The Air New Zealand Pink Party Plane is back for 2009!

by Scott Carmichael on

Air New Zealand is once again flying their pink party plane for the 2009 Sydney Mardi Gras. We’ve covered the party plane before, but it is clearly a success, as they keep bringing it back for more fun!

Tickets for the flight start at $978, and include the flight from San Francisco to Auckland, and a 3 1/2 hour party flight from Auckland to Sydney.

The party flight includes cocktails, canapes, entertainment and a little “beauty rest”. Before departure the airline gets the party started with a glamor gate event.

If $978 is a little out of reach, why not try your luck in the Air New Zealand party flight sweepstakes, which includes the flight for two, and three nights in a Sydney hotel!

If you want an idea just how insane this flight is – check out this Youtube clip of the 2008 party plane. The Pink Party Plane booking site is here.

Other tales from the skies
Amazing and insane stories from a real-life flight attendant and co-pilot

Gay Soccer invades Latin America

by Martha Edwards on

This week, Buenos Aires is hosting a unique and no doubt fun event — the gay ‘World Cup’ of soccer. Nine teams from the US will compete against five teams from the UK, four from Argentina and one each from Chile, Uruguay and Mexico. There are also a number of city squads teams from around the world — The New York Ramblers, Vancouver’s Out for Kicks and the Sydney Rangers for instance.

Even though Buenos Aires is considered one of the most ‘Gay-Friendly’ cities in the world, it’s the first time a city in South American has hosted the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Soccer Championships — past host cities include London, Copenhagen, Chicago, San Francisco and Sydney. The event has been going strong since 1991.

The final game is happening this Saturday, September 29th, so if you’re lucky enough to be in Buenos Aires, be prepared for a party!

Queens in the Kingdom

by Iva Skoch on

USA Today recently interviewed the authors of a new gay-persons guide to the Disney Theme Parks, called Queens in the Kingdom.

Jeffrey Epstein and Eddie Shapiro talk about Disney’s recent announcement that they’ll allow “Fairy Tale” weddings for same-sex couples. (Actually, since California and Florida don’t allow actual weddings for same-sex couples, they’ll be “commitment ceremonies.”)

They also hit upon their favorite park locales, including Ellen DeGeneres’ Energy Adventure and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. They should know, they’ve been to the parks 784,012 times.

Gay? Cleveland, Ohio Wants You!

by Willy Volk on

Cleveland, Ohio’s tourism officials are working feverishly to bring gay visitors to the city. Working in conjunction with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Greater Cleveland, Cleveland’s Convention and Visitors Bureau is designing a travel guide that spotlights gay-owned or gay-friendly nightclubs, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses. The guide should be finished this year. In reality, Cleveland has a sizable, active gay community, so finding businesses to participate should be no problem.

Visitors bureau spokeswoman Samantha Fryberger said the guide might create controversy, especially since the state bans gay marriage. However, Fryberger counters that some people took offense last year when the traditionally Democratic city actively pursued the Republican National Convention. In other words, the city seems to be adopting a “live and let live” approach.

No Kissing On American Airlines?

by Adrienne Wilson on

It’s been almost a year since the shocking Lorrie Heasley story. Remember the woman removed from a Southwest Airlines flight in Reno when she refused to take off or cover her offensive “Meet the F*ckers” shirt? It caused quite a stir then, and as of late, another airline has been raising a ruckus in the gay community it seems. The New Yorker runs a rather detailed piece on an incident where George Tsikhiseli, a television journalist, and his writer boyfriend, Stephan Varnier, were told the plane would be diverted if they did not drop the issue of touching and kissing on the plane.

Let me backtrack. The two passengers were on their way back into NYC from Paris when Varnier started dozing off and leaned his head on his partner Tsikhiseli. A stewardess came over and told them the purser said to stop the touching and kissing. The two passengers noted there was no kiss kissing, just mwah (smacking sound). When questioned, the purser also became rigid on the subject. Later, the purser informed Tsikhiseli that the captain would like to talk to him. The captain informed Tsikhiseli that if he didn’t stop arguing with the crew, the plane would be diverted. Now, what I’ve just provided is a very through-the-grapevine look at the story, so I suggest you read the entire deal over at the New Yorker.

If power truly rests in numbers and this story were to get into the hands of the entire gay community, I would think American Airlines screwed up, but overall the situation just sounds overly bizarre.

via WorldHum