First gay museum in the U.S. opens in San Francisco

by Sean McLachlan on

Less than a month after President Obama repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the U.S. has gotten its first gay museum. The GLBT History Museum is located in the Castro District of San Francisco. Run by the GLBT Historical Society, it features 1,600 sq. ft. of exhibition and activity space.

Yesterday was its grand opening and visitors got to see two exhibitions: Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History and Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives.

The GLBT Historical Society has some history of its own. It was founded in 1985 and has one of the largest archives of its kind. Currently there is only one other gay museum in the world. The Schwules Museum in Berlin is the first museum dedicated exclusively to GLBT history. It had its first exhibition in the Berlin Museum in 1984 and moved to its own space in 1985.

[Photo courtesy GLBT Historical Society ]

Mexico City offers free honeymoon to first gay couple married in Argentina

by Sean McLachlan on

This week Argentina legalized gay marriage, the first Latin American country do so. Civil unions are legal in Uruguay, but Argentina’s move puts same-sex marriages on the same footing with straight ones, with same-sex couples being allowed to adopt.

Mexico City, where gay marriages are also legal, has marked the occasion by offering a free honeymoon to the first gay couple married in Argentina. Both Mexico City and Buenos Aires are considered gay-friendly tourist destinations.

Mexico City’s tourism secretary Alejandro Rojas said in a recent interview that he hopes gay couples will see his city as a destination for getting married and spending their honeymoon. His office is encouraging tour operators to create package tours especially tailored to same-sex couples. The city is also putting its money where its mouth is by investing in gay-friendly hotels and other businesses.

Photo courtesy user zackly76 via Gadling’s flickr pool.

Washington DC to become gay marriage destination

by Tom Johansmeyer on

A new bill passed by the Washington, D.C. city council is already getting the hotel community excited over the possibilities. When Mayor Adrian Fenty signs it into law, gay marriage will be legal in our nation’s capital. For the hotel industry, that means a larger market from which to draw wedding clients and pump up some revenue in what has been a dismal market for the travel and hospitality industry.

It looks like March is the earliest the law could take effect. Even though it’s still a few months away, that isn’t nearly enough time to plan a wedding! But, the deals are nonetheless starting to pop up. The Affinia Liaison Capitol Hill is celebrating by extending its Pride Package rates for a year, to December 31, 2010. The rates start at $199 a night and include daily breakfast for two at Art and Soul restaurant and champagne cocktails for two from ArtBar. And, for each package booked, the hotel is going to donate $10 to White Knot for Equality, a non-profit that’s working for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community.

Remember to use the code PRIDE when you book your room!

[Photo by Keshet: GLBT inclusion in the Jewish Community]

Activist calls for Utah boycott after California passes Prop 8

by Meg Massie on

We’ve noticed a sharp drop in the cost of traveling to Utah — could it be because the state is trying to hedge against a tourism boycott for its role in the recent elections? It wasn’t Utah’s doing, exactly, but the Mormon Church, which makes up over 60% of Utah’s population, poured millions of dollars and hours of grassroots campaigning into passing California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state.

Activist and blogger John Aravosis of americablog.com blames Utah Mormons for taking away rights, and suggests that a boycott of Utah tourism is a good way to show dissatisfaction for the LDS church’s role in passing Proposition 8. He’s calling for skiers to choose anywhere but Utah this winter, and he’s even urging Hollywood to back out of the annual Sundance Film Festival, which makes up a huge part of Utah’s $6 billion annual tourism income.

While gay rights groups have not yet weighed in on the idea of a boycott, other individuals and websites are latching onto the cause, and the backlash against the Mormon Church and the state of Utah by extension has been intense. Aravosis and his supporters can’t reasonably expect to change the church’s view on gay marriage, but he says he intends to go after the “Utah brand,” calling it a “hate state.” He does not call for a boycott of California, saying “the Californians are the victims and the Mormons are the persecutors.” A boycott may not get Utah Mormons to change their minds about gay rights, but Aravosis hopes it will at least get them to stop trying to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of the world.