A report om Human Rights Watch lls on the ernment of St. Vcent to overturn lonial-era anti-gay laws that have led to a recent wave of vlence and genr discrimatn on the small Caribbean island.
Contents:
- THE BT CARIBBEAN DTATNS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS
- A GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY ITALY'S FASCISTS
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- I'M A GAY TRAVEL WRER AND THK THE ARE THE 5 SAFT, MOST QUEER-IENDLY CARIBBEAN TRAVEL STATNS
- WELE TO GAY IENDLY HAWAI’I ISLAND!
- HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT
- ATRALIA’S LGBT-ONLY ISLANDPARADISE FOUNDMARRIAGE EQUALY DISCRIMATN LED A GROUP OF ATRALIAN ACTIVISTS TO SET THEIR RABOW FLAG ON CATO ISLAND. THIS ‘HOMELAND’ EVEN HAS A GLORIA GAYNOR ANTHEM.NA STROCHLICUPDATED OCT. 11, 2019 3:47PM EDT / PUBLISHED APR. 18, 2015 6:45AM EDT PHOTO ILLTRATN BY SARAH ROGERS/THE DAILY BEASTWHEN ATRALIA REFED TO ALLOW S GAY CIZENS EQUAL RIGHTS TO MARRIAGE, A GROUP OF ACTIVISTS SERTED THE UNTRY, SAILED 200 NTIL TO AN ISLAND OFF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF AND HOISTED A RABOW FLAG THE HIGHT SPOT THEY ULD FD.THEY CLARED THE GAY AND LBIAN KGDOM OF THE CORAL SEA ISLANDS.THE IMPET ME 2004 DURG THE BRISBANE GAY PRI FTIVAL, WHEN A LLECTIVE OF IENDS CID THAT WHOUT BEG GRANTED LEGAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS THEY WOULD LEAVE AND START THEIR OWN MORE CLIVE UNTRY.NA STROCHLIC
- SAN JUAN ISLANDS GAY GUI
- FIRE ISLAND GAY CY GUI
THE BT CARIBBEAN DTATNS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS
Seventy-five years ago Fascist Italy, a group of gay men were labelled "generate", expelled om their hom and terned on one of the Tremi islands. * the gay island *
This sual, natural-wood-adorned gay bar hosts myriad muny events, cludg monthly tamaran cis, trivia, live mic, and other entertament a settg where rpect and cln are champned. Known as “The Bt Pool Party Hawaii, ” the monthly Gay Island Gui SuperSly Pool Party at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach brgs together everyone om all aspects of the muny for sun and fun. From Osr Wil’s vis to the island 1882, to the steady velopment of Cherry Grove as “Ameri's First Gay and Lbian Town, ” Fire Island has long been a home and haven to LGBTQ visors and rints alike.
Long before the Stonewall Rts set the movement for Gay Liberatn to motn, Fire Island provid an important enclave to rints and visors at a time when almost everythg about livg openly as a lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer (LGBTQ) person was illegal the Uned Stat. The Cherry Grove Communy Hoe is exceptnally signifint for the enormo role played shapg what gradually evolved to Ameri's First Gay and Lbian Town. As anizatns, the Cherry Grove Property Owners Associatn and Cherry Grove Arts Projects profoundly fluenced the muny's velopment, facilatg the gradual social acceptance, self-affirmatn, and tegratn of s gay and lbian rints to Cherry Grove's erng affairs and civic life.
This tegratn of LGBTQ rints to daily life and events at s muny hoe afford Cherry Grove a sgular stat; beme the one of the first and, for many years, the only gay and lbian fluenced geography the Uned Stat. Its metamorphosis played out agast turbulent social and polil upheavals -- our natn's rponse to the pre- and early days of the homosexual liberatn movement.
A GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY ITALY'S FASCISTS
Plan your trip to the big gay island of Hawaii wh our LGBT travel gui and lbian weddg rource. Your Pacific paradise awas! * the gay island *
The 1969 uprisg at the Stonewall Inn, which is largely creded as the turng pot the gay civil rights movement, has been documented by numero scholars.
It’s those latter islands where gay and lbian travelers ually feel more at ease sce lol laws around homosexualy and same-sex marriage match those of their parent untri.
But rather than plan vatns to one of the dozen Caribbean islands where homosexualy is crimalized (surprisg, but te), most travelers simply prefer to vatn where they’ll feel fortable. In the beachont neighborhood of Condado, the Atlantic Beach Hotel and Oasis Lounge are regular gay hotspots, both jt steps away om the low-key gay-beach area.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
* the gay island *
But to wele gay and lbian Caribbean visors, this small island go the extra e by beg an active member of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Travel Associatn (IGLTA).
