Miscellaneous Forum

Hi All

I am looking to chat to and perhaps meet other gay folks during my next around the world trip which will happen in December/January
So far My itinerary looks like this:
Seattle,Jasper,Banff,Toronto,QuebecCity,Boston,Reykjavík,Tromso,Zurich,Berlin,Bucharest,Brasov,Istanbul and Hong Kong

If you live in any of those places or will be visiting around the same time please message me!

Also looking to chat to gay guys in general from anywhere around the world to build a nice network of friendship for when i travel

So what's wrong with us hetros??

;)

You are unpredictable and i don't want to run the risk of running into homophobes

Ha ha. That sounds straightist to me (if there is such a thing).

Seriously though, I just got back from a holiday where there were an openly gay couple in the hotel and frankly..so what? Do you still get a lot of homophobia?

Of course there is lots of homophobia all over the world.
Most people would like us to be dead while others treat us the same ways jewish people were treated during world war two or how black people were treated in the USA in the old days. Only when my legal rights will be the same as yours
i will stop doubting straight people and whether they have nice or bad intentions

Piero,

As an openly gay couple who have traveled all over the world, I can share some of your sentiments as to feeling some unease, depending on what part of the world (Egypt for instance) we travel to.
There is a certain sense of hesitation and feeling like one has to "adapt" and be hesitant due to persecution and possible aggression.
It is not a comfotable feeling with which to travel.
Having said that, we've run into very few places such as this and, even in Egypt, we felt very welcomed and were not discouraged by our sexuality when it came time to enoying our travel experience.

Thankfully, the world IS changing. Society is becoming more tolerable and, it's through education and exposure rather than fear and cross discrimination/persecution that whe (as gay men/women) change people's opinions towards ourselves.
We do not automatically expect that the "straight" person I will be meeting on a trip will be having negative thoughts about my partner Ed and I, but rather, assume they are going to be viewing us as equals when they meet us.
If I sense any differently, then I/we give them a wide berth, shrug it off and continue our journey as if they do not exist.

There are many fine organizations dealing with gay travel.
If you google "Gay Travel" :

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=gay+travel&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

or, narrow the search for "Gay Travel <followed by the area you wish to travel to>" you will find tours catering to us in that particular part of the world.

Keep a positive outlook. People, as a whole, are great and our world is changing!

Hi Piero
Welcome to VT
Here in Virtual Tourist we often get together and we meet each other around the world .
We do have people from around the world that meet each other and we do not discriminate against anyone of color religion or sexual orientation .
We have some real wonderful gay couples here in VT and I suggest to you to get familiar with how VT works and make some friends and build up a friendship
It will be very helpful for you if you made some travel pages and if you would tell other Vt's a little about your travels
You will find out what a wonderful place VT is
Good Luck to you Piero and have fun in VT .

Hansi

Hi Homer
I am sorry
I just did not scroll down far enough
I did not read your post yet when I wrote mine
But I don't think that made a difference eh .
Happy 4th of July to you and Ed Homer

Hansi

Thank you Hansi.

I think we cross posted as yours wasn't showing up when I posted mine as well.
How is Lori-Pori?
You guys (and the rest of the gang in Portsmouth) are a perfect example of VERY tolerant and enjoyable people we met w/out ANY hesitation during our VT meet!
In fact, I believe Ed and I were the only gay person(s) at the meet and had a blast!
*NOTE* as is often, the gay men got to dance with most of the women! hahaha

Yes Homer .
That indeed was a GREAT time ,and you wanna see a Gay guy doing AWESOME Dancing .
Haha it is Mark ,Hikerpark in VT littlesam's Larry 's partner
He is just AWESOME to watch

I think Homer that you prob also have some great ''moves'' .
Sure Gay men dance with women and visa versa of course and why not eh .
Me I would dance with anyone ,I am just a BIG show off on a Dance floor

Ciaooo

Hansi

OMG! Homer and Ed are GAY???

How can you tell? Why did nobody tell me? I mean I talk to Homer on the internet. I bet it's his fault my PC got a virus not all those other sites my IT department said.....ooops!

