Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Guided tours in Mexico City and environs, taking you to beautiful places, tasting different kinds of food, immerse in daily life and enjoy fantastic works of art and architecture.
Aztec & Hispanic Heritage Tour
Discover the wonders of the Aztec Capital City in the Main Temple and the splendor of New Spain in the glitter of Mexico City Cathedral. After visiting Main Square you’ll have four routes to choose to enjoy Colonial Mansions, Artistic highlights and hidden treasures.
See the Gentle Tours Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here
Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals in AREA
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She reaches for the sky, high above the congested gay Mexico City streets. Holding up a laurel crown for the people who sacrificed for the Mexican Revolution. Her gold flickers in the afternoon sky—standing tall as a symbol of triumph, life, and hope for the Mexican people as her ascension into heaven is immortalized.
Below the Angel of Independence, the circular artery of the city is busy celebrating death. “Click clack, click clack,” a man shouts through his black-and-white skeletal makeup, gesticulating wildly like a spider. Catrinas twirl in the shadows of the angel, spinning like color wheels from the bright fabrics that comprise their dresses. Children dolled up like pumpkins and witches forage for sugar skulls and chocolates on the streets.
Teenagers howl with excitement passing the street vendors nearly covered by piles of bright tropical produce. A drag queen sneakily sips Presidente beer, and she grabs fuego from a vendor to light a loosey cigarette she just bought. A puff of smoke covers her painted face replete with plastic Halloween-store bugs meticulously glued into place.
“This one is ours,” a dreadlocked punk girl says munching on cut mango with tajin peppered like ants on the fruit’s bright-orange flesh pointing to an alabrije. Here, on the Paseo de la Reform, among the crowd are hundreds of life-size paper-mache Lovecraftian “creatures”— each more fantastical than the next with vibrant colors that bring life to the sculptures and smiles to the passersby.
Cancun gets all the attention in Mexico. She’s the sophisticated older cousin with the glitziest hotels, name-brand malls and an over-abundance of casinos. Isla Mujeres is quieter, less mature when it comes to glitz but older and wiser when it comes to gracious hospitality. She’s more like your best girlfriend who loves spending time with you, sharing meals that stretch on for hours, strolling and Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico
Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico
The island is 8 miles (13 kilometers) off the northeast coast of Cancun, serviced every half hour by ferries from pre-dawn to midnight. The Spanish graced it Isla Mujeres – Island of Women –because of the many goddess images left there by the Mayans who viewed the island as the sacred home of Ixchel, goddess off childbirth and medicine. Coincidently, it’s also the shape of a mermaid.
To the east of the island lies the Caribbean sea, rough and windy and the best place to view consistently spectacular sunrises. To the west is Cancun, which can be seen clearly on good-weather days. For visitors to Cancun, it’s the perfect day trip. For those who want to escape the glitz and see and be seen atmosphere of Cancun, it offers charming hotels, delish restaurants and exquisite beaches.
Guadalajara was never on my travel wish list for Mexico, I admit it. The blank spots I’ve been wanting to fill on my Mexico map are places like San Miguel Allende, Guanajuato, Copper Canyon and the beaches on the West Coast – Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita, and San Pancho, all of which I’ve been wanting to visit since reading about them on a bunch of travel blogs a few years ago, when several bloggers based themselves there for their winter escape.
And that’s exactly how I ended up in Guadalajara: Its proximity to said beaches. I was looking for a place to fly to that had easy access to the coast, and which seemed worth exploring. Guadalajara sounded interesting enough: the cultural capital of Latin America in 2005, a university town, a city with art museums and a historic city center, and a city with several Jose Clemente Orozco murals, one of the famous Mexican muralists whose art I adore. What more could I ask for? A great flight deal ($109 from LA, booked only three days in advance) sealed the deal.
My instinct had once again brought me to the right place. From my very first stroll through the historic center, I was much reminded of Mexico City – and you all know how much I love Mexico’s capital.
Since Autostraddle’s very first year of existence, I’ve been asking the goddesses — and every ad person we’ve ever worked with — to get me on an Olivia trip. It almost became a running joke, how much I wanted to go on an Olivia trip and how much everybody in my alleged group of supporters was unable to make that shit happen. For a good six months I honed an e-mail draft that I planned to send directly to Olivia, taking matters into my own hands, but never took the plunge, continuing to hold out hope that somebody who knew what they were doing would sweep in, pick me up, and drop me on a cruise ship with thousands of lesbians, barreling towards some beaches or glaciers.
Finally, in early 2016, the heavens opened up and bestowed upon then-Business Director Alex Vega an email asking for a meeting — they wanted to work with us on introducing Olivia to a new generation of travelers. Olivia, which began as a record label for women’s music in the early 1970s and later transitioned to a travel company, is the most successful lesbian-owned lesbian-targeted business of all time. Much like Autostraddle birthed A-Camp, Olivia Records birthed Olivia Travel. Since their first cruise in 1990, which sold out in a week, the company has been providing much-needed safe spaces for gay women to have a kickass vacation and connect with other people like them.
