On Sunday Nov 14th, Heather Carruthers, owner of Pearl’s Rainbow resort in Key West announced in an email -"The times, they are a-changin'."
Citing LGBT community progress, changing times and more men and women traveling together, Key West’s Lesbian resort icon Pearl's Rainbow changed its mission and now embraces ALL travelers. Their web site shows photos of each possible couple configuration. The economics of today are causing shifts in our LGBT community. It is happening locally and nationally. No longer is it financially wise, and to some extent, politically correct, to cater to only one segment of our family.
Like many places in Key West, there’s a legend that “Hemingway slept here” when Pearl’s was a boarding house. It was a guesthouse for women beginning in 1989, and became Pearl’s Rainbow in 2000. For 25 years Pearl’s solidified its reputation as one of the mere handful of US resorts catering to lesbian travelers. It was where you went if you wanted to be around all lesbians.