Anyway, Ed and Homer eh? Who'da thought.

hahaha Andrew, funny you should say that.
I had my computer crash a couple months ago from a nasty virus that a STR8 friend of mine sent inadvertently (is that a word)? on one of her attachments!

Ok, ok...so, the attachment was of hunky firemen calendars she thought I would enjoy...

Most people would like us to be dead while others treat us the same ways jewish people were treated during world war two or how black people were treated in the USA in the old days.
>
>
Hold on, that's something of an extreme analysis, I think. You have grouped the heterosexual majority into only two categories. You're forgetting about those who are specifically supportive of gay people, as well as those who are utterly uninterested in which team a person is batting for and try to see people as individuals.

Personally, I'm probably in the last category. Half of my closest friends are gay. They are not my friends because I hold views supportive of equality and fairness, although I do. They are my friends first and they happen to be gay. They would be my friends regardless of which trousers group they are interesed in.

And yes, my response does not relate to the original question, but the above remark is well worth challenging.

Innanzitutto questo è un sito per viaggiatori. Quando uno viaggia cosa gliene frega delle preferenze sessuali altrui?

Welcome Piero!

Welcome to VT Piero.

It's true about all the women wanting to dance with the gay men and on this website our gay men are amongst the most popular VTrs of all.

"You are unpredictable and i don't want to run the risk of running into homophobes."

Since you'll be visiting my city of Seattle first (good choice and welcome!), I would like to say that most of us heteros are pretty predictable here in this rather liberal city -- we just don't give a hoot what your specific orientation is. So don't be paranoid, and just enjoy yourself. Many of our gay community members visit the great night-spots, bars and restaurants in the neighborhood called Capitol Hill (but so do us most-dreaded heteros). I think you will have a very good time if you forget your worries and just relax and enjoy your travels, wherever they take you.

"You are unpredictable and i don't want to run the risk of running into homophobes" LOL! That's rich. ~

How is that rich! Do you live in denial about the current status of things in the world?

Are you being snarky?? ~

Not really - i am just surprised by why people think it's so odd that i am seeking other gay folks on this thread

"...i am just surprised by why people think it's so odd that i am seeking other gay folks on this thread" I'm surprised this thread even existed this long and didn't get deleted the minute it posted. I saw it post. First, this is not a gender/race/sexual orientation specific site. It's an all encompassing site. I've been here 6 years and I don't think I can recall another post that has lasted this long wherein someone says, I want to meet other blah, blah, blah's to travel with. No one that I know of has come here and said, I want to meet other lesbians, blacks, whites, asians, whatever, etc. to travel with. It is discriminatory. This is not CraigsList or Yahoo personals. Secondly, I think the answers here were welcoming and not odd. Your second poster, Homeanded, are openly gay here and everywhere. They gave you great advice. There are other same sex couples and singles on here as well. They respect the rules and guidelines set up by VT. If you have an issue, take it up with VT management. Otherwise, enjoy your time here on VT. It's a great travel site. ~

All right, i ll just stick to travel questions in this site then :)

Welcome to VT, Piero. You may find the following sites helpful when visiting Toronto.

http://www.funmaps.com/index.cgi/nextState=DestinationDisplay/where:geographicalLocation=19

http://www.gaygetter.com/gaygetter-d3/establishment-list.php?gls=toronto

Toronto's Gay Pride parade was held last weekend; it was lively and colorful.

There's nothing wrong with the original question IMO. I'd like to see you quote which VT rule is being broken! People are free to meet whoever they want to and whoever they feel most comfortable with. If a woman asked to meet other women on her travels there would be very few raised eyebrows. You can't deny that, however much things have changed for the better over the last 40 years, sexism, homophobia etc. still exist.

All that being said, in my experience the community of members here on VT are generally very liberal, good humoured, welcoming and open minded.

