Its streets are lined with 1920s craftsman-style cottages and a litany of LGBT-friendly businesses, including restaurants, bars, and more. The heart of gay St Pete is the historic Grand Central District and the adjacent Kenwood, which is its official gayborhood.
In fact, St Petersburg is on the warpath to become the gay capital of the state, and it just might happen! In fact, it was previously home to Flamingo, which was the largest gay hotel not in just St Petersburg, but Florida! Also, the city hosts the St Petersburg Gay Pride, which is the largest in Florida. Moreover, gay hotels in St Petersburg Fl are a motley bunch, ranging from grand hotels to charming B&Bs. What’s more, St Petersburg is also the leading Floridian LGBT destination on the Gulf of Mexico. A restored historic center, eye-popping Downtown murals, and a stunning Dali Museum complement the profusion of galleries, craft breweries, and chic restaurants. "I was sitting at the bar and he walked in and sat directly across from me, and that smile was just radiant," Pope said.St Petersburg has shed its ribald infamy as a spring-break party town and is one amazing savvy and culture-rich southern city today. He does country ribs that are just to die for."ĭecades after their first meeting, the men still enjoy talking about that initial attraction. "He does a chicken in a big iron pot with potatoes and carrots and onions, and he uses some kind of a sauce like beef stock and chicken stock and wine. "He is so much better with his ability to put things together that taste so wonderful," Pope said. Pope says he can cook, but defers to Konrad. These days Pope and Konrad are now immersed in their church and hobbies. Pope, a graduate of Stetson University College of Law, was a senior partner in his law firm, Pope and Henninger, and practiced criminal defense before retiring in 2005. They also owned the former Wedgewood Inn nearby, which they operated as a gay resort. In the 1970s, they opened Kitty's, the area's first dance gay bar, on Fourth Street S. The couple operated two retail stores and a snack bar on the boardwalk in Daytona Beach for a few years, then moved back to Pinellas County in 1968. Getting married was "one of the high points" of his life, Konrad said. Their marriage took place at Metropolitan Community Church Toronto. In 2004, they walked into Toronto City Hall to pick up a marriage license. Going down Central Avenue, I don't hold hands. "For years, when I arrived back from a trip, I would never hug or kiss Lawrence after I got off a plane. "I am still a little bit reserved in that aspect," Pope admitted. That has not translated into feeling completely comfortable to be affectionate in public, though. "We live a normal life, just like a heterosexual couple." People believed "that we are all bar people, we don't form relationships, we don't live as other people live," he said. "At that time, it was pretty hairy in terms of being a gay man or woman, because of the raids," Konrad said. The names, ages and addresses of those arrested were published in the St. The men spoke of the time in 1964, when they barely missed getting caught up in a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office vice squad raid at the Gate, a gay bar in Madeira Beach. "We have to accept ourselves as having self-worth." General public attitudes have changed largely because "gays have gotten rid of their own homophobia," said Pope, 77. And to allow each other personal growth and to make mistakes." That's the biggest thing in any relationship. "And I learned to dig in, and I learned to love unconditionally.