In addition, a succession of new owners let the place deteriorate. Ten years after its opening, there was more competition. “Some stay anyway, and some decide to leave.” Photography: Bennet collection, Broward County Historical Archives, Broward County Library.“Pre-AIDS, almost every gay man’s dream was to take a trip and stay at the Marlin,” said one travel expert in the Sun-Sentinel.īut at some point the Marlin lost its way. The writer noted that the staff was trained to inform those “who look out of place” that the Marlin Beach is a gay hotel. “The resort includes a heart-shaped pool with three outside bars, one of the better restaurants in the area, a hair salon, elegant disco and a boutique.” The hotel also had a large indoor aquarium (sans fish), where swimmers could be seen from a surrounding bar. But with the Marlin becoming a gay destination, it “quickly built a persona as party central, known for a rocking disco and weekend afternoon tea dances.”Ī 1977 Washington Post travel story said this of the 88-room hotel: “Today, the Marlin Beach ranks as one of the most attractive hotels on the strip, and grosses over $2 million a year.
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There was a gay community church, plus gay-owned bars and clubs.īut the Marlin Beach Hotel “was America’s first explicitly gay resort hotel.”īuilt in 1954, the Marlin was among the first group of large beach hotels that grew the city’s tourist market, according to the Sun-Sentinel. There were gay-friendly neighborhoods in Riverside Park and Sailboat Bend. “They’ll never come back.”Īccording to the Fort Lauderdale News, the mayor’s goal was to eliminate every vestige of homosexual activity from the beach: “If he had his way, the Marlin Beach… will go straight.”įejes quotes the head of the city’s Hotel Resort and Hotel Association as chiming in, claiming that the presence of a gay hotel was “a social stigma and it will drive families away.”Īccording to Fejes, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale had previously tolerated the gay and lesbian community. “If a family from the Midwest comes to Fort Lauderdale and sees men making love on the beach, what will they think?” Shaw said.
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And the reaction wasn’t all that pretty.Īccording to Gay Weekly News contributor Fred Fejes, after a few years of operating under the radar, the Marlin incited the wrath of Mayor E. When the Marlin Beach Hotel opened its doors in 1972, it was the first. Whether in brochures, online searches or even the Broward tourism publications, it is easy to find listings for gay-friendly hotels. But when the Marlin Beach Hotel opened in 1972, it made powerful enemies. Today, Fort Lauderdale is known as a gay-friendly tourist destination.