Browse Items (9491 total)

Owned by Mike Hodge and Bill Miller before they purchased the Parliament House in 1975, the Diamond Head was considered the first "real" gay bar in Orlando because it featured a bar, food service, and show bar on the entire second floor of a building…

Located near Orange Avenue and Colonial Drive, Carl Hegler's Tropitan Cocktail Lounge was advertised as "A Wee Bit Different" and was rumored to be a popular hangout spot for gay men in the late fifties.

This multi-level lesbian bar was located in Lockhart and owned by Sue Hannah. It was destroyed by a fire.

Key Largo opened in the former location of Margo's, a redneck country and western bar on Highway 441 in Lockhart. At the time, it was…

Located at 4910 Edgewater Drive. Faces was Orlando's 1st lesbian bar owned by Sue Hannah and Angie Spruille in the building that was formerly called Odds & Ends.

Later to become R-Bar and Honeypot lounge.

A restaurant and live entertainment venue where Blue Star partnered with David Webley of Kres Chophouse to open for a short period across the street from Hamburger Mary's at Church Street Station.

This unique venue owned by local entertainer Blue Star was located at 511 Virginia Drive and known of its LGBTQ burlesque style shows and events. It was demolished to make room for The Yard.

Owned by Parliament House partners Bill Miller and Michael Hodge. This former meat packing and transportation hub was home of many LGBTQ bars, clubs, and a bath house. City Bath Club, New Image Fitness Center, City Lights, Loading Dock, Orlando…

Owned by Michael  Hodge and Bob Graves, this single room structure, formerly a biker bar called Blackbeards, was turned into a gay men's country western and leather themed bar.

Kevin Naylor and Darryl Sheppard told Watermark that they wanted to preserve the historic building (which is on Orange Blossom Trail, near Parliament House), so they'll be doing necessary restorations but keeping the familiar frame. They're also…

Co-owned by John Paonessa and Mike Carpenter. The downtown location at 110 W. Church Street closed in 2024.

Pulse was a gay bar, dance club, and nightclub in Orlando, Florida, founded in 2004 by Barbara Poma and Ron Legler. On June 12, 2016, the club was the scene of the second-worst mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history, and the deadliest…

Shadi Petosky, a transgender woman, live-tweets her harrowing experience after being held at the Orlando International Airport. TSA officials informed Petosky her penis was an “anomaly,” as it didn’t match up with her presented gender of female. TSA…

Central Florida Drag Queen Ginger Ming places 2nd on RuPauls drag race.

Florida governor Rick Scott allowed Gay Adoption Laws to be removed from Florida statutes.

Osceola County becomes the 11th Florida county to pass a human rights ordinance forbidding discrimination in the workplace, housing and public venues.

Obergefell v. Hodges was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth…

For over 45 years, The Parliament House has called Orange Blossom Trail our home. We have to announce that our home at its current location will be closing Monday, November 2, 2020. We put up a good fight over the last 11 months to secure financing…

Bill Miller and Mike Hodge took control of the almost bankrupt Parliament House Motor Inn at 410 N. Orange Blossom Trail. The motel, originally established in 1962, had fallen on hard times after the opening of Walt Disney World, as the tourism…

Later known as Cactus Club, Club Swank (Straight), Studz, Paradise, and then St Matthew's Tavern.

1300 N. Mills Ave

Owned by Jim Nuss, then Richard Behr it was the home of this leaky roofed men's club.

Cafe on Mills Avenue near The Center. Co-Owner was Lil Barcaski.

Orlando's first gay and lesbian bookstore owned by Bruce Ground, who had recently sold his Tomes & Treasures bookstore in Tampa.

Owned by Peter Thornley and managed by Joe Norris.

Thousands of protestors gathered outside Orlando City Hall on Saturday November 15, 2008 to protest the passage of Amendment 2.

62% of Florida Voters voted YES on the Defense of Marriage Act known as Amendment 2 on November 4, 2008. This is the text of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment: “Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband…

Orlando City Commissioners unanimously voted to provide city employees with domestic partner health insurance for same-sex couples in 2008. The vote made Orlando the 35th governmental employer in Florida to offer some form of Domestic Partner…

Orange County passed a fair housing ordinance in 2006 that provided protection for the GLBT community by adding sexual orientation to the list of classes protected under the ordinance

The AIDS Memorial quilt made two stops in Orlando for World AIDS Day in 2004. The quilt's first stop in Orlando was at the Team Disney building on November 29 and 30, 2004. It was later on display in Orlando City Hall's rotunda for two days,…