London opens its first gay tourist office

by Scott Carmichael on

Following the trend of other European cities, London recently opened the doors of its first gay tourist office.

The office is located at 30 Lisle Street, and offers LGBT specific information, as well as ticketing services for London attractions.

According to centre (note the UK spelling) director Shaun Newport, London has the best LGBT life in the world, and the office is eager to show that to local, national and international visitors.

Amsterdam opened its first gay tourist information center last month, and LGBT tourists planning to visit the Dutch capital can order a special gay Amsterdam information kit for free.

Amsterdam says “we are all gay” – begs gays to visit them

by Scott Carmichael on

The Dutch tourist bureau is reaching out to American gays by trying to convince them that “everyone is gay in Amsterdam”.

The bureau says that gays are one of the few remaining tourist groups with any disposable income left, and they are trying to paint Amsterdam as a very gay friendly city in the hope that they’ll make the trip and spend their cash in the Dutch capital.

To deliver their message, they’ll be inviting the gay community in the US to visit Amsterdam using TV commercials and magazine ads.

Gay TV channel “Here TV” is even planning to show a documentary about gay friendly Amsterdam.

Of course, the whole promotion could also have something to do with the fact that Amsterdam really isn’t as gay friendly as it used to be, and that many other European cities have bypassed them.

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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.

Insults against religion in Italy can get you jail time: Just ask Italian comedienne

by Jamie Rhein on

I just heard about the Italian comedienne who is facing jail time in Italy for insulting the pope. In Italy, there are laws against insulting religion. If you tell a joke that is against the pope, it can land you in hot water.

According to the story, Italian comedienne, Sabina Guzzanti, a presenter at a rally in Rome this past July, made a joke about what could happen in the after-life to popes who are against gay rights. Now she is facing five years in jail.

Italy is not the only country where people mind their Ps and Qs when talking about certain people and regulations or habits are in place to command respect.

In Thailand, for example, before each movie, there is an ode to the king before the feature film. The audience members stand throughout the king’s anthem and photo montage of images depicting aspects of his life. There isn’t a law that says you have to stand, but everyone does–even tourists like me.

If you don’t stand for the king before a movie, you may feel a bit silly sitting in a sea of waists and legs, but that’s about the worst that can happen, I imagine. If you head to Italy, it seems like when it comes to religion, follow the adage, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

[Here’s an article I came across about the habit of standing up in movies to pay tribute to the king.]

7 gravest threats facing America, according to GQ (It’s not Capri pants)

by Iva Skoch on

I admit it. I actually got the 50 Anniversary Issue of GQ with the big “50 Most Stylish Men of the past 50 years” title on the cover. The cover page comes in 10 mutations, ranging from Michael Jordan to JFK. I got Johnny Depp because he lives in France…and that’s how this is all related to travel, in case you were wondering. (I also got it because Johnny Depp is, you know, Johnny Depp.)

Here is what Gentlemen’s Quarterly thinks the Gravest Threats to America are:

  1. The Media (“I like my truth like my coffee: black or white. Shades of gray are for brain tissue and for the weak. neither has a place in the News Business.”)
  2. Immigrants (“Yes, Virginia, there is a right kind of foreigner. The kind who comes to America, loses his brogue, and creates US Steel”)
  3. Divorce (“Walk it off. Work it out. Thirty day return policy and then no exchanges.”)
  4. The Homosexual Agenda (“I am perfectly fine with someone being gay as long as he marries a woman and has kids like the rest of us.”)
  5. Race (“The worst thing about affirmative action is that it encourages reverse discrimination, so-called because it goes in the opposite way of how we naturally discriminate.”)
  6. Religion (“America is a Christian nation…Think of Judeo-Christian values like ‘Sears, Roebuck and Co.’ Judaism is Roebuck.”)
  7. Evolution (“Just because Darwin was a sick twist with a God Complex doesn’t mean you have to buy into this power trip.”)

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Although funny, it is ignorant and oversimplified. At the same time, these seven points nicely sum up what America doesn’t want the rest of the world to know about America, don’t they?