First Openly Gay Man Could Soon Travel to Space

Contents:

• THE EVOLVG WORLD OF GAY TRAVEL
• BLACK AND GAY TRAVEL FOUNR MICHAEL HENRSON ON BUILDG FORT
• EPISO 08: WHERE'S YOUR PRI? GAY TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD
• TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO GAY* TRAVELER HAS GONE BEFORE…
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• HOR ACQUIR GAY TRAVEL GUI VPA & WEL BACK CO-FOUNR CHRISTOF WTIG AS CEO
• FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN COULD SOON TRAVEL TO SPACE
• WOULD A GAY MAN BE WELED HOME TO MONTANA?

THE EVOLVG WORLD OF GAY TRAVEL

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe O'BrienMay 30, 2014In the 1970s gay tours took men raftg the Grand Canyon and to R Janeiro for Carnival.

And statns like Provcetown, Mass., were creatg some of the first marketg to gay and lbian, there are tours spanng the globe not only for gay men, but also for lbian, bisexual and transgenr travelers and their children.

“Havg gay marriage passed so many stat has ma a big difference, ” said Robert Adams, edorial director of Passport magaze, which has an dience of mostly affluent gay male travelers.

BLACK AND GAY TRAVEL FOUNR MICHAEL HENRSON ON BUILDG FORT

But the gay vatn that once existed out of necsy is now often simply a vatn — be a route fay getaway, a statn weddg or a romantic weekend. “It ed to be the San Franciss, the Miamis, New York, ” said John Tanzella, the print and chief executive of the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Travel Associatn. Yet the qut for the so-lled “pk dollar” has accelerated — pleasg some dtry veterans and puttg off others — amid reports about how potentially lucrative gay travel is and uld be.

” Although Communy Marketg’s rearch shows that when gay upl have children, fdg a child-iendly hotel be more important than an L. Even straight people” prt and digal mpaign, troduced 2012, bee aimed to make gay and lbian travelers feel as if they are a to hotels, some boutique brands, like Kimpton, have already tablished themselv the L. At the same time that brands like Hilton are extendg their reach, dtry profsnals say there ntu to be tert gay-related tours and events, particularly among olr travelers who grew up a time of wispread discrimatn.

Johns said, bee guarante the prence of those like-md travelers, as well as beg good value for the money (spe the rearch figur beg bandied about, not all gay travelers have money to spare). “Watchg pani and statns bendg over backward for gays has been an astoundg change, ” said Zachary Mos, the director of marketg for HE Travel Key Wt, which offers tours and vatns for gay men and lbians. “Gay and lbian people have been travelg for all time, and fact they were some of the first travelers bee they were people who didn’t feel accepted their own muni.

EPISO 08: WHERE'S YOUR PRI? GAY TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD

”One of those issu is safety, even plac nsired gay-iendly — Provcetown, Mass., Boston, Seattle, Palm Sprgs, Calif., Mexi, Canada, England, Spa, France. Paisley of Communy Marketg relled walkg San Francis not too long ago and havg someone roll down a r wdow and yell a gay slur at him. “We’re not gog to Bnei anytime soon, ” he said, referrg to the Southeast Asian untry that recently troduced antigay laws.

-iendly, a statn ually has a lol gay muny wh which visors n nnect, bs wh nondiscrimatn polic and diversy trag, and an overall welg feel. The savvy dtry experts have ma their duty to learn the s and outs of queer travel, whether ’s for a group of gay men, a lbian uple, a solo transgenr tourist, or a fay wh same-sex parents. Through Osr Wil Tours, Lear brgs to life lser-known stori of queer culture and the arts through a historian’s lens, revealg unexpected tidbs about queer landmarks NYC’s Wt Village, as well as secret homoerotic artworks at the Metropolan Mm of Art and Boston’s Mm of Fe Arts.