Which brings me to our trip! In November 2016, Team Autostraddle hopped a plane to a place none of us had ever been before: lesbian Ixtapa, Mexico. Our travel crew included me, our Business/Design Director Sarah Sarwar, and Abby and Kaylah, who’ve both worked at A-Camp. Before we get too deep into this, let’s get this out of the way: Abby was my fiancee when we planned the trip, but as of a week or so prior to the trip, that was no longer the case. So we were definitely setting ourselves up for success! Would we still have a blast? YES. Well, here’s our very true story, as told by me, Sarah and Kaylah.
Good afternoon,
Today was a day to just relax by the pool. Susan and I have had a week of relaxing, but we also learned about some of the culture of Mexico, and especially about the state of Jalisco. I am always open to learning new things.
We took a trip up to two of the towns in the Sierra Madre mountains, Talpa and Mascota. Although I had been there before, I learned new things about these towns this trip.
Both of these villages are listed as Magical Towns (Pueblos Magico). This is a designation given to the by the board of Mexican tourism. To qualify, a town must have:
1). A history of a significant event, either real or legendary,
2). A unique everyday life, and
3). The town must be well preserved.
Once the town has this designation, it receives money from the tourist board to keep the town clean and in good repair. One thing one village did was put all the electrical lines underground, rather than have the unsightly mess so often seen, of lines running all over the place.
Mascota also has a high school where students can elect to learn a trade, as well as obtain the usual high school education. The specialties of this school include cheese making and butchering, as the countryside has many farms. We also saw two woodworking classes, one for boys and one for girls. We could not discover why the classes were segregated. Both classes made furniture, cabinets for houses, and other practical wooden items.
The products from this school are sold in town, or at the school, and all proceeds return to the school.
The other town we visited, Talpa, has a lovely city center dominated by a church. This town’s historical event was a miracle where a statue of the Virgin that was made of leaves and grasses was converted into a beautiful golden statue. That statue now resides in the church. Pilgrims come from all over to pray to the Virgin.
The area, despite being in the mountains, is very dry. It must be extremely hard to grow things in this arid climate; however, sugar cane flourishes, and several stores in this village are candy stores, making their treats from the sugar cane, as well as some of the tropical fruit of the region.
Another town in Jalisco that has the Magical Town designation is Tequila. Yes, that is the name of the town. This town is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is known for the blue agave from which the liquor, tequila, is made. I did not visit that town, so I don’t have any pictures, but I did learn something about tequila.
The true tequila from the blue agave is only produced in Jalisco, with limited amounts being allowed to be produced in other states. If the tequila is not made from only the blue agave, and is made with a combination of juices from other agave plants, the liquor is called Mezcal. Therefore, all you tequila lovers, the Mezcal with the worm in it is not a true tequila.
That is only one of some well-known facts (to me) that was shot down during my cultural lesson. I also discovered that Mariachi music is not Mexican in origin, but Austrian, although it sounds more like German polka music to me. That makes sense, given that Maximilian from Austria, was a king here for a short time, before he was assassinated. Mexican beer also has its beginning with Austrians.
Last night, we took a boat trip to the island of Las Caletas for dinner and a show, depicting the culture and some of the fables of the native Indian cultures. The show was more like a Cirque de Soleil, in that many acrobats, a flying butterfly who was playing a violin, a walking tree, along with the fire jugglers. A mermaid greeted the boat as we approached the island.
Our dining tables were along the water’s edge. A harpist and a guitarist played soft background music. The lighting was torches and votive candles. It was truly a relaxing evening, with good food and wine.
When we left on our boat to return to Puerto Vallarta, we were entertained by our ship’s crew, who did a tribute to Kiss, the 1980’s rock group. They did a pretty good job of singing the songs, although their guitars were made of wood and had no strings. To me, the epitome of the evening, though, was when the captain turned off all the overhead lights, allowing us to see the full moon overhead, with barely a wisp of a cloud in the sky. We could still see the Sierra Madre mountains in the background of the city of Puerto Vallarta as we travelled back to the Marina. The lights along the shore of the city lent an air of a place of festivity and holiday, but also a place of peacefulness.
Today, I just enjoyed the quiet and solitude of Club Regina.
Too soon I will leave this enchanted place and return to cold weather. Until I write again,
Adios,
Dolly]]> 
I have not been very active with my blogging, as I can see. It has been four months since I posted anything. Of course, I have not been traveling, either.
Now I am once again in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, so I want to share the lovely weather with all of you.
Yesterday, Sunday, Susan and I went into the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta. We tried to attend mass at the old venerable Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. However, the church was packed, so we stood inside for awhile, but the crowds and the heat inside became too much for me.
