Eastern Europe was once a world lear on gay rights. Then ran out of spegoats | CNN

Contents:

• GAY EUROPE TRAVEL GUI
• 9 MOST GAY-FRIENDLY COUNTRI IN EUROPE
• EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
• RKEVICS SWORN AS LATVIAN PRINT, FIRST GAY EU HEAD OF STATE
• THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• THE GAY PRI EVENTS EUROPE WORTH TRAVELLG FOR 2022
• 10 GAYT COUNTRI EUROPE
• ONE INTERRACIAL GAY COUPLE TRI TO TRAVEL FEARLSLY — AND SOMETIM FDS ACCEPTANCE SURPRISG PLAC
• SPREAD OF MULTIDG-RISTANT SHIGELLA EU/EEA AMONG GAY, BISEXUAL AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

GAY EUROPE TRAVEL GUI

Hungary’s hardle natnalist ernment passed a new law earlier this month banng ntent that “promot” homosexualy and genr change om beg shared wh children, effectively prohibg any discsn of LGBTQ them schools.

9 MOST GAY-FRIENDLY COUNTRI IN EUROPE

In dog so, Orbán has followed the playbook of Poland’s ernment, which has been chippg away at the rights of the LGBTQ muny for a number of years, adoptg discrimatory rhetoric and stokg homophobia. “There’s a real regrsn happeng many different untri, and rights that had been regnized are now beg challenged, ” said Evelyne Paradis, the executive director of the European branch of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA-Europe). “You have plac like Germany, France, Spa where 85% or more say that homosexualy should be accepted by society and then once you’re past the dividg le, on the other si of the former Iron Curta, those numbers beg to fall pretty rapidly and then get even lower as you go to Rsia, ” he said.

“When you look at the former Eastern bloc, the untri had a long tradn of really progrsive legislatn towards LGBTQ rights, Poland for stance crimalized homosexualy 1932, which is really, really early, ” Kościańska said.

It’s one of only five untri to make queer rights equal at a nstutnal level and holds first place on ILGA-Europe’s Rabow Europe Inx, which ranks untri on LGBTQ+ my last vis, a gay gui showed me round the wdg medieval streets of Valletta and Rabat, potg out sential bars and rtrants om Michel-starred Noni to the Monaliza Lounge drag bar, as well as the nightclub Michelangelo lively Paceville. This spir filters down to Dubl’s many LGBTQ-iendly tablishments: two personal favour are iendly bnch spot Social Fabric Café Stoneybatter, one of the cy’s most tertg neighbourhoods, and Street 66 bar, a eful cktail spot before a night at inic LGBTQ+ stutn The southsi is gay-owned Gutter Bookshop (named after the famo Osr Wil quote), and the weekly “big gay dis” Sunday Social at Farrier & Draper; or cross the river for the Outhoe LGBTQ+ muny rource fe on Capel Street and PantiBar, owned by drag queen, activist and performer Panti Bliss. Enjoy bnch at Osr bar and fe, before a beer at one of Europe’s olst gay bars, Centralhjor, which hosts drag and Sunday jazz ssns venu clu Bøssehet Christiania, home to theatre, performanc, exhibns and parti – a well-suated boutique hotel is SP34 (doubl om £133) the Lat Quarter.

EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS

Nearby Delmoni’s (known lolly as “Del’s”), has been Merchant Cy’s “gay triangle” sce stay nearby, try the good-value Bnswick hotel (doubl om £50), on a street wh venu marked by rabow flags. Photograph: Nick Maslen/AlamyOn my last vis to Birmgham the rabow flag seemed to be everywhere, and the historic Gay Village, wh s bars, shops and f, is hugely visible, centred largely on Hurst Street.

RKEVICS SWORN AS LATVIAN PRINT, FIRST GAY EU HEAD OF STATE

Start wh bibimbap at the thoroughfare’s Korean rtrant Topokki before drks at Missg, Siwalk or lbian bar The Fox and dancg at the legendary Nightgale Club, the olst gay club the cy, datg back to summer’s hot LGBTQ+ event is Fierce’s Healg Garns of Bab (27 June - 17 July): part of Birmgham 2022 Ftival, ’s an artistic rponse to this summer’s Commonwealth Gam, celebratg “what the Brish Empire tried (and failed) to stamp out”. Mykonos’s rep as queer heaven dat back to the 1970s, when Jackie Onassis beme a regular visor (she first vised 1961), before blossomed as gay rort the 1980s, wh acmodatn sprgg up for the largely male 2022, you n hang out at tablished hotspots Jackie O, bar Porta or Kastro’s, and stay at the Super Paradise (doubl om £249), handy for the island’s ma LGBTQ+ beach. Photograph: Subodh Agnihotri/AlamyFor many gay men of a certa age, Fland is extribly associated wh leather-clad inic hero Tom of Fland, whose books pict a ggedly sexualised masculy durg a time pre-1971 when homosexualy was still illegal.

