos. Bronzed male bodies lie foot to nose and roll over periodically like slim sea lions basking in the intense sun, or fight the cool breeze for possession of their book pages.
Drinking is the most popular pastime. Dancing is next, then eating. Fourth is sex. Refreshingly, promiscuity is at a low level. There are two dirty book stores on Duval Street with straight and gay film booths, and one heterosexual movie house that no one seems to bother with, but the best cruising is at the Monroe County Beach and in the discos. A bicycle is a must for looking over the town and while you're at it peddle out to Rest Beach and check out this cruddy little beach and swamp with its paths. You just might meet someone. This does not constitute a meat rack. The cruising is low key and exciting.
Gays make up less than ten percent of the total population of 32,000, and one must consider the other citizens. Key Westers (longtime residents) and CONCHES are tolerant but don't push your luck, and don't be surprised if you hear shouts of "faggot" or "queer" from a car full of teens under peer group pressure. More seriously, gay bicyclists are frequently run down by cars.
There have been several small incidents at the Monroe County Beach where young locals congregate on weekends. Young women seem to resent the grouping of gay men. For example, this exchange took place on the pier, initiated by two young women: "God made you men for us. Our holes are better than an asshole." A gay man replied, "You have two of them, honey." A second gay man spelled out "Fuck Me" in suntan lotion on the back of another. Young kids crowded around to see and started yelling "faggots", and after a verbal barrage bottles were thrown at the gays.
For decades Key West has been a haven for gays and today they are an integral part of the economic fabric of the business community. However, some old-time Key Westers, like George Daniell and his lover Steve Dorland, have sold their two houses and moved off to the woods of Maine. As George puts it: "Key West may very well become a fucking shit-hole. Time will tell. It's had too much coverage too soon and it's not really equipped to take it. Now overcrowded with what we laughingly call people-boutiques, camper-trailers, and gays, it's losing a great deal of the charm they are seeking. A face lift can sometimes make a hag look worse, fag or otherwise. And I for one am very perverse because I don't like ANYPLACE 100 percent gay. It can be unutterably boring. Well, you'll see for yourself. Being one myself I'm obviously not anti-gay, but anti-vulgar gay. So many overdo everything and don't know when to stop. These insensitive ones could trigger a backlash which is about due unless they cool it a bit. All this has helped real estate values for which I am grateful. Yet I don't regret leaving. Being a quietist, I find it a bit of a Babel and not Sodom and Gomorra. Wait till the new Hyatt-Casa Marina opens. The Casa Marina in its day was THE hotel to bed in after a long rail trip down the Keys on your way via boat from Key West to Havana.
"It will be a very expensive resort," George continues. "Then where will the poor artists go?" (George is a photographer and Steve a painter.) "Break ground with sweat and tears in some new place until the money men, jetsetters, and Mafia follow. Look what happened to Greenwich Village.
"On the plus side, the sun is still great, the salt water healing, the people better turned out... although there are too many rootless, panhandling, unwashed hippies left over with no place to go except Christmas Tree Island." (This is a small manmade island from dredged sand off the sunset pier at Mallory Dock.) "They say the mosquitoes and shit piles are fierce over there. The Pier House (the town's most posh restaurant) is across from Christmas Tree Island. It still supplies a gorgeous illusion but is so fully packed, lunch is no longer fun. So-called quality meals are exorbitant. I hope the Cuban restaurants can hold out. Especially I congratulate La Lechonera for their motto 'Fat Is Beautiful.' Today, that is revolutionary. Every old CONCH house has glistening new paint and a tripled price tag. The water is piped from the Miami area (150 miles away). Compared to the rest of Florida, Key West is the best."
To oversee the new influx of gay business the Key West Business Guild has been organized. Made up of some seventy gay business people (all male), the KWBG is ready to launch a drive for economic and political power. There are as yet no openly gay political officials. However, KWBG is talking of running a candidate for the City Commission.
Previously, local gay politicians probably would not have come out because they had no need. No one cared what their lifestyle was as long as they did a good job. A few years back a gay man did run for mayor but not as a homosexual. He lost the election and is now referred to affectionately as "the old gay mayor."
