So You Want To Go To Cuba? 6 Tours Specifilly For Gay Travelers - Towleroad Gay News

Contents:

• CUBA'S FIRST GAY HOTEL REOPENS AS HUMAN RIGHTS TERRATE
• GAY CUBA TRAVEL GUI
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS CUBA
• SO YOU WANT TO GO TO CUBA? 6 TOURS SPECIFILLY FOR GAY TRAVELERS
• THERE’S A GAY BEACH HAVANA! DISVERG LGBT LIFE CUBA
• LGBTQ REVOLUTN CUBA: RNERS HAVANA FOR GAY IENDLY TOURISM
• UNVERG GAY HAVANA, CUBA
• CUBA TRAVEL – ART AND CULTURE GAY TOUR
• IS CUBA SAFE FOR GAY TRAVELERS? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

CUBA'S FIRST GAY HOTEL REOPENS AS HUMAN RIGHTS TERRATE

Throughout this article, we will go through some ndid advice on safely travelg around Cuba, which of Havannas’s gay bars and clubs are the bt, as well as explorg Santa Clara’s liberal cy and Mi Cayo which is Cuba’s Gay Beach.

GAY CUBA TRAVEL GUI

In fact members of the LGBTQ muny have been treated horrendoly for many years Cuba, wh homosexualy beg scribed as iologil diversnism. Homosexualy was still illegal Cuba until 1979 and wasn’t actually regnized as a sexual orientatn until 1986.

There are yearly gay pri paras that n be seen throughout the untry as well as a thrivg gay nightlife. That beg said, PDAs (public displays of affectn) between homosexuals are fairly unmon as s society is still fairly nservative. Throughout the years, gay nightlife has really begun to flourish, so you’ll be happy to know that you won’t be stuck for party statns!

If you’re lookg to cram your erary full of gay bars, clubs, or cktail bars, you’ve e to the right place. It was once named after s historil ti to a late revolutnary figure Santa Clara, but has sce bee the polil re for LGBT activism and is also seen as Cuba’s ma gay landmark. El Mujunje was an stutn for tolerance and acceptance, not jt for homosexualy, but jt to create a more open-md muny general.

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS CUBA

There are, however, now plenty of plac throughout Havana where homosexualy is not only accepted but fact celebrated.

Mi Cayo’s openly gay beach is perfect for all beach bums that would like to lounge on a sunbed all day and tch a tan the relentls Cuban sun.

SO YOU WANT TO GO TO CUBA? 6 TOURS SPECIFILLY FOR GAY TRAVELERS

Above the entrance, the rabow flag, the ternatnal symbol of gay pri, fluttered the warm Caribbean breeze. While guts enjoyed the five-star service by the pool or a walk along the priste sands, Cuba has not always been so welg to the gay muny.

In the early part of munist lear Fil Castro's le, homosexual men and women were sent to work mps for supposed "re-tn".

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, The hotel is part of a strategy by the thori to attract ep-pocketed gay touristsA jot venture between Muthu Hotels and Gavta, Cuba's ary-n tourism pany, the Rabow Hotel was placed on a US ernment list of sanctned enti Cuba even before was gurated 2019. Amid such harsh treatment, some Cuban gay rights' activists say the Rabow Hotel is an attempt by the state to mask s poor human rights rerd.

THERE’S A GAY BEACH HAVANA! DISVERG LGBT LIFE CUBA

We chat ont of the Hotel Telegrafo, due to be unveiled soon as Cuba's send LGBTQ hotel as the state doubl down on s pursu of the gay tourist dollar.

LGBTQ REVOLUTN CUBA: RNERS HAVANA FOR GAY IENDLY TOURISM

" The guratn of gay hotels as the ernment is about to put a change to the untry's "fay " before the people.

UNVERG GAY HAVANA, CUBA

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Cuba has seen a huge drop tourism bee of the panmicIn 2015, symbolic same-sex weddgs were held at Havana's ernment-sanctned gay pri march. They jt hope all visors - whether gay or straight - make themselv aware of the wir human rights ntext of their trip. Cuba is a popular LGBTQ+ travel statn thanks to s rich history and culture, unspoiled nature, and y, vibrant gay life – pecially pared to other islands the Caribbean.

