A Gui To Gay Athens for LGBTQ Travelers - Matador Network

Contents:

• GAY ATHENS – A GUIDE TO THE GREEK CAPITAL FOR LGBTQIA2S+
• 20 GAY GREEK GODS
• GAY GREECE: QUEER CULTURE, LOL LIFE, AND WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW! ??
• GREECE GAY TRAVEL
• GAY GREECE TRAVEL GUI
• GAY HOLIDAYS GREECE & THE ISLANDS
• WERE THE SPARTANS GAY? HOMOSEXUALY SPARTA, ANCIENT GREECE
• THE MYTH OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ‘GAY UTOPIA’
• GAY CRETE

GAY ATHENS – A GUIDE TO THE GREEK CAPITAL FOR LGBTQIA2S+

Mykonos Town is also the beatg heart of the LGBTQ+ muny, wh gay bars like Jackie O’, Babylon, Porta, Kastro’s and Elysium.

LGBTQ+ travelers will also want to check out the XLSIOR gay ftival that tak plac Mykonos Town late Augt, sometim early September.

20 GAY GREEK GODS

Athens has the largt LGBTQ+ muny Greece, particularly the Gazi neighborhood, which has an array of gay bar and clubs like Soda2. Mykonos island has one of the most famo LGBTQ+ scen the world and be a gay mec durg the summer months, which culmat wh the XLSIOR Ftival.

If you’re lookg for a tour that specifilly vers every popular LGBTQ+ statn the cy, sign up for Alternative Athens’ Gay and Lbian Athens Nightlife Tour. On this tour, you will have time to vis several queer nightlife stutns — om popular gay bars to fashnable baret loung.

Gay iendly acmodatn AthensIf you are visg Athens for the first time as an LGBTQIA2S+ member and hatg on where to stay, we’ve got you vered. The hotels and gay-iendly lotns are perfect to diffe any worri about beg an LGBTQIA2S+ member travelg abroad, and worried about safety and Area. It’s bee synonymo wh entertament and nightlife, thanks to a medley of nightclubs, rtrants, shops, rtrants, and gay bars.

GAY GREECE: QUEER CULTURE, LOL LIFE, AND WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW! ??

This betiful serene hotel is the perfect gay uple getaway if you’d rather stay somewhere more private and romantic, rather than somewhere by and full of partyg travellers. But, ’s still close to all the nightclubs and gay-iendly spots so if you do feel like a ltle excement, you don’t have far to go. Thgs to see and do AthensAsi om the obv Acropolis & Parthenon and the wonrful Acropolis Mm there are many other thgs to do Athens that the gay muny like to do cludg;.

Of urse, Mykonos is the one gay haven Greece, but LGBT+ visors should also fd great optns and welg lols all 5 lotns.

Though not typilly known as a gay statn, Athens is very well known to all kds of travelers who e to immerse themselv the cy’s renowned history. Many LGBT+ visors may simply pass through the cy on their way to more gay-iendly Greek statns like Mykonos, but they’d be mistaken to skip Athens entirely or only drop to tch a glimpse of the Parthenon on their way to a more relaxg beach town. Over time, has bee slightly ls gay-foced as ’s bee gentrified but as a first-time visor, ’s still the place to start.

GREECE GAY TRAVEL

As the pal cy of Greece wh nearly 4 ln people livg the metro area, you’ll fd a large selectn of gay and gay-iendly rtrants, f, bars and clubs.

GAY GREECE TRAVEL GUI

One of the most popular and biggt gay events is XLSIOR scribed as Europe’s hottt annual summer gay circu ftival.

We won’t tell you not to go to Mykonos due to this, bee ankly you should and you’ll probably love , pecially wh how gay-iendly is. Bis Santori, which is probably the most popular and touristy island of them all, Mykonos probably holds the tle of 2nd for the general visor but fely tak the lead of the Greek Island gay hotspot. Mykonos has for s been a getaway for gays as beme open and more liberal than Athens and all of the surroundg islands.

“A lot of Greek gay guys have no ia this is gog on, ” Zak Kostopoulos, a wrer and activist, said of the Sami's scene. Many of the men turng tricks, on the other hand, don't nsir themselv gay bee, as they see , they're beg paid and they typilly are the top  the transactn, said Adonis Primikiris, who works wh the HIV awarens nonprof Checkpot.

GAY HOLIDAYS GREECE & THE ISLANDS

While tolerance is often prented as a sign of civilizatn's advancement, a readg of Greek mythology reveals greater acceptance of homosexualy ancient Athens than n be boasted wh today's world religns. While Homer never explicly stat a gay relatnship between Achill and sikick Patrocl, many scholars read a romantic nnectn between the two, as only Patrocl ever drew out a passnate si to the famoly arrogant warrr. Rearcher Johanna Hypatia-Cybelaia wr that lbian and gay vote worshipped her as Artemis Orthia, and that lbian port Pamphilia referred to the godss hymn as Artemis Pergaea.

Above: Athena, center, a mural by John Sger SargentAphrodeWhile the godss of love is not intified promently as lbian herself, the Greek poet Sappho (as sapphic) of Lbos (y, as lbian) told many homoerotic tal and named Aphrode as the greatt patron and ally of lbians and homosexuals wh the Greek pantheon of gods. Above: Enrique Simo, El Juic Paris (1904)ErosWhile the bt-known myths of Eros pict the son of Aphrode as a fertily god -- the versn that proved spiratnal to the popularized Roman god Cupid -- later Greek myths portrayed Eros as one of several wged erot, and the one regard as a protector of homosexual culture, acrdg to rearch the scholarly book Among Women: From the Homosocial to the Homoerotic the Ancient World.

