Utopia Guibooks to Asia, Gay and Lbian Cha, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam

Contents:

• THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO TRAVEL AS A GAY ASIAN MAN
• GAY ASIA TRAVEL GUI
• THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• 14 POPULAR GAY TOUR & VATN COMPANI
• GAY TOURS AND GROUP TRAVEL
• GAY LAOS TRAVEL GUI
• TRAVEL GAY ASIA
• LLIE CHNG: ASIA'S GAY IN LIV ON 15 YEARS AFTER HIS ATH

THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO TRAVEL AS A GAY ASIAN MAN

Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia.

GAY ASIA TRAVEL GUI

'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage".

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

In a culturally nservative muny, where gog to church and buildg a fay were heavily emphasized, Ahn felt his gay inty kept him “om beg able to participate Korean culture.

14 POPULAR GAY TOUR & VATN COMPANI

Beg Asian Amerin and LGBTQ+ n feel lonely, wh stutns such as ethnic church often disavowg non-heterosexual relatnships while tradnal LGBTQ+ spac such as gay bars n be unwelg to people of lor. “Fdg plac like GAMeBoi, where beg queer and Asian do -exist … It’s not like a 1, 000-year-old Korean cultural rual, but I uld create a new rual, ” said Ahn, a recent Friday, hundreds packed QT Nightlife’s monthly K-Pop Night at Micky’s, a Wt Hollywood gay club a block or so east om the old GAMeBoi posed for selfi a pk Barbie box wh dis balls hangg overhead. ” (Michael Owen Baker / For The Tim) Even historilly gay neighborhoods like Wt Hollywood or San Francis’s Castro district, Asian Amerins have long been ignored or fetishized, seen as feme and weak.

GAY TOURS AND GROUP TRAVEL

In 2019, then-Wt Hollywood Mayor John Duran argued that he did not appropriately touch a member of the Gay Men’s Chos of Los Angel bee “he’s a skny Korean kid wh pimpl on his cheek.

GAY LAOS TRAVEL GUI

” Asian Amerin advocy groups cricized Duran’s remark, wh API Equaly-LA potg to the long history of discrimatn agast Asian men gay muni such as Wt Hollywood, whose clubs “ed to require three forms of photo intifitn om anyone they perceived as Asian. It is the only member of the Group of 7 natns that has not legalized same-sex month, the Japane Parliament passed a bill that outlawed “unfair discrimatn” and promoted “unrstandg” of gay and transgenr people, a measure that rights advot emed sufficient and watered down om a bill submted natn’s urts have been more sympathetic to gay and transgenr rights. Ne stat have laws banng transgenr people om g bathrooms or other facili that align wh their genr inty at least some settgs, acrdg to the Movement Advancement Project, a thk liberatns over the bill promotg unrstandg of gay and transgenr people the Diet, as Japan’s Parliament is known, nservative policians raised ncerns that the law might enable men to barge to women’s bathrooms and asslt Tuday after the cisn was released, some nservativ objected.

Activists said that the Supreme Court cisn uld help nudge other pani and lol ernments to change their own l erng the e of rtrooms by transgenr lg uld help “lol ernments to make their own policy or their own ordanc, and many pani will follow the judgment, ” said Gon Matsunaka, a director and adviser to Pri Hoe Tokyo, a support center for the gay and transgenr muny. Special thanks to mansaoz, kimyong, PJack, MTguy, aznpoo, ernst, ernst, gaysoulpas, brizner, reoboy500, johnuis, alwaystravln, ABC, byungdohsuh, Jason, marcr, BrianT, JiHoon, barry_bonk, neosko, junrz, ryoo, Nena, grgo_nb, , laislili, chobapgirl, YKK, OrangeTaBomb, Ellisa, Melo, Star Kim, Rebecka, Allison D., Patrice H., Grace, Ple, Isabelle, Gq, MWK, David, Jack G., Sean, Marc R., Han-Su, Jimmy K., Chad, Mark, C. The Mistry acted after an April 2001 cisn by the Korean Informatn and Communitns Ethics Commtee (ICEC)--an officially pennt body wh wi censorship powers--which classified homosexualy unr the tegory of "obsceny and perversn" s "Creria for Incent Inter S.

The owner of, the first and largt gay webse Korea, received a notice statg that if did not immediately mark self as a 'harmful se' and stall filterg software to prevent youth accs, he would be penalized wh a fe of approximately US$10, 000 or two years imprisonment. On January 10, 2002, affiliatn wh Lbian and Gay Alliance Agast Discrimatn (LGAAD) and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society filed the first lawsu agast Korean ernment for unnstutnally blockg accs. A urt cisn was ma on Augt 14, 2002 that eedom of speech and exprsn were not applible regardg homosexualy, and allowed for outrageo penalti, cludg two year imprisonment, to be enforced.

TRAVEL GAY ASIA

On April 2, 2003 the Korean Natnal Human Rights Protectn Commtee officially advised Korea's Youth Protectn Commtee to remove anti-gay language om the 1997 Youth Protectn Act that that unrpned the 2001 Mistry of Informatn and Communitns cisn. Chgai has served as a shelter for Korean gay men, who have no official or public voice of their own, and as an arena for stggle agast all prejudice and opprsn directed at homosexuals. This group seeks to abolish discrimatn agast sexual mori; foster operatn among mory groups; tablish an alliance agast opprsn of workers; tablish shields agast illegal vtigatn of gay bars and biased news reportg about sexual mori; and to strengthen HIV/AIDS tn aimed at youth.