While the pri paras were stopped 2019, the ernment sanctned the openg of the untry’s first gay hotel, the Gran Muthu Rabow Hotel and there has been discsn of regnizg the rights of same-sex upl. You’ll fd a visible queer scene Havana: the Vedado neighborhood, along the Malacón at Mi Cayo beach, which is popular wh gay men, and bars and clubs that reflect a more nocent, pre-Grdr time. X Y (formerly Bar Myxto) is one of our favore Cubano gay bars and Café Cantante Mi Habana, a club near Havana’s Revolutnary Square, hosts live mic.

Take a tour through Cuba and experience this betiful culture where a day is dited to fightg homophobia. Homosexualy is not illegal Cuba, but general, Cuba has a poor rerd on gay and lbian rights, and while the suatn has improved somewhat, there are still high levels of homophobia and broad societal rejectn of gays and lbians. However, Fil Castro has now taken rponsibily for the way homosexuals were treated the 1960s and 1970s.

CUBA TRAVEL – ART AND CULTURE GAY TOUR

There is only one openly accepted gay and lbian tablishment Cuba ( Santa Clara), and few of the tablished gay and lbian tour operators n trips to the island. Santa Clara is perhaps the most openly gay cy Cuba and there is an annual gay and transvte rnival the middle of May.

IS CUBA SAFE FOR GAY TRAVELERS? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Raúl Castro's dghter, Mariela Castro, heads the Natnal Center for Sex Edutn and champns homosexual, bisexual, and transgenr rights. In May 2008, the state-televisn work transmted Brokeback Mounta on TV, the first time a gay film had been broadst Cuba.

The documentary film, Gay Cuba, by Sonja Vri (Framele Films;), is an hont look at the treatment of gays and lbians morn Cuba. 954/630-1637;) is the tra associatn for the gay and lbian travel dtry, and offers an onle directory of gay- and lbian-iendly travel bs.

This weekly travel lumn is brought to you by ManAboutWorld, an immersive digal premium gay travel magaze om Billy Kolber, Ed Salvato, Kenny Porpora, and nearly 75 Global Corrponnts. There are que a few gay tour operators nng fantastic trips to get you to Cuba safely and (mostly) legally. My iend and I had arrived at Mi Cayo beach Cuba, a stretch of shorele 15 east of Havana, search of gay Cuba travel experienc.

It looked as though the beach extend que a distance both directns, so we were unsure where to fd the gay sectn of beach that supposedly existed.

Our hope that the du would lead to the gay beach were realized when, after five mut of walkg wt, we spotted the rabow flag. On this weekday afternoon, the gay beach had maybe 100 people at most, but was still awome to see signs of gay life Cuba, where acceptance of gays is growg but still not nearly at the same level as most wtern natns. There ed to be a Cuban gay bar lled Humboldt 52, but that place appears to have been closed for many years now.

Asi om Cabaret Las Vegas, if you’re lookg for the LGBT+ populatn Cuba, you’ll mostly have to e mon sense and gaydar. The are stereotyp, of urse, but they did hold te for many young Cuban gays, who were clearly open and weren’t tryg to hi their orientatns om anybody.

If you vis more upsle and seclud statns Cuba such as Vararo, which is known for s all-clive rorts, you may likely enunter other gay travelers and tourists, moro than lols. This did not seem to be jt a ‘gay men’ thg – lots of dus holdg their girliends’ hands were rockg lf stubble. Obvly, gay marriage is not legal Cuba, though Rters reported that the untry’s recent draft nstutn uld open the door for eventual same-sex matrimony.

In the past few years, a number of onle articl seemed to give the imprsn that Cuba is some sort of utopia for gay men, but most of the were exaggerated. Y, Cuba is gay iendly to a greater gree than many of s Caribbean neighbors, but a lot of those untri (Jamai, Tridad) have notorly homophobic cultur, so beg more progrsive than them isn’t necsarily a huge statement.

So is entirely possible to meet and hang out wh gay folks on the island if that’s somethg you are terted . As more lol policians warm to gay rights, tour pani expand their gay-themed tours Havana, and more Amerin gay tourists e to vis, I would expect LGBT life Cuba to grow and bee more public the g years. Still, the new LGBT protectns are great for lols and for gay tourists who want to spend their money plac that are iendly and receptive.