The landing page for Visit Florida’s former LGBTQ+ travel section. (Archived screenshot)
Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, has removed a section dedicated to LGBTQ+ travel from its website.
The not-for-profit was created as a public/private partnership by the Florida Legislature in 1996 and “serves as Florida’s official source for travel planning to visitors across the globe.” NBC News reported Aug. 19 that the website removed its LGBTQ+ content “sometime in the past four months.”
“The website … had an ‘LGBTQ Travel’ section that no longer exists, according to archived versions of the site viewable on the Internet Archive,” the outlet noted. “The landing page previously featured blog posts and videos related to the state’s ‘gay-friendly beaches, Pride events and LGBTQ road trip ideas.'”
Visit Florida previously indicated that Florida offered “sunshine for all.” Its archived version shared that there is “a sense of freedom to Florida’s beaches, the warm weather and the myriad activities – a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance.
“Whether you’re a couple seeking a romantic getaway or a modern family searching for kid-friendly fun, here are some LGBTQ-friendly destinations for you, throughout the Sunshine State,” the section added.
Content included the “Top 10 Gay Beaches,” highlighting St. Petersburg’s Sunset Beach, Sarasota’s North Lido Beach and others; provided information about LGBTQ+ Chambers of Commerce like the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber and the Pride Chamber in Orlando and highlighted “Florida’s most popular LGBTQ getaways.” Locales included Wilton Manors/Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Miami Beach, Tampa, Gulfport/St. Petersburg, Orlando and Sarasota.
Tampa Bay-based OutCoast CEO Rachel Covello, whose content was previously featured on the website, spoke to NBC after her organization held its second annual conference focusing on the state’s LGBTQ+ tourism industry this month.
“It really feels like we were just erased in a way,” she told the outlet. “We want LGBT people to come here … But when the state-run platform removes any trace of us being in Florida, it sends a pretty strong message to our travelers, to our community in Florida.”
LGBTQ+-focused travel content from Visit Orlando, Visit Sarasota, Visit St. Pete-Clearwater and Visit Tampa Bay are all still available.
“We are proud to market Orlando as a top travel destination to everyone,” said Casandra Matej, Visit Orlando’s president and CEO, in a statement to Watermark. “While we cannot speak on behalf of Visit Florida, Visit Orlando actively welcomes and promotes our destination to LGBTQ+ travelers. This is an important market to us, and we are fully committed to ongoing support for our LGBTQ+ community by sharing with the world our welcoming and inclusive destination. Visit Orlando runs a year-long LGBTQ+ campaign that includes several media partnerships, a float in the Dallas pride parade and the upcoming Orlando Come Out with Pride parade, along with many other activities throughout the year.”
Watermark has reached out to Visit Florida for comment and will update this story should it be received.
