A gay-owned Virgia rtrant is a dispute wh s neighbors - Washgton Post

Contents:

• THE BT CARIBBEAN DTATNS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS
• THE WORLD'S MOST GAY-FRIENDLY BEACH CI AND RORTS
• 40 BT GAY DTATNS WORLDWI, ACRDG TO TRAVELERS
• BT GAY BEACH DTATNS
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
• LGBT TRAVEL IAS: TOP 12 GAY FRIENDLY CI

THE BT CARIBBEAN DTATNS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS

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. Oranjtad also is home to District 7, an LGBT-centric nightclub, lounge, rtrant, and n (which was once a simpler gay bar lled Jimmy’s Place). 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).

THE WORLD'S MOST GAY-FRIENDLY BEACH CI AND RORTS

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.

40 BT GAY DTATNS WORLDWI, ACRDG TO TRAVELERS

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. Although urban statns tend to be most popular wh gay travelers bee of their rich cultural offergs, vibrant nightlife districts, and chic shoppg and dg, a number of the world's most gay-popular ci also enjoy picturque settgs on the water.

From megaci wh skyscrapers on the ocean to relatively smaller statns on tranquil bays and lak, here's a ndown of the world's 20 bt gay urban beach statns (populatn 150, 000 or greater). Wh outstandg mms, distctive archecture (cludg several treasur by Antoni Gdi) a lively gay nightlife scene centered mostly around the sophistited Eixample district, and an abundance of stylish rtrants and hotels, Barcelona is a terrific statn for urban, yet there's a sweepg and betiful gay beach, Barceloa, jt mut om the cy center. It's jt a short drive south along the ast to vis some of the Southern Hemisphere's most betiful beach, cludg swank Camp Bay, which li the shadows of the Twelve Apostle mountas, and Clifton, which has a scene-y gay beach.

BT GAY BEACH DTATNS

Near the cy's uber-gay Boystown, also known as Lakeview, the GLBT set nverged for many years at Belmont Rocks, an area that no longer exists.

And as 's set on the eastern shore of Zealand Island, on Ørund (a stra that divis the North and Baltic seas), Copenhagen is close to a number of priste, wdswept stretch of sand, cludg such gay hangouts as Bellevue and Ishøj beach. For many years known primarily as Florida's "sprg break" pal, Fort Lrdale began an amb transformatn to a more sophistited rort statn startg around the early 1990s, which cid wh efforts to urt gay and lbian travelers. Sce that time, more than a dozen gay men's rorts have opened wh a few blocks of the cy's betiful oceanont beach, as have several luxury high-rise hotels.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

Fort Lrdale is also close enough to Miami and Palm Beach for quick viss to eher place, makg an ial base for a sunny and relaxg gay vatn.

LGBT TRAVEL IAS: TOP 12 GAY FRIENDLY CI

5 ln rints—prisg the Kowloon Pensula, New Terrori, and Hong Kong Island—is neverthels que forward wh regard to gay and lbian issu when you nsir the regn as a whole. This dramatilly suated cy on the island of Oahu has several gay bars, a great dg scene, and proximy to many notable attractns, om Queen's Surf gay beach to Pearl Harbor. One of the world's leadg gay and lbian statns, Los Angel is much more than a sgle metropolis - rather, 's an entire llectn of both sprawlg and many s scenic neighborhoods and adjacent ci.

Here and funky Venice Beach, to the south, you'll fd que a few rtrants, hotels, and bars wh a mixed gay/straight followg, along wh one of the Wt's classic gay dive bars, Roosterfish. The cy is pecially popular as a gay statn durg Midsumma Ftival, a three-week LGBT arts and cultural ftival held om mid-January through early Febary. The regn has been eclipsed by nearby Fort Lrdale recent year's as the state's top gay statn, but you'll still fd plenty of gays and lbians livg and playg the parts - and visg durg the several big gay circu parti held South Beach each year, om Wter Party to Whe Party to Miami Gay Pri.

The largt cy on the famoly swank and sophistited French Riviera, Nice (populatn 350, 000) is not que a gay playground on the same plane as such Euro-queer hot spots as Ibiza and Mykonos, but this stylish cy wh an outstandg variety of tony rtrants and shops do have a growg gay prence (this is also te, by the way, of nearby Cann, which is smaller but also is beg creasgly popular wh gay travelers). You'll fd gay bars, snas, and f mostly or Old Town, and along the curvg wateront gg the Mederranean, rabow flags note a gay prence at Co Beach as well as at Castel Plage. S., and Canada, the romantic Mexin Riviera rort of Puerto Vallarta mak for an approachable, relatively affordable, and fectly fun and lively gay getaway om late fall through early sprg ( quiets down here nsirably durg the hot summer months).