Floris Sue Hotel Spa and Beach Club Curaçao is the go-to gay hotel Willemstad, where adult guts n enjoy luxury, privacy, and views of the island’s famoly-blue waters. Among Curao’s flirtier spots is MooMba Beach Club, perched on the island’s most gay-iendly beach and servg up cktails, live mic, h seafood, and weekend barbequ. LGBT travelers n take their pick of gay-centric beach to swim, sunbathe, and snorkel, pecially Happy Bay Beach and the clothg-optnal Orient Bay Beach (both on the French si), and Cupey Beach (Dutch si) where nu sunbathg is mon.
I'M A GAY TRAVEL WRER AND THK THE ARE THE 5 SAFT, MOST QUEER-IENDLY CARIBBEAN TRAVEL STATNS
Marriage equaly discrimatn led a group of Atralian activists to set their rabow flag on Cato Island. This ‘homeland’ even has a Gloria Gaynor anthem. * the gay island *
The anizatn’s motto is “the most gay iendly island the Caribbean, ” and based on s long roster of lol hosts and sponsors, ’s clear how clive the statn really is.
WELE TO GAY IENDLY HAWAI’I ISLAND!
The gay clubs are closed, but many of the P “boys” are keepg their summer shar. Can they also keep their social distance? * the gay island *
In the hotel world, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marrtt and Wyndham, among others, all received perfect sr, too, so LGBTQ travelers have plenty of choic for where to spend their pots or by Jakob Owens on UnsplashIf you'd like more background rmatn on gay history and travel to Hawaii (albe a ltle dated now), pick up a py of "Rabow Handbook Hawaii: The Islands' Ultimate Gay Gui" to read on the plane.
The old whalg town of Lahaa is a charmg place to spend an afternoon and is also home to the Old Lahaa Lu, which is practilly a cultural stutn at this urty of the Lahaa nature lovers, Haleakala Natnal Park has some of Hawaii's most spectacular hik and mounta-bikg trails, while the Mi Ocean Center is a great place for kids and adults alike to learn about Hawaii's unique mare environment and season tends to last om mid-December through mid-May, and Mi is the bt island om which to take tours like Pri of Mi's whale-watchg and snorkel tour, or Hawaiian Paddle Sport's outrigger noe and kayakg whale-watchg even though Mi has a quieter gay social scene than Oahu, visors n still easily jo the muny. At any time of year, travelers n drop by a gay-iendly bar like Vibe Bar and Nightclub or Three's Bar and Relaxed Retreats The smallt and least-populated of Hawaii's four ma tourist islands, Kai, is known as Hawaii's "Garn Island" thanks to s lh landsp and laid back pace.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT
Travelers n also support gay-owned properti by bookg a stay at a Parrish Kai home, ttage or ndo, or optg for a 17 Palms Kai vatn ttage, owned by Ross Marte and Jeff to Do KaiAmong the natural sights that attract visors here, Waimea Canyon is tly spectacular. Hilo is served by jt one rrier om the maland (Uned om Los Angel), meanwhile, offers nonstop optns on multiple airl: Alaska om Anchorage, Bellgham, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, San Francis, San Jose and Seattle; Amerin om Dallas-Fort Work, Los Angel and Phoenix; Delta om Los Angel and Seattle; and Uned om Denver, Los Angel and San to StayAlthough you'll fd major cha hotels like the Wt Hapuna Beach Rort here as well as luxury optns like the Four Seasons Hualalai and the Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii Island is also known for s llectn of gay-owned and gay-iendly ns and B& gay-owned Lava Lava Beach Club is loted at the Kohala Coast's Waikoloa Rort, near many of the major rorts, but offers a more sual, e-as-you-are urty of Volno Mounta gay-owned Hale Ohia Cottag, meanwhile, are set on a seclud tate that dat back to 1931, and offer easy accs to Volno Natnal Park, which is jt a e away. They were held unr a prison regime - but some found life the untry's first openly gay muny a liberatg summer, tourists are drawn to the bety of a ty strg of rocky islands the jt recently a group of visors me to the Tremi archipelago not so much to enjoy the peace and lm of this remote place as to were gay, lbian and transgenr rights had e to hold a small ceremony durg which they would mark a shameful episo that unfold the islands more than 70 years the late 1930s the archipelago played a part the effort by Beno Msoli's Fascists to supprs homosexualy.
So the Italians are strong, mascule, and 's impossible that homosexualy n exist a Fascist regime, " says profsor of history at the Universy of Bergamo, Lorenzo the strategy was to ver up the issue as much as discrimatory laws were passed. But a climate was created which open maniftatns of homosexualy uld be vigoroly one particular police prefect the Sicilian cy of Catania took full advantage of the official mood. They eventually found themselv about 600km away on the island of San Domo, the ptn, The 2008 graphic novel In Italia Sono Tutti Maschi tells the story of gay people exiled unr fascismThe whole episo has been largely 's thought that nobody who endured this punishment is still alive today, and there are few tailed acunts of what went on their book, The Island and the Cy, rearchers Gianan Goretti and Tommaso Giartosi talk of dozens of men, most but not all om Catania, endurg harsh ndns on San would arrive handcuffed, and then be hoed large, spartan dormori wh no electricy or nng water.