Some discussion in a recent meeting of the KWBG centered on a worry that there might be a backlash. Well-established gay business people, not members of the Guild, tend to soft-pedal the gay issue. The backlash has already begun at the Key West Temple Baptist Church, where the minister, the Rev. Morris Wright, pounds his pulpit denouncing gay establishments by name. Every Sunday he fans the flames of discontent among his ever-growing congregation. As one Key Wester, John Brown, puts it: "Remember, we live in wooden houses here."
In the meantime, the KWBG is setting up a toll-free telephone number to give out information about gay services. The Guild is also talking of bringing in celebrities to promote business through publicity. Advertising efforts are in full swing in the national gay press.
Living in Key West is quite expensive. (Even the no-frills air fare is ending soon, according to Frank Borman, president of Eastern Airlines.) With the cost of living going up, working people can hardly afford living space. Renting an apartment or a house will cost you a $10 installation fee and a $30 deposit for electricity; $10 installation and $35 deposit for gas; $10 installation and $50 deposit for water; $40 installation and $150 deposit for a telephone; and for cable TV (the only kind available to the island) a $10.50 installation and $35 deposit. With all this expense, sharing la Fire Island is becoming the thing to do. A vacationer may be able to find a share with a local for $60 a week or $10 a day, but it is hard to count on that kind of arrangement unless you know someone who wants to put up with you for a short time.
One can stay at the Club Key West for $32 a day with bath or $28 without. A guest house bedroom goes for $25 to $35 a day, but if you want and can afford to stay in the closest proximity to luxury you must live at the Pier House Motel at $55 a day and mingle with the famous. Recent guests include Lillian Carter, Leonard Bernstein, Adolf Green, Truman Capote, Lillian Hellman, and Calvin Klein.
There are low-cost guest houses intimidatingly called "pensions". For example, Big Ruby's on Whitehead Street is European style with all rooms having semi-private baths and renting for $95 single and $120 double a week, or $15 single and $20 double a night. This includes a TV lounge, continental breakfast, and a huge pool around the corner at the owner's private residence.
Sleeping on the beach or in the parks is a no-no, and the offense can land you in jail, which is the pits. There are no camping facilities on Key West but all along the 150 miles of the Keys you will find legal trailer and tenting spots. A camper is of no use in Key West except for a day's visit. This is another example of the motel and hotel owners' clout. Houseboats used to be popular habitats but the city fathers recently outlawed all but a few by forcing the boat owners out from most docking areas around the island.
Once you have arrived and found housing, you should think of the truly magical things to do to better understand this environmentally fragile island. You can bicycle down Poor House Lane, Petronia and Olivia Streets. Visit the beautiful old cemetery, see the shrimp fleet, eat at an inexpensive, out-of-the-way Cuban restaurant, join the masses for the evening ritual of sunset on Mallory Dock, or even better, take your lover at sunrise to White Street pier and watch the sea and sky blend together in the West, while in the East the sun's reflection glows out of the sea as an overture to a great day. Watch the pelican stand spreading its wings to dry from the cool morning mist. See the hawks standing, looking like owls on the overhead wires. Then go to Shorty's on Duval Street for breakfast and watch the town come alive.
The future is excitingly bright. Hopes run high that US relations with Cuba will improve enough to implement ferry service to and from Havana, only 90 miles across the Straits of Florida.
New theater is flourishing with the Greene Street Theatre Players presenting marvelous productions of Tennessee Williams's SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER and ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE with an excellent New York cast. However, the longest running production and by far the best show in town is Mother Nature's own creations. Don't miss the exotic and conspicuous night-blooming cactus, the gumbo limbo tree, the romantic coconut palm and the frangipani with its beautiful fragrant red, pink, white, and yellow blossoms.
This seven-by-three-mile island is like a seagoing vessel of coral rock and mangrove swamp. It is also one of the most vulnerable environments in the world. Despite the political, economic, and creative factions, nature is still boss. A conspiracy of sun and sea created this beloved island, but a conspiracy of human greed could destroy it. Unless handled with understanding, love, care, and respect, this haven for the divergent wanderlust could be destroyed.