Vacations in Paradise
by DeSoto Brown
Just like untold millions of others over the last century or more, LGBTQ+ folks have responded to the lure of a vacation in the Hawaiian Islands. Government-backed advertising to attract both Americans and international travelers officially began in 1903, and elements like Hollywood movies and television series (among others) have further spread the desire for a visit to what is considered to be a tropical paradise.
A group of five men vacationed in a penthouse suite at the Edgewater Hotel in Waikiki sometime from 1955 to 1957. We don't know their identities, but they posed for a bunch of friendly and affectionate photos with each other to commemorate their visit. Draw your own conclusions about the nature of their relationships.
There’s no way to be sure how many LGBTQ+ people vacationed in Hawaiʻi in the past. Up through the 1960s they came on their own, as couples or in small groups, without wanting to draw too much attention. This level of secrecy means it’s hard to find evidence of who came before us - but we know they came, like this group of five men above who stayed in a penthouse suite at the Edgewater Hotel in Waikīkī sometime between 1955 and 1957. The photos they took documented their affectionate and relaxed interactions on their open lanai with its views of Diamond Head on one side and the park-like space of Fort DeRussy on the other.
Targeted promotions for this population didn’t appear until after the beginning of the Gay Liberation movement in 1969. Specific tour groups were being advertised by the early 1970s, a very popular form of travel to Hawaiʻi that dated back to the ‘50s. With this new openness came gay-friendly businesses like bars, particularly in Waikīkī, that sought a tourist clientele in addition to local residents. Also on the market by the early ‘70s were printed gay guides, both books and sporadic magazine articles. Shown above are some pictures taken by three gay men, at least one of them from Los Angeles, who toured the islands in 1974. On Oʻahu they saw the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout at sunset in addition to Waimea Canyon on Kauai and the town of Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island.
By the early 1980s a gay neighborhood had developed in Waikīkī, spurred mostly by the very popular Hula’s Bar & Lei Stand that opened in 1974 and served as the anchor for the Kūhiō District of hip / gay businesses that was created between Kalaimoku Street, Kūhiō Avenue and Kaiolu Street. Hotel Honolulu, the first large gay hotel, started in this area in 1983 in what had been a group of postwar apartment buildings. The advertisement reproduced below is from 1992. Additionally, the 1984 brochure, aimed at tourists but useful for residents as well, lists various Waikīkī attractions and shows their locations on a map. None exist today, nor does the Kūhiō District in its entirety which was wiped out by the inevitable increase in highrise towers. And our last view of some gentlemen visitors, photographed in 1981, are these three guys below on their Waikīkī hotel lanai overlooking Kalākaua Avenue and Kūhiō Beach. Their short hair, mustaches and abbreviated boxer trunks all show they’re following the gay trends of their time.
All images from the DeSoto Brown Collection.