Gay Romania – The Nomadic Boys

Gay Romania - The Nomadic Boys

Romania, the homeland for the goths at heart.

After all, the central region of Transylvania is the inspiration for the legendary novel “Dracula”. Hands up, who didn’t have a vampire phase? What gay teenager didn’t pine after Robert Pattinson in “Twilight”? But despite its cryptic and haunting backdrop, Romania as a whole is delightfully pleasant. 

With cities that reflect the medieval villages we see in the history books, locals that are passionate about life, streets that are bursting with character and natural scenery, Romania took our breath away and completely surprised us! Not to mention all the many charming old churches, the range of delicious food and the friendly locals. For us, Romania embodies all that is magical about Eastern Europe. 

From the outset, we knew Romania wasn’t the most gay-friendly country that we’ve been to. Yet despite this, we found several queer hangouts in the main big cities, especially in Bucharest. Plus, when we did find these spaces, we found them to be just as erratic, wild and party-centric as they would be in London, Barcelona or New York. If not more so!

We’ve put together this LGBTQ country guide for Romania based on our personal experience to help inspire gay travellers wanting to see just what Romania has to offer.

How welcoming is Gay Romania?

Romania generally is not the most gay friendly country in Europe. Homophobia is rife and we certainly felt it as a gay couple travelling around the country. The most obvious example was when we contacted several hotels prior to visiting, asking them whether they’re ok to host a gay couple.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Gay Georgia – The Nomadic Boys

Gay Georgia - The Nomadic Boys

A country right after our own hearts…

Georgians love all things wine, cheese and more wine. We decided to nourish our inner queens and spend a few weeks exploring this underrated ex-Soviet country, admiring the stunning landscapes, dining on delicious gourmet food, trying plenty of the famous Georgian wine, visiting castles and towers, and even squeezing in a few nights out in the gay bars of Tbilisi. 

With an epic backdrop that consists of looming mountains, ancient buildings, cobbled streets and bespoke restaurants, the cities of Georgia are never out of touch with nature. Even architecture snobs will be won over by the charming design of the Renaissance-style buildings in Tbilisi, the Stone Age style houses in Ushguli and the ‘city of caves’ in Vardzia. 

We’ve compiled a list of the best things to do for gay travellers to Georgia, which include trekking through the mountains of Kazbegi (our personal highlight!), visiting the former Georgian capital of Mtskheta, and of course, embarking on a wine tasting tour! 

LGBTQ Rights in Gay Georgia

When it comes to treatment towards LGBTQ people, let’s just say Georgia doesn’t have the sparkliest track record. Many Georgians consider queerness as a deviation from traditional ways of living. In a Pew Research Centre survey about the acceptance of homosexuality in East Europe carried out in 2015/2016, Georgia ranked as one of the least tolerant countries: a whopping 93% of the Georgians polled agreed that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. In addition, public events like Pride are often met with backlash and gay people don’t have the legal right to marry, enter a civil union or serve openly in the army.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Red Means Danger

queer travel risk map

Do you enjoy ‘non-traditional sexual relationships’? Then mind where you travel. Over the last two decades, same-sex marriage and legal protection for the LGBTI community has become commonplace throughout many countries. But that has only widened the gulf with other parts of the world, where homosexuality remains illegal, criminal and in some cases even punishable by death.

This map was published by the Australian company Travel Insurance Direct as a risk guide for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex tourists and travellers.

Coded in the colours of the rainbow flag, the map ranks countries from places with the broadest legal recognition and protection (purple) to those where the law is used to prosecute rather than protect LGBTI people (red).

By Frank Jacobs – Full Story at Big Think

Traveling While Queer

Traveling While Queer

Do you get excited at the thought of packing up the car and heading home for the holidays or setting off on a cross-country road trip? I don’t.

When my girlfriend, Lara, and I travel on the road, we have to take precautions. We’re constantly on guard against strangers. Lara is a transgender woman of color, and at rest stops I’m never far from her side, guarding her like a Secret Service agent. Lara doesn’t want to stop at gas stations, and she’ll have me pump gas so that no one can see her and try to size her up.

Late one evening this year, Lara and I were driving home to Charlotte, N.C., from Wilmington, N.C., a three-hour trip. We stopped at a service station in a small town called Whiteville. As I filled the tank and Lara sat in the car, I saw a group of people who could have been extras on “Duck Dynasty” gathered by two pickup trucks. I could feel them glaring at us.

One truck screeched out of the gas station, while the other remained. I got into the passenger seat without telling Lara what I saw and fell asleep. About an hour later, she woke me up with words you never want to hear: “We’re being followed.”

By Joanne Spataro – Full Story at the New York Times

Canada’s Trans Community Calls for Change in Travel Regulations

Canada Parliament

Jennifer McCreath has a fear of flying of a different sort: a fear she won’t be allowed on board. McCreath, a 43-year-old transgender woman in St. John’s, N.L., takes issue with a federal regulation that prohibits airlines from transporting anyone who “does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification presented.”

Doing away with the regulation is a cause the federal NDP has been pushing for five years, and one for which Justin Trudeau expressed support before becoming prime minister. It’s also one the federal Liberal government should be all over, given its self-proclaimed reputation as the party of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, McCreath said in an interview Wednesday.

“It all comes back to the notion of equality,” said McCreath, who described having to wait for two hours in a holding area before a flight to the United States in 2011, when she was in the process of changing the gender on her birth certificate. The Canadian regulation, she said, gives officials too much power in cases where someone doesn’t look like the gender indicated on their identification.

By Kristy Kirkup – Full Story at RD News Now

Canada Gay Travel Resources

North Carolina Tells LGBT Community Our Tourist Dollars Aren't Welcome

Governor Pat McCroryMuch has been written about the corporate response to passage of controversial “bathroom bill” signed by Governor Pat McCrory, but it’s clear the anti-LGBT legislation will also impact some vacation plans. Dozens of comments on the state’s official Travel & Tourism Facebook page finds people rethinking vacation plans after this week’s legislative action. One writer simply posted a link to The New York Times editorial title: “Transgender law makes North Carolina pioneer in bigotry”.

By Clayton Henkel – Full Story at NC Policy Watch

North Carolina Gay Travel Resources

]]>

That Time We Almost Got Arrested in Delhi – Nomadic Boys

Nomadic Boys Don’t get us wrong, we absolutely fell in love with India. But its government just has major problems accepting its LGBT community. A very old law dating back to 1861 (Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code) criminalises gay sex with up to 10 years in prison. This was invalidated by the Delhi High Court in 2009, but in 2013, the Supreme Court reintroduced Article 377. In January 2016, the Supreme Court announced it would review this decision, but until this is done, being gay in India remains a crime. We couldn’t find any evidence of Article 377 being enforced, but its very existence is a symbolic slap in the face to the LGBT community. We interviewed a gay Indian couple anonymously who said that Article 377 is used by the authorities as a validation for all sorts of bullying and harassment of the LGBT community, in particular the Indian police who use it as a way to get bribes. We experienced this first hand in Delhi.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

India Gay Travel Resources

]]>

Transgender Passenger Humiliated by TSA

body scan A transgender passenger has said he was humiliated and demeaned when he was forced to remove his prosthetic penis by airline staff. Subjected to a full body scan, an Australian airport staff member donned two pairs of gloves to handle the penis, saying: ‘You want me to touch that thing with my bare hands?’ This incident, which took place in 2015, is the subject of a complaint made via the National LGBTI Health Alliance to a Senate committee inquiry on airport and aviation security.

By Joe Morgan – Full Story at Gay Star News

Other Gay Travel Events

]]>