ATHENS – Greece legalized gay civil unns Tuday spe opposn om the Church and a rebelln by some right-wg members of the lg aln. Lawmakers voted 193 favor vers 56 agast the long-awaed reform, followg a heated 10-hour bate which supporters of the bill — some wearg rabow gay pri badg — trad barbs wh opponents. Outsi parliament, gay rights mpaigners gathered wh banners readg “Love is the Law” and “All I want for Christmas is Equaly.

WERE THE SPARTANS GAY? HOMOSEXUALY SPARTA, ANCIENT GREECE

Activists say regnn of same-sex civil partnerships is an important step towards gag greater acceptance a untry where the Orthodox Church still holds sway and where reports of homophobic vlence have creased recent years.

While many untri already allow same-sex marriage, Greece is one of the last European Unn stat to legalize gay civil unns. Prsure for change creased after the European Court of Human Rights led two years ago that was discrimatory for the untry to exclu gay upl om existg legislatn givg tax, pensn and herance rights to unmarried heterosexuals.

Bishop Seraphim of Piras lled homosexualy “unnatural lewdns” while the ntroversial Bishop Amvross of Kalavryta orred church his dce to sound funeral bells “ mourng” over the bill’s expected passage. “This will allow gay people to be more visible, ” said Nancy Papathanasu, a board member at the OLKE lbian and gay anizatn.

THE MYTH OF THE ANCIENT GREEK ‘GAY UTOPIA’

Sultry Athens may not wear s rabow hu as loudly as Mykonos or Amsterdam; but the Greek pal has a boomg gay and lbian scene that’s wag to wele you wh open arms, all year round. Athens Pri has as s ma objective the SLK visibily and pri, ALKE and the Associatn for the Support of Consecrat foc on stutnal claims, such as the expansn of polil marriage and habatn to gay upl, the creatn or extensn of laws to protect the people of Lebanon om hatred and vlence and full medil support for transsexuals volved genr reassignment, while the Lbian Group of Athens publish the extraordary magaze “Dalika” and engag screengs, parti century discsns aimed at the strength of lbian inty. This is due to the number of shops that have been opened recent years and are maly targeted at gay clients, makg Athens acquire s own lorful areas.

Shamone is the most famo entertag gay club wh theme nights, big parti, famo sgers and live shows and drag shows artists. Wh a tramark of the Whe Tower, Thsaloniki holds tense thrills for gay tourists, sce great cultural events such as the Thsaloniki Pri or the Panorama Gay Ftival are enthiastilly supported. Mykonos may have won over the gay crowds the ’70s onwards, but LGBT travelers to Greece now have a wi range of gay-iendly statns to choose om.

Whether you’re the tellectual type, the art lover or the beach bum, Greece is among the most welg gay-iendly untri Europe, and is slowly but steadily evolvg to a muny of openns and cln. So y, many Greek same-sex upl live openly and publicly and happily among fay, iends and lleagu a society that is takg step – albe baby steps – towards gay liberatn. ►Folegandros – Ty and far away, Folegandros has been wng over the gay crowds the last uple of years wh s isolated beach and hikg trails.

GAY CRETE

And some trivia: believe or not, a few years back exvatns on Astypalaia brought to light what is believed to be the world’s olst graffi pictg gay sex.

The annual Gay Pri Para Athens and Thsaloniki and events which take place Athens every year June and the Internatnal Ersos Women’s Ftival held annually on the island of Lvos September are a great chance to mgle while on holiday. ✔︎If you haven’t ed gay-foced bookg apps or are visg an off-the-grid statn like a remote island or village the mountas, don’t be surprised if you book a room wh a double bed and upon arrival the host scrambl to change to two sgl.

Wh ’s distct archecture, betiful ocean landsp, and lectable food, gay Greece travel not only provis a stunng experience, but is also highly affordable. Straight and gay tourists love Greece travel maly bee is warm, cheap, and luxur, all while havg world-class food and iendly lols.

Greece will also offer you unlimed cultural pursus filled wh gay pri ftivals, exhibs, and most importantly: fun-packed holidays! In Athens there are lovely and lively central neighborhoods such as Monastiraki and Gazi where gay mglg blossoms earnt, wh a large number of excellent clubs, f and bars offerg qualy entertament attractg bright, betiful crowds.

Top island statns like Mykonos and Santori as well as several other optns that have bee more gay-acmodatg over the years such as Skiathos and Paros, also offer the idyllic batn of stunng lotns and top notch venu wh an excg and enticg.

Greece's northern pal, Thsaloniki, is also beg a popular statn for gay tourists, somethg enthiastilly backed by the cy's progrsive Mayor Yiannis Boutaris, wh some great events (cludg an annual ternatnal gay film ftival) and lol as well as holiday packag geared to gay travelers om around the world now on offer. Legal and social regnn and support for gay rights Greece uld be said to have been officially born 65 years ago, when gay sex was fally crimalized.

Acrdg to rearch on gay rights 49 European untri nducted by ILGA (the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn). In 2005 discrimatn agast gay dividuals was prohibed the workplace (but not the armed forc) and 2006 male prostutn was legalized. A great social triumph was celebrated by the gay muny December 2015, when the ernment passed - wh a wi parliamentary majory - a legislatn grantg gay upl full marriage rights, offerg same-sex upl the optn of havg civil partnerships, th offerg them full marriage rights, but not necsarily.

"Homophobia is still rampant the church, state, police and all polil parti wh meagre exceptns, " says gay psychotherapist and wrer Leo Kalyvorias, who has been volved gay rights activism for many years, "but this don't mean LGBT people don't live full happy liv, at least major urban centr.