Hurricane Irma is expected to strengthen again before it fully hits South Florida on Saturday. Key West and the lower keys are going to take a direct hit, according to the latest forecast.

Key West’s offbeat picturesque charm and open, genuinely welcoming atmosphere has always been popular haven among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community .  About 30 percent of Key West’s current 25,750 residents self-identify as being part of the LGBT community

Playwright Tennessee Williams is credited with first attracting national attention to Key West’s accepting appeal in the 1940s. Since then, the town’s LGBT community has lived openly and comfortably, freely welcoming visitors to its fun-filled, sun-drenched society.

Other gay and lesbian notables — Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Leonard Bernstein and Elizabeth Bishop, for example — also enjoyed leisure time in Key West, shaping its growing literary and artistic culture.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people and creatures of Key West and South Florida affected by this storm.

They will be operable until the power goes out.