Gay Holidays 2023/2024: LGBTQ Friendly Dtatns & On to Avoid

Contents:

• THE WORLD’S 30 BT GAY-FRIENDLY TRAVEL DTATNS 2020
• CURAO MARRTT BEACH RORT
• 14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE
• 4 BT GAY-FRIENDLY RORTS IN THE BAHAMAS
• GAY TRAVEL TOURS & TRIPS
• GAY HOLIDAYS
• LGBTQ TRAVEL & GAY HOLIDAYS

THE WORLD’S 30 BT GAY-FRIENDLY TRAVEL DTATNS 2020

Choosg a holiday statn n sometim be a ltle more plex, however, wh safety ncerns a prry when selectg a break – homosexualy is still illegal 72 untri around the world.

Tel Aviv is one of the most queer-iendly ci the Middle East (Getty) (Getty Imag)Israel As one of the most tolerant plac the Middle East for LGBTQ+ people, Israel is a notorly gay-iendly statn, particularly Tel Aviv, the untry’s send cy. Gay culture has long overlooked the sir and terts of queer women, which is why Newtown, the cy’s primary area for queer women, is such a revelatn. San FrancisHome to Harvey Milk, the LGBTQ+ activist and first openly gay elected official California history, who was assassated 1978 jt one year after his appotment, San Francis has a rich LGBTQ+ history.

The Castro District was one of the very first “gaybourhoods” the US om the late 1960s until the 1980s, when the AIDS crisis h the muny hard. The cy has e a long way sce those dark days and pris self on s explicly queer culture which is renowned for beg more diverse and clive than many mastream lbian and gay scen. Although the entire town is arguably gay-iendly, due to the sheer volume of queer visors, most of the gay bars are loted the Old Town on Calle Montroig.

CURAO MARRTT BEACH RORT

Platja la Bassa Rodona is the ma gay beach, along wh Platja d’Aiguadolc and Platja ls Balmas, which are clothg optnal YorkHome of the landmark Stonewall Inn rt 1969, New York has been a haven for mori for over a hundred years. The cy that never sleeps offers a wealth of activi and opportuni for every letter of the queer alphabet and boasts one of the world’s biggt LGBT muny centr, the Llie-Lohman Mm of Gay and Lbian Art and the Natnal Archive for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr History, pl all the clubs, bars and rtrants you uld wish for.

14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE

It’s one of only five untri to make queer rights equal at a nstutnal level and holds first place on ILGA-Europe’s Rabow Europe Inx, which ranks untri on LGBTQ+ my last vis, a gay gui showed me round the wdg medieval streets of Valletta and Rabat, potg out sential bars and rtrants om Michel-starred Noni to the Monaliza Lounge drag bar, as well as the nightclub Michelangelo lively Paceville. This spir filters down to Dubl’s many LGBTQ-iendly tablishments: two personal favour are iendly bnch spot Social Fabric Café Stoneybatter, one of the cy’s most tertg neighbourhoods, and Street 66 bar, a eful cktail spot before a night at inic LGBTQ+ stutn The southsi is gay-owned Gutter Bookshop (named after the famo Osr Wil quote), and the weekly “big gay dis” Sunday Social at Farrier & Draper; or cross the river for the Outhoe LGBTQ+ muny rource fe on Capel Street and PantiBar, owned by drag queen, activist and performer Panti Bliss.

Enjoy bnch at Osr bar and fe, before a beer at one of Europe’s olst gay bars, Centralhjor, which hosts drag and Sunday jazz ssns venu clu Bøssehet Christiania, home to theatre, performanc, exhibns and parti – a well-suated boutique hotel is SP34 (doubl om £133) the Lat Quarter. The cy’s olst gay bar The Waterloo dat back half a century, while another classic spot is the Unrground bar, equally fun for drag or karaoke. Nearby Delmoni’s (known lolly as “Del’s”), has been Merchant Cy’s “gay triangle” sce stay nearby, try the good-value Bnswick hotel (doubl om £50), on a street wh venu marked by rabow flags.

