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Less than a month after President Obama repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the U.S. has gotten its first gay museum.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.

Uganda: the latest not so gay-friendly destination

by Andrew Evans on

While every city council and national tourist board seems to know the equation gay + traveler = big bucks, the central African nation of Uganda wants none of it. A controversial bill may soon pass that would not only outlaw homosexuality, but would also impose the death penalty against certain “offenders” and make it criminal to not report known homosexuals.

Whence in Africa, most gay travelers know to keep it on the down low, however the new legislation would be sure to sniff them out by criminalizing anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality”. If convicted, people who know gay people would face seven years in prison. That includes hotel owners and landlords who rent rooms to homosexuals.

So forget Utah, the gay witch hunt of the century will occur in lovely Uganda, land of gun-toting child missionaries and toxic breasts.

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]

Christians protest transssexual Jesus

by Sean McLachlan on

A play in Glasgow, Scotland, has sparked an angry protest by local Christians. Jesus Queen of Heaven depicts Jesus as a transsexual woman and is part of the Glasgay! Festival celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered culture.

The festival, which runs through November 8, features plays, music, dance, comedy, and many other events and has drawn artists from around the world. The annual festival has been held since 1993, attracts more than 20,000 visitors, and receives partial funding from national and municipal arts councils.

While gay arts festivals and the inevitable protests against them are nothing new, Jesus Queen of Heaven has drawn special ire. The play, written and performed by leading transgendered artist Jo Clifford, looks at her personal path to faith as a transgendered person.

The description of the play begins, “Jesus is a transsexual woman. And it is now she walks the earth. This is a play with music that presents her sayings, her miracles, and her testimony. And she does not condemn the gays or the queers or the trans women or the trans men, and no, not the straight women nor the straight men neither. Because she is the Daughter of God, most certainly, and almost as certainly the son also. And God’s child condemns nobody. She can only love…”

About 300 Christians, on the other hand, felt differently. They held a candlelight vigil outside the Tron Theatre last night, holding signs protesting the use of public funds for the festival and Clifford’s depiction of Jesus. One read “God: My Son Is Not A Pervert.” It is not clear if the sign was written by the protester or was a direct quote from the Almighty.

If November sounds like a bad time to go to Scotland, there’s always Pride Scotia in June, a ten-day national LGBT event that culminates in a massive parade in Edinburgh. If you really want make sure you’ll be partying in the sun, head south to Madrid, where the Orgullo (“Pride”) festival is held in the toasty months of late June and early July.