Salut, dudes! As I pointed out in my May 4th post, Montreal is horny for gay business – but I didn’t realize quite how horny until I heard about the 45-second video ad recently launched online by Tourisme Montréal. A scruffy, longhaired, and totally cute dude – presumably the “Dave” of the title, and yes, I am at least as cute as he is — is standing on a distinguished street in front of a horsedrawn tourist buggy.  

There he is, droning on fetchingly on about how there’s so much more to the city than the fabulous gay scene. Meanwhile, behind him, the buggy starts shaking, rattling and rolling, until finally two other hot dudes emerge from under the canopy, straightening their clothes in that unmistakable way, just as narrator boy concludes, “Montreal has this anything-goes reputation, but if you ask me, I think it’s a little exaggerated.” (Click on the image above to check it out).

Last I heard, the tourism folks claim they only got a single complaint. Canada’s far from perfect, but could you imagine even New York or San Francisco getting away with this?

Let me say again: if you haven’t been, put it on your list for next spring or summer. And don’t forget to take along Gay French for Love & Hookups!

Yours truly,

The Other Dave

Whew, what a relief – the United States (and the world) has been saved from a more or less continuation of the catastrophe of the last eight years; gained a historic milestone with its first black President-elect; made Congress less anti-gay; and chosen the less anti-gay presidential ticket, one that for the most part will not actively obstruct equal rights for all (though let’s not forget, Barack may have given us a shout-out in Grant Park, but both he and Biden still give the backs of their hands to equal marriage rights).

But at the same time, it’s painfully apparent that homophobia is still alive and vibrantly stupid, mean-spirited, and scared in this country. The latest slap in the face was the ardent desire of a majority of the electorates of Florida, Arizona, and – especially sad and surprising – California. And despite the fact that Florida and California were key in helping put Obama-Biden over the top, they also screwed the GL community in the bottom – by a fairly narrow margin in California but by large margins in Florida (nearly 2/3 of the electorate) and Arizona (more than half). That means a lot of Obama voters think that fags and dykes need and deserve to stay at the back of the bus.

Speaking as a member of the travel media, it’s not easy for me to propose this, but our community needs to send a message to a pair of states that have profited handsomely from not just from the considerable contributions and taxes of its gay and lesbian citizens but from lesbian and gay tourism from the rest of the United States and the world. That message can only come in the form of a travel boycott to register our shock, dismay, and anger over the nasty desperation of a majority of Californians and Floridians to enshrine discrimination in their state constitutions. We here at GayBabel and I in my other writing will for the foreseeable future not be covering or promoting travel to Florida, California, or Arizona, and we will be seeking to move our base of operations out of Florida as soon as is feasible.

Yes, unfortunately the statewide boycott is a blunt instrument – it’s certainly not fair to penalize places like Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Miami Beach, Palm Springs, Sedona, and San Francisco for the bigotry of their states’ majorities, but this kind of politics works at the state level, and we have to address it at the state level. And I don’t expect much support from the gay media; friends and acquaintances I’ve spoken to about it are understandably reluctant because they draw a lot of advertising from gay tourism businesses in these states. Never mind that such a boycott could be a wakeup call to help light a fire under local gay communities that they are enabling discrimination against themselves unless they really mobilize and make their fellow citizens realize that bigotry has a real cost. It will cost advertising, and pocketbook trumps principle.

But as for you, dear reader, there are plenty of other marvelous places that welcome you and your relationships openly and proudly. I recommend you give them your business instead, spending your money and expanding your horizons in visiting places where you are not hated and feared. Life is too short.

Yours truly,
Dave

Even as lots of folks are cutting back on travel during these tougher economic times, there’s one group that has done so notably less: fags ’n’ dykes — for whatever reason, whether it’s because they’ve got more of the travel bug or just fewer family responsibilities. And increasingly, “mainstream” travel sellers are not only taking notice but jumping into the gay tourism market with downright gusto, finally graduating from token offerings to some real substance.

Just over a week ago, a venerable travel wholesaler called Happy Vacations became the first to roll out an elaborate, comprehensive line of trips n tours designed just for us – and they even put it front and center on their Web site home page, unlike other travel vendors who discreetly tuck their gay/lesbian sections away so as to not scare the horses. Then lo and behold, this week another longtime mainstream outfit called Certified Vacations announced that it’s teaming up with the Damron Guides to launch its own GLBT brand.

Happy’s brand, called Life Journeys Vacations, seems to be concentrating for now on the Pacific and Latin America, with programs to Australia, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Mexico, New Zealand, and Tahiti. Nifty extras include a honeymoon (homomoon?) registry and donating part of your booking fee to a foundation they’ve set up to help queer causes. Meanwhile, the starting lineup at Damron Vacations includes select spots in Europe (Barcelona, London, Paris), Mexico (Cancun, Puerto Vallarta), the Pacific (Hawaii), and the U.S./Canada (Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Las Vegas, Miami, Montreal, New York, San Francisco – what, no Branson??).

Who knows, if this trend continues, the second decade of the 21st century could turn into a Golden Age of Gay Travel…or would it be a Lavender Age…?

Yours truly,
Dave