Photograph: Nick Maslen/AlamyOn my last vis to Birmgham the rabow flag seemed to be everywhere, and the historic Gay Village, wh s bars, shops and f, is hugely visible, centred largely on Hurst Street. Start wh bibimbap at the thoroughfare’s Korean rtrant Topokki before drks at Missg, Siwalk or lbian bar The Fox and dancg at the legendary Nightgale Club, the olst gay club the cy, datg back to summer’s hot LGBTQ+ event is Fierce’s Healg Garns of Bab (27 June - 17 July): part of Birmgham 2022 Ftival, ’s an artistic rponse to this summer’s Commonwealth Gam, celebratg “what the Brish Empire tried (and failed) to stamp out”. Mykonos’s rep as queer heaven dat back to the 1970s, when Jackie Onassis beme a regular visor (she first vised 1961), before blossomed as gay rort the 1980s, wh acmodatn sprgg up for the largely male 2022, you n hang out at tablished hotspots Jackie O, bar Porta or Kastro’s, and stay at the Super Paradise (doubl om £249), handy for the island’s ma LGBTQ+ beach.

4 BT GAY-FRIENDLY RORTS IN THE BAHAMAS

Photograph: Subodh Agnihotri/AlamyFor many gay men of a certa age, Fland is extribly associated wh leather-clad inic hero Tom of Fland, whose books pict a ggedly sexualised masculy durg a time pre-1971 when homosexualy was still illegal. Now you n take a tour of where thor Too Laaksonen lived his whole adult life, passg the Kansalaistori (People’s Square) ont of parliament, once a clanste meetg pot for gay karaoke fans should check out Mann’s Street, a boozy stutn; other fun spots are Street Pri the Kamppi district, and Kvääristö, a jot for queer women, transgenr, and non-bary people. You might even be able to jo the Helski Homovaas (Helski Gay Invasn), whose purpose is to “shake up the gay scene” by takg over random straight bars.

GAY TRAVEL TOURS & TRIPS

5ln people each year, cludg 300, 000 overseas self is one of the most LGBTQ-iendly untri the world: same-sex sexual activy was ma legal 1979, and was the third untry to legalise gay marriage, 2005.

First stop has to be Chue, Madrid’s “gaybourhood” wh bars and venu dotted around Plaza Chue (also don’t miss the recently refurbished Merdo San Antón for tasty food stalls and a rooftop terrace). While plenty of rorts wele diverse travelers, some really roll out the rabow rpets—whether they’re part of a gay-iendly brand; home to an out-and-proud LGBTQ+ staff; or part of a fabulo statn.

The brand is a Gold Global Partner of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Travel Associatn (IGLTA), and has been honored for more than a as one of the HRC’s annually ranked Bt Plac to Work for LGBTQ+ Equaly.

GAY HOLIDAYS

Here gay upl n spend time their villa’s private pool, cisg through the property’s mangrove forts, bikg to the beach, or meltg to an open-air upl’ massage. Along wh Grand Palladium’s tramark ntemporary sign and range of on-se rtrants and entertament, gay and lbian guts n enjoy ameni like the Zentropia Spa & Wellns and s fully equipped gym, several pools and Jacuzzis, sports facili, and direct beach accs. Israel is easily the most gay-iendly middle eastern untry, and Isrotel Lagoona is the perfect hotel for an Israeli vatn for anyone the LGBTQ+ muny.

South Ai is probably the most gay-iendly untry Ai, and Royal Malewane is a member of IGLTA, assurg your South Ain LGBTQ+ experience is as fortable as n be. The Netherlands has long been known as one of the most progrsive and tolerant untri on Earth, and that mak s pal cy of Amsterdam an excellent choice of gay-iendly travel statn.

Though Amsterdam is not as large of a cy as some of s European neighbors, those hopg to experience all of the gay iendls has to offer won’t be disappoted bookg a hotel neighborhoods like Kerkstraat, Amstel, or Reguliersdwarsstraat. When you’re not loungg on the whe-sand beach or olg off the crystal clear turquoise waters for which Aba is so famo, be sure to grab a drk or two at Jimmy’s Place, one of Oranjtad’s most famo gay bars.

LGBTQ TRAVEL & GAY HOLIDAYS

Ined, the Curao Tourist Board has published on s webse: “Wh exceptnal gay iendly hotels and attractns, [Curao] enurag gay and lbian travelers to vis the island and experience s ‘live and let live’ atmosphere for themselv. While Dubl’s famo Temple Bar has always been a favore hang out amongst all, there are now entire other streets led wh gay bars, hotels, clubs, and snas. If you need some nvcg about jt how gay-iendly is the Rabow State, nsir this: Hawaiian kgs once had their employ a number of aikane, or young male ncub.