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

Contents:

• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• 20 GAY GREEK GODS
• GAY GREECE
• GAY ATHENS – A GUIDE TO THE GREEK CAPITAL FOR LGBTQIA2S+

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

“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. Nearby is the Gazi neighborhood where the majory of the Athenian gay hangouts n be found, like Soda2.

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. It also hosts an annual gay and lbian film ftival lled Outview. 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.

GAY GREECE

Stefan and Sebastien are a gay uple who met London 2009.

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

The boys wre about their travels on their Nomadic Boys gay travel blog.

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. In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out.

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water, however, is out and proud.

The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.

The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.

For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.