Now you n take a tour of where thor Too Laaksonen lived his whole adult life, passg the Kansalaistori (People’s Square) ont of parliament, once a clanste meetg pot for gay karaoke fans should check out Mann’s Street, a boozy stutn; other fun spots are Street Pri the Kamppi district, and Kvääristö, a jot for queer women, transgenr, and non-bary people.

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

5ln people each year, cludg 300, 000 overseas self is one of the most LGBTQ-iendly untri the world: same-sex sexual activy was ma legal 1979, and was the third untry to legalise gay marriage, 2005. First stop has to be Chue, Madrid’s “gaybourhood” wh bars and venu dotted around Plaza Chue (also don’t miss the recently refurbished Merdo San Antón for tasty food stalls and a rooftop terrace). A gay male uple Sarajevo, Kenan, a Bosnian, and Milan, a Serb, plan to emigrate to the gay-iendly Netherlands, but the war strands them Serb-ntrolled terrory, and Kenan adopts female drag to avoid beg found out as a circumcised Mlim.

THE GAY PRI EVENTS EUROPE WORTH TRAVELLG FOR 2022

In Fe Dead Girls Iva and Marija move to an apartment buildg that is home to a rogu' gallery of characters: a war veteran sufferg om post-trmatic strs, a prostute paid to break up the uple by a prit who is one girl's father, a homophobic gon of an apartment manager, and her son, a slacker mama's boy who rap one of the pair to prove his masculy. Through credibly hont terviews wh gays, gay rights lears--and blatant homophob--director Vladislav Kvasnicka has created a film that ptur the nocence of an cipient social movement as well as a chillg look at the culture they're up agast. 1992: Germany: 90 mut: Gay Transvte: Bgraphil Drama: Te life story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, the bt known transvte East Germany; a symbol of bravery and ialism for today's German lbians and gays.

Disturbgly, the film not only ends wh vigt of three happy straight upl, leavg the fate of the lbian affair open to speculatn, but also hts at the evil father's latent homosexualy, prumably ed by a childhood moltatn an orphanage. ILGA-Europe is the European Regn of ILGA, the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn and is a drivg force for polil, legal and social change Europe and Central Asia.

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.

10 GAYT COUNTRI EUROPE

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. 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.

ONE INTERRACIAL GAY COUPLE TRI TO TRAVEL FEARLSLY — AND SOMETIM FDS ACCEPTANCE SURPRISG PLAC

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. LuxembourgAdolphe Bridge Luxembourg CyNilas Enomou / NurPhoto via Getty Imag fileLuxembourg’s prime mister, Xavier Bettel, is one of only three openly gay heads of ernment the world.

SPREAD OF MULTIDG-RISTANT SHIGELLA EU/EEA AMONG GAY, BISEXUAL AND OTHER MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN

Nilas Enomou / NurPhoto via Getty Imag fileA new bridge beg built Belgium’s pal, Bssels, will be named after inic gay rights activist Suzan Daniel, who found the untry’s first LGBTQ associatn, acrdg to The Bssels Tim. Europe is set to explo wh LGBTQ+ energy this June as Gay Pri events kick off ci across the of the vibrant celebratns are returng after beg ncelled for two years nng amid the ronavis panmic.

Followg the para, many participants will head to Via San Gvanni Laterano, dubbed Rome’s gay street, to ntue celebratg s many gay bars and clubs will host special events that extend the ftivi well to the night when the whole street normally be one big open air party. Cologne Gay Pri is the biggt LGBTQ+ celebratn Germany and will beg mid June this events will last a ltle over two weeks and will clu sports tournaments, nferenc, readgs and lots of ma events will take place durg the first weekend of July.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

In a gture of solidary wh Ukrae, the participants of both events will march together Equaly Para, which has been held the pal sce 2001, is the largt gay pri para central Europe.

Wh a long-standg reputatn as one of the world's most liberal ci, Amsterdam is a welg place for LGBT travellers, wh a host of gay-iendly tablishments jt wag to be explored. Wanr along picturque nals and admire the cy's distctive archecture before checkg out the btlg gay bars the Amstel and Kerkstraat areas, and along Regulliersdwarsstraat.

Copenhagen is also home to the olst openly gay bar Europe, and has even named the space next to Cy Hall Tower 'Rabow Square' to honour the ongog battle for equal rights. There's plenty of gay-iendly acmodatn, bars and eatg plac around the island, as well as the famo Super Paradise Beach, a popular hang-out for gay and straight visors alike.