Gays Flock to Fla. Panhandle for Holiday
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Sunday May 27, 2007 4:01 AM

By MELISSA NELSON

Associated Press Writer

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Souvenir shops lining this sugary white
Panhandle beach display Confederate flag beach towels, window decals and
T-shirts. Hooters and other bars fly POW-MIA, Marine and Navy flags and
cater to the sailors and Marines from the nearby base.

Vacationing Southern families usually fill the hotels and condominiums
in this slice of paradise long nicknamed ``The Redneck Riviera.'' But
every Memorial Day they mostly stay away as this town becomes more like
trendy Miami Beach - 700 miles and a world away.

Starting in the mid-1980s, gay men from New Orleans and other nearby
cities began gathering here for a three-day party that has grown into
one of the South's largest gay gatherings, attracting more than 60,000
people in 2004 before hurricanes Ivan and Dennis destroyed many beach
roads and buildings.

Following two years of rebuilding, organizers anticipate 50,000 this
weekend.

While no one can recall any violent incidents targeting the gay
tourists, the raucous weekend of entertainment including concerts,
Cirque de Soleil-like dance troupes and female impersonator RuPaul
hasn't always sat well with everyone - although that may be subsiding.

``We used to have groups that picketed but for the most part even that
has gone away - there are just some religious groups that have a problem
with it now,'' said Jim Goldman, an organizer of the charity Art Against
AIDS, which receives a portion of the proceeds of the events.

Gordon Godfrey, pastor of the 2,000-member Marcus Pointe Baptist Church,
said many in his congregation are offended by the activities. Instead of
flying rainbow flags to symbolize gay pride, people should fly American
flags on Memorial Day, Godfrey said.

``I think what goes on out there on the beach on Memorial Day is
surprising to a lot of people who move into our community,'' he said.
``I personally feel like it's just inappropriate behavior from a
biblical standpoint.''

Jessie Jablonski, an Air Force retiree, and his wife, Trish, said they
avoid the beach on Memorial Day weekend.

``It's just not my kind of crowd,'' Jessie Jablonski said laughing, as
the longtime Pensacola couple fished for flounder and snapper off a
bridge one recent afternoon.

``Everybody knows that's gay pride weekend, and we don't even come out
this way because of the crowds,'' said Trish Jablonski. She added her
surprise that the event had flourished in the conservative area. ``I'd
say this is a pretty homophobic place.''

University of West Florida sociologist Dallas Blanchard said the answer
to the muted opposition is easy: the gay visitors spend.

``You have the fundamentalist churches who always rant and rave against
the (Memorial Day) event and there are always letters to editor
complaining about it, but it has been tolerated because the money is
green,'' said Blanchard, who has long studied Panhandle social trends.

Kirk Newkirk, who rents kayaks, WaveRunners and pontoon boats on the
beach, thinks the attitude among many locals about the weekend has evolved.

``Everybody has gotten much more liberal around here. Now the attitude
is lot more 'Just take it as it goes,''' he said. ``There has always
been a gay community on Pensacola Beach even back when I was a lifeguard
out here in the 1960s. Somehow it just progressed into this huge party
with thousands of people.''

The Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce doesn't know how the event
compares with other annual events in terms of dollars spent but it is
major, said Ed Schroeder, the chamber's vice president of tourism and
development. Other tourists are told about the event if they make
reservations, so no one arrives unaware.

``We have rarely gotten complaints,'' he said.

Johnny Chisholm, who began organizing the beach parties and a huge
celebration at the downtown Pensacola Civic Center 14 years ago, also
organizes gay weekend events at Orlando's Walt Disney World and
Disneyland Resort Paris.