I mean, we’ve experienced all: we’ve vised gay-iendly statns, attend illegal drag shows, stayed wh lol fai, and on the rare ocsn, been the victim of discrimatn and hostily.

"Long regnised for s onle gay and lbian muny, Utopia Asia also has an rmative wh full rmatn on clubs, hotels, shoppg venu, rtrants and spas all around Thailand that are gay-iendly, gay-domated and/or gay-owned.

LLIE CHNG: ASIA'S GAY IN LIV ON 15 YEARS AFTER HIS ATH

" -- Time Out ShanghaiExpand 2006 2nd Edn of the Utopia Gui to Cha, the first prted guibook to the gay and lbian scene 50 Che ci cludg Beijg, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Kunmg, Nanjg, Mau, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiamen, and Xian.

" -- Rice MagazeExpand sir's glimpse at the gay and lbian scene 18 ci four emergg Southeast Asian untri, cludg Hanoi, Ho Chi Mh Cy/Saigon, Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Yangon/Rangoon, Phnom Penh, and Angkor Wat/Siem Reap. PRAISE FOR THE UTOPIA GUIDE TO CHINA:"In a sign that Cha's great wall of nial about homosexualy is crackg, the first prted gui to gay life dozens of Che ci has been published by Utopia. Wh hont, tailed scriptns of hotels, rtrants, bars and baths, as well as sights to lol culture, the bilgual gui offers remendatns, tips and warngs for the ternatnal gay traveler.

Whether you’re gay or straight, you still want to vis all the cultural sights, hidn gems, nightlife, and even some touristy activi that you want to brag to your iends.

The term – a phemism that dat back to the 1950s – was once ed to dite gay social events on daily cise le programs, whout explicly llg out members of the muny on board. As travel on the high seas ntu to bounce back om the COVID-19 panmic, gay and lbian travelers should nsir settg sail on a fun-filled cise vatn as their next planng a cise, vatners should first nsir what their ial sailg looks like. Cisers should also thk about whether they'd like to travel aboard a gay-iendly mastream le, such as Celebry Cis or Virg Voyag, or opt for an all-gay, full-ship charter wh a third-party vatn pany.

This le gets the stamp of approval om prev LGBTQ cisers, who praise the ships' genr-ntral bathrooms, onboard shows wh rint drag queens and diverse Voyag offers gay-specific sailgs through travel pani like Atlantis Events, but s more mastream erari still offer a welg, clive atmosphere that attracts LGBTQ cisers year-round.

For s all-gay cis, Atlantis charters megaships om popular l like Royal Caribbean Internatnal and Norwegian Cise Le, so cisers will have a fully immersive board, travelers n enjoy all the perks the megaships have to offer (thk: pools, hot tubs, sports urts and plenty of dg choic), pl special events like drag performanc, motivatnal speakers, LGBTQ movi on mand each b and high-energy circu parti across the ship. "As an LGBTQ ciser, you're lookg for a ship wh lots of entertament, cludg dance parti and events, " says Mars Martez, founr of Men Who Bnch, a Black gay liftyle blog. Celebry Cis(Courty of Celebry Cis)Celebry Cis sets the scene for an excellent vatn for gay travelers, om s extravagant annual Pri parti to s daily LGBTQ programmg throughout the year.

Private travel pani like VACAYA also charter Celebry ships for all-gay voyag throughout the (Getty Imag)Specifilly marketed toward lbians and LGBTQ women, Olivia has hosted more than 350, 000 travelers by land and sea over almost five s.

Outsi of the sailg experience, Royal Caribbean has also publicly mted to support the LGBTQ muny throughout the year, and was the first cise le to earn the tle "Gay Traveler Approved" om GayTravel 2023, nsir a Royal Caribbean voyage that sails to gay-iendly statns.

]The Cise Wh La Demence(Courty of The Cise wh La Demence)Acrdg to past cisers, if you're lookg for one of the bt party scen on the open seas, nsir an all-gay cise wh La Demence. Prev cisers had high praise for the erari – which exclively vis gay-iendly lotns – as well as the uy cktails, themed nights (stum strongly enuraged), glamouro entertament, and unique events like drag bgo and high heel Demence sails every summer to statns like Rome; Athens and Mykonos, Greece; Kotor, Montenegro; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and more.

While some tours foc on LGBT history and gay neighborhoods of ci, many gay tours are simply about providg experienc where gay travelers n explore new plac together and feel genuely wele.

Whether you want to explore the magil landsp of Iceland, the hidn treasur of Lebanon, meet elephants Thailand, or even make the journey to Antarcti, Out Adventur has an epic selectn of gay tours to choose om. Wh affordable vatn packag, helpful ctomer service, and a tstworthy and well-tablished brand, ’s easy to see why Detours Travel is one of the top gay tour pani the world.

Bookg wh Zoom Vatns, gay travelers n expect to stay upsle, gay-iendly acmodatns, have accs to a private ncierge, and tour lol attractns via privately anized and secure transport. Coda Internatnal Tours signs small gay group tours statns that appeal to travelers seekg to relax, have fun, and benef om the experience of beg exposed to foreign cultur and people—all wh flair and sophistitn. Be a day explorg the Pensula to the tip of Ai, a day explorg the Welands, a day the cy and on Table Mounta, a day safari, a week drivg the Garn Route, or a few nights on safari, they’re a gay tour pany wh somethg for everyone.