A01=Jerry T. Watkins III
Author_Jerry T. Watkins III
bars
beach parties
Beach party
Capitalism
Category=JBSF
Category=JBSJ
Category=NHK
Category=WQH
Category=WTH
Cruising
Cypress Lounge
Emma Jones Society
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
eq_travel
Florida
Florida Legislative Investigation Committee
Florida's panhandle
Florida’s panhandle
friendship networks
gay and lesbian
gay lifestyle
gay men
Gay parties
Independence Day
Johns Committee
lesbians
LGBTQ History Studies
Moral Panic
Networking
North Florida
Panama City
Patriotic Drag Shows
Pensacola
Public Sex
Queer Identity
queer life
queer people
Queering
Ray and Henry Hillyer
Redneck Riviera
repression
San Carlos Hotel
Sexuality
socializing
society
Tallahassee
the South
The Sunshine State
Tourism
Trader Jons
transportation infrastructure
travelers
tropical paradise
Unqueer
Product details
- ISBN 9780813068602
- Weight: 285g
- Dimensions: 152 x 228mm
- Publication Date: 02 Nov 2021
- Publisher: University Press of Florida
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Queering the Redneck Riviera recovers the forgotten and erased history of gay men and lesbians in North Florida, a region often overlooked in the story of the LGBTQ experience in the United States. Jerry Watkins reveals both the challenges these men and women faced in the years following World War II and the essential role they played in making the Emerald Coast a major tourist destination.In a state dedicated to selling an image of itself as a "family-friendly" tropical paradise and in an era of increasing moral panic and repression, queer people were forced to negotiate their identities and their places in society. Watkins re-creates queer life during this period, drawing from sources including newspaper articles, advertising and public relations campaigns, oral history accounts, government documents, and interrogation transcripts from the state's Johns Committee.He discovers that postwar improvements in transportation infrastructure made it easier for queer people to reach safe spaces to socialize. He uncovers stories of gay and lesbian beach parties, bars, and friendship networks that spanned the South. The book also includes rare photos from the Emma Jones Society, a Pensacola-based group that boldly hosted gatherings and conventions in public places.Illuminating a community that boosted Florida's emerging tourist economy and helped establish a visible LGBTQ presence in the Sunshine State, Watkins offers new insights about the relationships between sexuality, capitalism, and conservative morality in the second half of the twentieth century.
Jerry T. Watkins III is visiting assistant professor of history at the College of William & Mary.
