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View of South Beach from Port of Miami

Philadelphia's Gay Street Signs
Philadelphia's Gay Street Signs
photo by J. Smith for GPTMC


Montreal's Gay Themed Beaudry Subway Station
Montreal's Beaudry Station

Rainbow flag flies over San Francisco's City Hall
Rainbow flag flies over San Francisco's City Hall
     
 
 

Let The Rainbow Flags Fly
By Joshua Head

Miami Beach, FL, September 15, 2008 --- On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, the Miami Beach City Commissioners unanimously agreed that a business flying the rainbow flag is not violating city code.  One of Mayor Matti Bower’s first tasks upon taking office was to create the Miami Beach Gay Business Development Ad Hoc Committee. The committee's goal is to improve the relationship between the gay community and local businesses and to work together to help increase gay and lesbian tourism.  Soon after its formation, the committee pushed for Miami Beach’s first ever gay pride festival, now scheduled for April 17th to 19th, 2009.  Another high-priority item on the committee's task list was removing the confusion over businesses being cited for violating city code for flying the rainbow flag.  The Palace on Ocean Drive had been cited by Miami Beach Code Compliance officials on several occasions for displaying the rainbow flag.  The resolution brought up for vote on Wednesday sought to clarify city code, and the unanimous vote resolves the issue once and for all.  The planning board agreed that the display of the rainbow flag is allowed under the current code’s broad language.  Commissioner Saul Gross requested to take it one step further, asking that it specifically be clarified in the code so that in the future, matters of interpretation would not prevent the flag from flying. The commission voted unanimously to pass the resolution but due to Commissioner Gross not wanting the possibility of someone objecting to and interpreting the rainbow flag as having a commercial message, the commission agreed to bring the issue back as an amendment to the code.

Unlike most cities with large gay populations, visitors to Miami Beach have not been welcomed by the one flag that shows an area welcomes the GLBT community.  Currently the only places a gay Miami Beach visitor sees the rainbow flag is at 12th Street Beach and The Palace Food Bar.  In larger cities, you can easily spot the gay areas and businesses that welcome gay clientele by the proud display of rainbow flags.  Philadelphia has even incorporated the rainbow flag into street signs. Chicago has done similarly in "Boys Town" on Halstead Street.  In other cities such as Montreal and Boston, the rainbow colors have been The Palace Food Bar- Ocean Drivepermanently incorporated into city fixtures such as subway stations.  It is not only a symbol for the gay community but a symbol that our city is diverse and welcoming of the gay community --  the community that helped put South Beach back on the map and made it what it is today.

Now that the code is clarified and businesses know they will not be cited for violations if they fly the flag, let's start seeing the flag fly proudly in front of all of our gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses!  Sobegayinfo.com will firmly and actively support those businesses that take steps to show the world that we are a proud, welcoming and united gay community.  The Palace, even in the face of past censure by city officials, has proudly flow the flag for years. It's time for others to join the club!