Ku Klux Klan raid of La Paloma nightclub

On November 15, 1937 the Ku Klux Klan raid of La Paloma nightclub occurred in an unincorporated area of Miami Dade County. An estimated 200 Ku Klux Klan members stormed the popular LGBT serving nightclub, patrons were ordered to leave and the nightclub was shut down for the evening. Background- Tourist economy and backlash: Miami had recently begun to shift to cater to tourists. Local businesses intended to garner tourist money and offer Miami as a more modern alternative to Havana as a vacation destination. To cater to tourists many local businesses expected a relaxed policing of vices such as gambling and to be more accepting of foreigners. Some, such as construction workers affected by economic fallings in the area, grew frustrated with Miami's new tourism based economy and began an anti-vice crusade. This crusade had began during Prohibition and led to the revitalization of the Ku Klux Klan in the Miami area. Local tensions with La Paloma: La Paloma nightclub offered patrons performances from women stripping on stage and early drag queens known as "female impersonators" telling jokes and singing. The nightclub was generally understood to be a place specifically for LGBT patrons. Many locals complained of the club as indecent. Club owner Al Youst had already been arrested six times prior but to many residents it seemed no arrest would put an end to the club. Raid- Ceremony: On the night of November 15, 1937 hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan gathered at Miami's Moore Park to induct 125 new members. A cross was burned after which assaulted the La Paloma nightclub. Storming the club: For the first time in ten years the Ku Klux Klan conducted a "night ride" in the Miami area. Around 200 "night ridders" (members responsible for burnings and floggings) walked directly into the nightclub. Klan members began smashing furniture, roughing up workers, threatening to burn the building down, all while ordering everyone out of the club. One klan member exclaimed during the attack that "the visit came because neighborhood residents were afraid of Youst and did not want to appear against him in a court complaint." Aftermath- Police raid and reopening: Soon after the Ku Klux Klan raid, Dade County Sheriff David Coleman called the club a "menace" and vowed to keep it legally closed. Coleman ordered the nightclub to stop operations after the Ku Klux Klan raid and then ordered a police raid there two weeks later. La Paloma reopened within weeks. The club's manager would claim the club offered “spicier entertainment than ever”, a new skit performed at the club featured performers satirizing the Klan raid and donning white hoods. Miami LGBT Community: A stronger sense of unity came to Miami's LGBT community, and La Paloma nightclub became a symbol of LGBT resistance in the city.