Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale, with Wilton Manors beside it, is one of the most concentrated LGBTQI+ destinations in the country: a separately incorporated gay city, more than thirty bars and restaurants you can cover on foot, a nationally famous gay beach and sun all year.

The night gathers on Wilton Drive, in Wilton Manors, with classics such as Hunters, Rosie's and Georgie's Alibi around Five Points. By day, the plan is Sebastian Street beach and the canals by water taxi. Unlike a big-city circuit, the rhythm is more resort and beach, with the peaks at weekends and during Pride.

The big event is Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride, every June on Wilton Drive: a mile-long street festival with multiple stages and, at night, the signature Glow Night Parade — a distinctive format versus the usual daytime parades. In 2026 it takes place on Saturday June 20 (afternoon festival, Glow Night Parade at 8 pm), between NE 20th St and 26th St (Five Points), drawing tens of thousands.

Fort Lauderdale is also a year-round gay events destination (circuit parties, LGBTQI+ film festivals and beach events). Confirm dates on official websites before planning a trip around a specific one.

The destination's gay neighbourhood is, in fact, a whole city: Wilton Manors, separately incorporated, north of Fort Lauderdale. It is the second gayest city per head in the country, behind Provincetown, with 15% of couples being same-sex according to the 2010 census, and since 2018 it has also been the second with an entirely LGBT city government, after Palm Springs.

Its axis is Wilton Drive, which people here call The Drive, where the bars and most of the LGBTQI+ businesses gather, with the epicentre at Five Points. Sebastian Street beach is a quarter of an hour east by car. And within Fort Lauderdale itself, the historic gay neighbourhood is Victoria Park, downtown.

Wilton Manors holds a dense LGBTQI+ infrastructure: community organisations, such as The Pride Center at Equality Park, the region's LGBTQI+ chamber of commerce and the sexual health services you would expect in a gay capital, with PrEP and STI testing. Broward County is one of the friendliest to the community in the whole country.

The honest caveat is at state level: under the DeSantis administration, Florida has passed laws cutting back LGBTQI+ rights, among them the extension of the law known as Don't Say Gay to more school years, restrictions on drag performances and on healthcare and bathroom use for trans people, and an anti-diversity law passed in April 2026 and in force from January 2027, which will bar state and local government from funding or promoting such initiatives, including LGBTQI+ organisations and events. For gay and lesbian travellers the destination remains very welcoming, though trans people should read up on the state framework. For an emergency, the reference hospital is the Broward Health Medical Center, and without insurance an emergency in the United States costs thousands of dollars, so travel insurance is mandatory in practice.