I’m out. Y’all have at it. I’ll just figure it out myself.

 And the fact that Clearwater is the cult capital of Scientology, no frickin way.

Clearwater is beautiful, and lots of fun. All sorts of water sports, beaches, good food,etc. you’ll broil to death in August, lol but go float in the gulf and you’ll be fine.

Florida is way more than its perceived politics, don’t let anyone flying their sanctimony flag to disuade you from exploring wherever you like. I’m in SWFL 4 months a year and find many people that have the same ideals and political beliefs that I do.

So we were just in Indian Rocks Shore. We went to Clearwater and loved the vibe of it.

You will have a car, which we didn’t but I have to recommend taking a drive down to John’s Pass. We went and had lunch out of the water. It was so nice to explore and then grab a meal!!!

We went for low key, and IRS gave us that. My oldest son wants to do Clearwater next!!!

You're delirious. There are plenty of LBGTQIA people living and flourishing in FL. Furthermore, the OP did NOT ask for your personal, ignorant opinion of FL, she asked for recommendations of where to stay and what to do.

I don't know of anywhere to stay, but do live in the Tampa Bay area. We're not here in August, but here are some general suggestions.

Please don't feel you need to limit yourself to Clearwater for lodging. Pinellas County has many beautiful areas to stay on the gulf. Clearwater Beach, Sand Key, Indian Rocks Beach, Redington Shores, Madeira Beach, St. Pete Beach, Pass-A-Grille, Terra Verde to name a few. If you don't want to drive everywhere, the Suncoast Beach Trolley runs from Clearwater Beach to St. Pete Beach.

Explore the gulf coast and visit some of the Old-Florida type towns like Gulfport, Safety Harbor and Dunedin. If you visit Safety Harbor, I suggest visiting Whimzeyland for a bit of fun art. If you visit Dunedin, Honeymoon Island is a nice beach. Take a drive to Tarpon Springs which is a cute Greek town and see the sponge docks. In Tampa are Ybor City and Busch Gardens. (FYI - The Columbia Restaurant has a restaurant on Sand Key, although the original is in Ybor City.)

The GEORGE C. MCGOUGH NATURE PARK, also known as the "Turtle Park" in Largo is really nice. SO, SO many turtles. (I LOVE the turtles!!)

The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores is interesting. (The vultures can be a bit scary.)

Many people find the St. Petersburg Pier interesting. (I'm not one of them.)

Ft. DeSoto park is nice if you like outdoors. You can rent kayaks there, too. Although there are many nice parks all over Pinellas County.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium


John's Pass in Madeira Beach is fun for a bit of shopping; you can access the beach from there, too.


Are museums your thing? Here's a couple:
Chihuly Center
Dali Museum

You have a fucked up definition of living and flourishing. 

You don't know shit, frankly.  Miami is about as LBGTQ friendly as they come.  And that's only one small corner of FL.  

Don't spout off about what you don't know about. 

yeah, bummer it went sideways.  

MsChiff has great suggestions!  If you end up headed towards SWFL instead, HMU because that's where I have lots of experience.

Delirious? Ignorant? Oh please. You clearly did not read my post, or comprehend what I actually wrote.

I said what I would (not) do. I said NOTHING not made reference to any LBGTQIA living in Florida. I will say this now from your post—LBGTQIA may be “flourishing” right now, however with this new law (it’s what 3 days old) and likely more to come just like it, it will be harder for LBGTQIA youth to “flourish” and with this new law, they’ll be suppressed, Florida leadership is trying to eradicate and erase them.

I was not nasty, mean, or ugly to the OP. I answered with my honest and personal opinion, something peas do every day here.

So take your little bitchy, ugly rant and stuff it. (I’m responding to you in the same tone you went after me).

Last time I looked, I’m entitled to my own thoughts, and can post freely on this message board.

Sweetie, the Florida government is CURRENTLY creating bills that are meant to suppress, eradicate and eliminate LBGTQIA—it doesn’t matter if I’ve been to Florida 50 times in the past, it matters what they’re doing now. I won’t support an economy on vacation that is creating bills to destroy people because they are LBGTQIA. It’s my right to think it, say it, support it. More people don’t speak up about it.

And I didn’t just come in a drop a post and leave. You put more into my first post here than Was ever mentioned—I wasn’t ugly or nasty to the OP.

Please show us more of your superior knowledge of the LBGTQIA “Miami” crowd once these life destroying laws have been in effect. Talk about living in a bubble. 🙄

The point is, the OP asked a specific question -and you chose not to answer it.  You could have stopped at "Sorry, no help here", but nope.  Instead, you shit all over the OP's chosen trip.  

So, again. Offer answers to the question at hand or GTFO.  Sweetie.