It is a beautiful church, with a lovely park right in front. The church was built in 1883. I could not find when the dome was constructed, but it was sculpted by an artist names Carlos Torres, who made it from local terres stone. The large dome is a crown for Our Lady.
After leaving the church, we walked along the Malecon, the seaside promenade. There were lots of people out, enjoying the balmy weather.
Later, we tried to find a restaurant where I had enjoyed delicious shrimp tacos on previous visits. We walked along the stalls of the market the line both sides of the little island that sits in the center of the river just before the river empties into the sea. This little island, called Isla Rio Cuale, is known for being where Elizabeth Taylor had a home while filming the movie, “Night of the Iguana”, with Richard Burton, here in Puerto Vallarta in 1964.
We did find the restaurant and I enjoyed shrimp tacos one more time.
This restaurant sits with its back toward the river. The place was full when we got there. The owner asked us to sit and wait, offered us a drink while we waited. Soon he came from the back of the restaurant with a table, then chairs and made a spot for us right at the front of the restaurant. I was quite impressed with that service.
We walked around town a bit more, then caught a bus back toward our hotel. I was happy that our bus was not one of the rickety ones that we saw as we waited. We were able to ride to WalMart for the equivalent of 35 cents per person. At Walmart we did some grocery shopping, then returned to our hotel by taxi, for the cost of nearly $3, but it was worth it to not have to carry our groceries on the bus. WalMart, for your information, seems to be where everyone shops. There is a Sam’s Club next to it. Apparently, there is a Costco in town, also, but I certainly didn’t need to go to those big stores.
This morning, we enjoyed one of my favorite breakfasts of all time. Fresh papaya and pineapple, with a little squeeze of lime for accent.
Now we will go lay by the pool for awhile, then enjoy some fish tacos later.
I will say “Adios” for now. I will write again on another day, but I do suspect my news will not be anymore exciting than this post, as I plan to just relax, let someone else do the cooking for me and enjoy the balmy weather.
Dolly
Brought into the tourism spotlight by famous Hollywood celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and offering a broad range of gay bars and nightclubs, gay-owned restaurants, hotels, stores, services, and entertainment that established the destination in a league of its own, it is no wonder Puerto Vallarta has been a favorite among LGBT travelers for decades.
In recent years, the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board, the entity responsible for promoting the destination in the US and Canada has partnered with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, GMHC and the International Gay Lesbian Travel Association to promote the destination to the LGBT market.
In 2014, Puerto Vallarta became the first Mexican destination to participate in a World Pride with its Noche Alegre event during the World Pride celebrations in Toronto; and in 2015 the tourism board became the first destination to sponsor the Human Rights Campaign on a national level.
To be completely honest: I didn’t want to spend my last few days in Mexico in Puerto Vallarta. I wanted to stay in San Pancho or in Sayulita, which are both smaller beach towns north of Puerto Vallarta, and where I had spent my birthday. But because the season was just about to start in San Pancho most cafes were still opening at unreliable hours (if it all), and I needed wifi to get work done.
In Sayulita, there were a few places I knew I could work at (with okay wifi, but still not great speeds) but struggled to find decent accommodation. Since I had several deadlines looming over me, I decided to do what seemed the most reasonable: to return to Puerto Vallarta, which I knew had a much bigger selection of available accommodation and great wifi. As much as I loved the vibe in the smaller beach towns, sometimes the digital nomad has to put work first, especially after a slow month in November.
And after a couple of days back in Puerto Vallarta I realized how much I actually liked the town that had seemed like a big resort town at first. Yes, there are casinos, golf clubs and cruise ships. Yes, there are giant all-inclusive resorts. But there’s also the Old Town, the Zona Romantica, with cobblestone streets, with ornate churches and bright pink bougainvillea trees that form a perfect contrast to the whitewashed colonial houses.
When it comes to visiting Mexico, many tourists opt first for its coastal resorts, with destinations such Puerto Vallarta known as being very LGBTI-friendly. However, for a very different sort of break, don’t overlook the country’s huge capital, Mexico City. With a population of approximately 9 million, this sprawling dense, bustling city offers centuries of history, over 180 different museums and more street food than you’ll possibly be able to sample.
I made my first visit in late October, in part to report upon the annual LGBT Confex, a business forum on LGBTI diversity and inclusion. It also happened to coincide with the city’s Day of the Dead celebrations.
Is it safe?
A little alarmingly, the first thing people said to me when I told them that I was going to ‘Ciudad de Mexico’ was usually along the lines of, ‘be careful!’ Yes, the city has a reputation for crime, and the heavy presence of armed police on the streets would suggest it’s not a reputation wholly unfounded. At the same time, it should not be blown out of proportion. Mexicans I met told me the city is much improved, particularly in relation to LGBT visibility. Others pointed out that many confuse Mexico City with the neighboring Mexico State, where crime is more common.