"All right, i ll just stick to travel questions in this site then :)" Sure, if you only hang out in the travel forum here. ~

Sean: You really need to go back and re-read my answer and not interject your own personal viewpoint into what I wrote. After that, if you have an objection, then go back and read: 2. "User Agreement", specifically under points ii and iii. Keeping in mind that VT operates under the laws of California, United States of America.(#22.) If you still have an issue, then read points #3 and # 4. Failing all that, then contact VT for further clarification. ~

I actually read point 2 and 3 of the user agreement, so which part of it have i broken? Would you care to specify because i can't really see any infractions from my side

Unlike heterosexuals, my chances of meeting people of my same orientation are quite limited in everyday life, so would you like to take this away from me as well?

And I agree with the comment from the user above who said that if it were a woman searching for a travel companion no eyebrows would have been raised

I can understand Piero's original post of wanting to meet other gay travelers.
I do not believe he meant it as a "dating" post so much as a post about getting to meet other like minded/same sexual orientation travelers with whom he would feel more comfortable traveling.
Basically, in the same manner elderly would want to meet and travel with other elderly couples (elderly tours), single women with other single women, Christian men with other Christian men...etc.
I do not see anything offensive in that respect.

I DO agree however that generalizing fear of persecution and automatic discrimination is wrongly appointed, as is lumping every heterosexual person into a category where "most" would like to see us dead or, are treating us as WWII treated people (I assume you're talking about the Nazi/Jewish persecution), or, discriminatory actions set against blacks here in our country.

I truly do believe change begins within us. Giving people the benefit of the doubt, putting our best foot forward and having faith in people and the world in general.
Although yes, it is true that in many parts of the world homophobia reigns and being one's self is reason for fearing even simple outings (pardon the pun), it is equally true that in *most* places where Ed and I have traveled, we've done so w/out any worries or incidents.

Here is a tricky part: Extra precaution must be taken and that is not always an easy burden to carry on one's shoulder, especially if we are two people in love and wanton of sharing a special moment.
Many things taken for granted by heterosexuals, such as posing for a picture, hugging or, holding hands or sharing an intimate moment such as sharing a rose between two at dinner in a cafe at the Khan el Khalil bazaar in Cairo is a sure way to get us possibly beaten up or worse.
Equally we keep in mind that unmarried heterosexual couples requesting a single room in Egypt, without proof of marriage such as a wedding band and very often, a marriage certificate or proof of same sur name is equally frowned upon. It is just part of the culture.

In parts of Asia, Ed and I had a very difficult time (especially China), getting a room with one single Queen sized or King sized bed even though that is what we'd originally requested and booked.
When we'd go to check in, they'd look at us and say: "Oh, mistake" and assign us a room with 2 single beds.
Perhaps a small inconvenience to some on here but, a constant reminder that we're viewed as "wrong" and "unnatural" in many places of the world.
I'm not talking about blatant displays of affection (I don't condone this in heterosexual pairings either), I am speaking of simple, personal nuances which go into a relationship and help make a trip memorable.

Piero, in order to get the most of your experiences, the only advice I can give you is to try and be yourself.
Unfortunately, yes, be wary when traveling to certain areas of the world but be equally aware and thankful that those places stand as a more archaic "way it used to be" rather than an is.
If there is any way in which I can possibly help in the future and perhaps help you research future travel plans, please do not hesitate to email and ask.
I'd be more than happy, as would most folks here on VT. I know, I've been here a while now.

Homer (and Ed)

Piero, my original answer to your question was meant purely tongue in cheek and if I started all this then sorry. But VT is about tolerance and friendship and I hope you meet lots of hetero VTers on your travels too.
Certainly if you find yourself in Shropshire, England then give me a shout and I'll show you around.

Andrew, you didn't start anything. I think the thread is very interesting and has some very good feedback.

hey to throw my two cents in, i'd love a gay friend, black friend, white friend whatever....... a friend. forget the classes and just call, email me, if you ever visit down south western australia. Isn't that what vt is, like minded people sharing. Ive travelled as a kid, sister, mother and wife and really it didnt change anything, ive seen the same sites etc. its not who we are but who we meet by chance.

enjoy travelling!