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO GAY* TRAVELER HAS GONE BEFORE…

They also partner wh a number of NGOs, cludg the Fay Equaly Council and Parents, Fai & Friends of Lbians & Gays, to advance the rights of LGTBQIA+ fai. Detours Gay Travel Cos Mil Mchson and Craig Smh found Detours back 2012 to promote a more “laid-back” approach to group travel, whereby trips would feel more like a iends getaway than one led by a clipboard-wieldg gui. While Detours offers a slew of pre-schled trips throughout the year, ually wh fewer than 15 participants, their tight-kn team n also craft ctom erari based on dividual ToursFor over 30 years, Chigo pany Toto Tours has been helpg gay men, lbians, and others plan safe and excg vatns statns around the world.

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

Buildg tst and muny among LGBTQ+ travelers of lor while on their trips abroad is at the heart of Black and Gay Travel, or B. The host agency and onle muny was found by Michael Henrson, an engeer-turned-travel-advisor, and striv to help LGBTQ+ travelers, pecially Black gay men, feel fortable anywhere the world. Travel; 's a way to shape perceptns [about Black and gay travelers], a way for to learn about ourselv and other people, show our fac and actually talk to people.

I would say 60% [of our client base] are Black gay men, probably 30% are Black lbians, and the remag 10%, I try to be clive. For an unrground society, as ours was then, was jt what people need, sce bars were about the only social outlet available to homosexuals.

By mergg bs and piec of material om other sourc we get an even more plete picture of Sacramento's Gay velopment sce the 1960s. Police and sheriff partments were not always happy wh havg gay bars their jurisdictns and often had a py of the Gui for obv reasons.

HOR ACQUIR GAY TRAVEL GUI VPA & WEL BACK CO-FOUNR CHRISTOF WTIG AS CEO

Nette is an tor and -parent to the #brodus livg her favore cy of New Orleans dited to advotg for LGBTQ youth and buildg muny as an admistrator for NOLA GAY FAMILIES.

Acrdg to the World Enomic Fom, there are currently 73 untri which homosexual activy between nsultg adults is nsired illegal.

FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN COULD SOON TRAVEL TO SPACE

Contributg to the forward progrsn of LGBTQ equaly and visibily is Mathi Jost, founr of misterb&b – thk Airbnb, but gay-iendly. Jost me up wh ia for his tech startup when six years ago, he and his partner booked a room Barcelona and were nonted by an immensely homophobic host. By nnectg the global gay muny wh an array of different cultur, misterb&b is blowg the doors wi open to a world that may have otherwise be pletely unaccsible to gay travellers who are aaid to be themselv a foreign environment.

What’s more, the risk is even more acute abroad – homosexualy is illegal a third of the world and eight untri, is punishable by ath, wh multiple horrific attacks and murrs across the world. Can you talk more about your enunter wh a homophobic host Barcelona and how that experience prompted you to start misterb&b?

That means hundreds of thoands of people our muny n travel to many plac the world and not have to worry if their host is anti-LGBTQ or if the neighborhood is safe for gay men, women and non-bary people. Early on we need funds to fuel our growth but unfortunately, we were not able to raise funds there: servg the gay market was clearly an obstacle given that French VCs did not believe a gay-oriented short term rental service (which did not exist at the time).

WOULD A GAY MAN BE WELED HOME TO MONTANA?

Spa is one of the most gay-iendly statn the world and offers a wi choice of amazg ci and islands such as Menor or Formentera. Usg the creds, which start at $25 USD, alli wh LGBTQ loved on n sign and stantly email their loved on the eedom to book a spot at the home of a gay host and among safe, gay-iendly neighborhoods. Two, I predict that each year you’ll see more and more tech solutns and novative startups solvg the problem of “travelg while gay”.

It’s well after midnight, and Madrid’s Plaza Chue is livg up to s tle as the fizzg, thumpg heart of the Spanish pal’s gay district. A quick Google image search g the words “gay travel” reveals no shortage of well-toned, beach-lovg, predomantly male upl.

“We’re seeg more and more solo travelers the market, too; sgle gay men lookg to jo an epic group hik Machu Picchu, for stance, ” he says.