New Books In American Studies

As the title suggests, Jerry T. Watkins III’s Queering the Redneck Riviera: Sexuality and the Rise of Florida Tourism (University Press of Florida, 2018) re-queers this North Florida tourist destination showing how people who defied gender and sexual normalcy found their space in the “Sunshine State” after the Second World War. Despite concerted efforts to police and control what was perceived as sexual deviance in the region, the tourism economy also created opportunities for queer socialization, while queer people played a crucial role in making the Redneck Riviera (now the Emerald Coast) a major tourist destination. Watkins re-creates queer life during this period, drawing from a variety of sources including newspaper articles, advertising, oral history narrations, government documents, and interrogation transcripts from The Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (The Johns Committee), uncovering stories of queer beach parties, bars, and friendship networks. The book clearly places this story in broad