Cagaloglu Hamam, Istanbul - male Turkish bath / sna Istanbul - Travel Gay

Contents:

• HAVG A GAY OLD TIME TURKEY
• WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?
• GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT
• SUBS LOOKG FOR DOMS (GAY MEN ONLY)
• EXPLORE VAST AND HIDN GAY TURKEY
• GAY TURKEY
• CAGALOGLU HAMAMISTANBULMENUHOTELSON TODAYBARS & CAFéSDANCE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECY GUITOURSGAY MAPCAGALOGLU HAMAM

HAVG A GAY OLD TIME TURKEY

Real hugs are rare and if they go on too long, you’re likely to see feet shuffle and hear supprsed ughs of “no homo. “You’re gay, Fn. Gay guys don’t get a pass om the pathology of toxic masculy.

We’re not supposed to be close wh other men unls that closens centers on I walked to a gay bar and hugged a man (more than briefly) who was datg somebody else, hiss of negative gossip would fill the room. And let me tell you, when gay men hiss, we don’t play!

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE GAY … MOROC?

I swear I was jt watchg clips of Bra’s Got Talent the other night, fantasizg that Simon Cowell was gay and available.

He talks about his experienc of the gay scene, and also giv advice on where to go and what to expect. But, what about gay people? The Turkish attu towards open homosexualy is ambivalent, to say the least.

Homosexualy is not mentned the Turkish Legal Co so is neher protected nor persecuted.

GAY PAKISTAN: WHERE SEX IS AVAILABLE AND RELATNSHIPS ARE DIFFICULT

While male homosexual behavur is unrstood (though not ndoned), lbianism has simply not entered the Turkish psyche. Gay visors to Turkey will be treated no differently. Anyone lookg for a wtern style gay scene will be disappoted.

No other cy Turkey has a gay scene worthy of the name, not even Ankara (the pal) or Izmir (the most wtern-leang cy). This is not an ditn of wispread homosexual behavur (though some of may be). Jamaa el Fna, Marrakech’s ma square, is the cy’s primary gay cisg spot after dk.

SUBS LOOKG FOR DOMS (GAY MEN ONLY)

For those who heard about the se of Ray Cole—a Brish tourist arrted last year Marrakech, Moroc, on spicn of mtg “homosexual acts” and sentenced to four months’ hard time a Morocn jail prr to his early release— is perhaps difficult to image that Moroc was somethg of a gay paradise for whe men of standg the aftermath of World War II. Somethg of the gay scene moved to Marrakech, but suffice to say, is far removed om Tangier’s heyday and very much nfed to the margs. Gay life tak place the pths of certa hammams (Turkish baths) and the back rows of cemas, if people happen to know the right spots; needls to say, cisg plays an important role.

There are no gay bars, but a mix of gay and straight patrons n be found clubs that ter primarily to Wterners. Seen this light, the se of Ray Cole n be said to be another part of the story of the wherg away of gay life Moroc, or at the very least, the end of turng of a bld eye to . But what is more signifint about Cole’s se is that monstrat the te realy for gay men Moroc, namely, that while the laws on homosexualy are enforced nsistently, there is evintly a double standard employed their applitn.

EXPLORE VAST AND HIDN GAY TURKEY

The lerature available to potential gay travelers to Moroc—of which there is a great al sce, spe of laws and social norms there, Moroc remas a prime statn for package holiday-goers om Bra, France, and Germany—is very clear settg out what is and isn’t acceptable.

Gay upl should rea om public displays of affectn and would be advised to seek out hotels and riads (a tradnal hoe wh an terr urtyard) known to be gay-iendly. The arrt of Morocns for “homosexual acts” occurs every day and go unreported.

The scen of Cole’s fay greetg him at Bra’s Gatwick Airport ntrast starkly wh how gay men are treated Morocn society: looked down upon, rejected by their fai, dismissed wh the Maghrebi Arabic slur zamel.

GAY TURKEY

“More than [Cole’s] own se, what happened to him shows how vulnerable gay Morocns are, ”Abllah Taïa, a Morocn wrer and filmmaker who now liv exile, wrote The Guardian, “They are at the mercy of anyone. ” To the qutn of what is like to be gay Moroc, then, the answer very much means one thg to a Wtern visor and que another to Morocn natnals, who are nsired by their society and their state to be of lser value.

What’s It Like to Be Gay … Poland? What’s It Like to Be Gay … Romania? Pakistan is not the kd of place that most people would associate wh gay liberatn.

But some say the untry is a great place to be gay - even scribg the port cy of Karachi as "a gay man's paradise". Unrground parti, group sex at shr and "marriag of nvenience" to members of the oppose sex are jt some of the surpris that gay Pakistan has to offer.

CAGALOGLU HAMAMISTANBULMENUHOTELSON TODAYBARS & CAFéSDANCE CLUBSSNASMASSAGECY GUITOURSGAY MAPCAGALOGLU HAMAM

Danyaal, as he's asked to be known, is a 50-somethg bsman who liv an affluent part of Karachi, and his smartphone to anise Karachi's gay party scene.

"The days there are smartphone apps that e GPS to tell you how close you are to another gay person wh an onle profile. There are thoands of gay men onle Pakistan at any one time.

"If you want sex too, 's a gay man's paradise. "The vatn-only parti are a rare opportuny for gay men to be open about their sexualy. "Gay men will make every effort to stop any vtment a same-sex relatnship bee they know that one day they will have to get married to a woman, " he says.