ATRALIA’S LGBT-ONLY ISLANDPARADISE FOUNDMARRIAGE EQUALY DISCRIMATN LED A GROUP OF ATRALIAN ACTIVISTS TO SET THEIR RABOW FLAG ON CATO ISLAND. THIS ‘HOMELAND’ EVEN HAS A GLORIA GAYNOR ANTHEM.NA STROCHLICUPDATED OCT. 11, 2019 3:47PM EDT / PUBLISHED APR. 18, 2015 6:45AM EDT PHOTO ILLTRATN BY SARAH ROGERS/THE DAILY BEASTWHEN ATRALIA REFED TO ALLOW S GAY CIZENS EQUAL RIGHTS TO MARRIAGE, A GROUP OF ACTIVISTS SERTED THE UNTRY, SAILED 200 NTIL TO AN ISLAND OFF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF AND HOISTED A RABOW FLAG THE HIGHT SPOT THEY ULD FD.THEY CLARED THE GAY AND LBIAN KGDOM OF THE CORAL SEA ISLANDS.THE IMPET ME 2004 DURG THE BRISBANE GAY PRI FTIVAL, WHEN A LLECTIVE OF IENDS CID THAT WHOUT BEG GRANTED LEGAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS THEY WOULD LEAVE AND START THEIR OWN MORE CLIVE UNTRY.NA STROCHLIC
"The prisoners knew the exposure of their homosexualy would have ed shame and anguish for their fai back home eply nservative towns and of that mood is ptured a letter om the son of a Sicilian peasant, who had been trag to be a prit when he was round up. For the first time their liv, the men were a place where they uld be themselv - ee of the stigma that normally surround them voutly Catholic 1930s this meant to the exil was explaed a rare terview wh a San Domo veteran, named only as Gieppe B - published many years ago the gay magaze, Babilonia - who said that a way the men were better off on the island.
"In those days if you were a femmella [a slang Italian word for a gay man] you uldn't even leave your home, or make yourself noticed - the police would arrt you, " he said of his home town near Napl. Some prisoners wept, Gieppe said, when the outbreak of World War II 1939 led to the end of the ternal exile regime on San Domo, and the men were returned to a kd of hoe arrt the plac where they me ptn, Tremi/MPA number of gay men were terned along wh polil prisoners on other small islands, such as Usti and Lampsa, but San Domo was the only one where all the exil were is eply ironic that the Italy of that time, they uld fd a gree of eedom only on a prison party of gay and lbian rights activists who gathered on the archipelago the other day put down a plaque memory of the exil.
"This is necsary, bee nobody speaks of what happened those years, " said one of the activists, Ivan Slfarotto, a Member of the sufferg hasn't end for Italy's gay muny, he says.
SAN JUAN ISLANDS GAY GUI
There is still no real social stigma attached to homophobia Italy, Slfarotto says, and the state don't extend legal rights of any kd to gay or lbian stggle for equaly go n follow the Magaze on Twter and on Facebook. Vcent and the Grenad, where gay sex is still homelsns to ongog physil and verbal abe, the gay muny the small natn of some 100, 000 people says is unr nstant threat. Vcent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years prison, while “gross cency” wh another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, acrdg to lonial-era laws that are mon the socially nservative Caribbean rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people.
”Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help. Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry.
FIRE ISLAND GAY CY GUI
”González wh Human Rights Watch noted that 2019, the ernment held a workshop for public employe on the importance of rpectg gay rights, a rare move for a nservative Caribbean natn. The Gay Island rince Corfu offers a wi range of facili and ameni signed to meet the needs of travelers and workg profsnals lookg for an spirg workplace. The Gay Island rince clus a workg space that will be a morn and fortable venue signed to meet the needs of travelers and workg workg space will be well-equipped wh all the necsary ameni and technology to support productivy and llaboratn.
Barth, wily celebrated, and you will fd lots of queer lols and ex-pats alike overtly tegrated to society — this is a place where queerns don't have to to go: The island draws LGBTQIA+ travelers for s bety, sophistitn, and party atmosphere — even if lacks a dited gay bar. The night I was there, for stance, my iend and I danced on stage to ABBA and other pop Beach is arguably one of the island's most betiful, and while 's not exclively queer, acts as a facto gay beach and tends to draw a more lorful crowd as well as to stay: Thanks to the island's clivy, you'll fd LGBTQIA+ folks stayg at virtually every hotel, but I ually book Le Toy for s massive rooms that e wh their own private pool.
) banana bread is a mt alongsi lectable seafood dish; Hidn Treasure, a romantic rtrant for date night; The French Touch, which is n by a French ex-pat and serv tasty classics; or The Tck Stop, an outdoor eatery wh live to stay: The rooms and villas at Alaia Belize, Autograph Collectn will likely speak to gay men like myself who are spired by sign.