In our travels from coast to coast we usually contact and visit the LGBT Centers in each city where we stop. Last week we were in Denver, Colorado and toured the Denver LGBT Center. In all of our travels it is one of the finest in the country.
“THE CENTER-Advancing LGBT Colorado” offers something for everyone. From teenagers to senior citizens their center has a huge staff of volunteers to help and assist everyone. They have different exhibits during the year and while we were there we got to see ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business: LGBT Influence on the Harlem Renaissance’ portrait exhibit featuring African Americans who were in the arts and entertainment in the 1920 and 1930’s.
The Denver LGBT Center first opened in 1976 and currently operates on an annual budget of $2..2 Million and employs 19 staff members and has over 520 community volunteers to serve more than 46,000 people a year!
Among the many services that the Center offers are General Support Groups including Counseling services, HIV/ST1 testing, Alcoholics Anonymous, Wellness screening and free cyber center. They have safe and low-cost activities for LGBT Families. They have free referrals to LGBT-friendly attorneys for help with legal questions as well as free monthly legal clinics. SAGE of the Rockies provides support and information for LGBT people over 50 years of age.
They offer free weekly activities including coffee groups, wellness clinics, Yoga classes and more. We got to meet and talk with Reynaldo Mireles, the Program Manager. Other programs includes the Capitol Hill Care Link which helps elders over 60 to continue living independently and with assistance with access to a variety of senior services. They have special support groups for the Transgender community. Actually the Center is a place for ALL of the LGBT community.
In the Denver LGBT Center is the Terry Mangan Memorial Library which is the home of over 3,000 volumes of LGBT texts. They also have a wonderful Oral Histories department, photo archive and research center where you can view articles, news clippings and correspondence related to the LGBT history not only in Colorado but in the United States.
In June they have the Denver Pridefest where over 380,000 people celebrated and over 120,000 attended the parade last year. This years festivities and parade will be June 17 and 18. It is one of the largest LGBT Pridefests in the country.
We want to thank Rex Fuller, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Giving who gave us a complete tour of the Center. Also a very special thanks to Tony Smith of Denver. We first met him and his husband Jim when we visited Denver a few years ago.. Both of these gentlemen are great ambassadors for Denver.
Visit their website at: www.glbtcolorado.org. Their phone number is 303 733.7743 and their address is 1301 East Colfax just a few blocks east of downtown. The Center is open Monday thru Friday from 10 AM to 8 PM.
The LGBT community in Denver certainly has something to be very proud of. Thank you to all the staff, volunteers and all the people who have made this a crown jewel for the LGBT community. Other cities in the country need to visit the Center and go back home and strive to make their Centers like the one in Denver.
Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!
TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning, Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from coast to coast (And now legally married).
Proud members of the IGLTA. You can email them at gaytravelers@aol.com and visit their website at http://gaytravelersataol.blogspot.com/
Hang on in there – Spring officially reaches the Northern Hemisphere on 20 March. Summer will soon follow on 21 June. And as the temperatures warm up, it’s the perfect time to plan outdoor pursuits for the year ahead. Of course, Brits and Anglophiles alike should consider the Lake District in Northwest England.
It covers a staggering 2362 square kilometres, and is home to 10 mountains over 2900 feet tall. What’s more, the tallest, Scafell Pike, stands tall at 3210 feet.
This year, 
Italy Gay Pride is on its way! So, what are you doing the last weekend of September? Join me for an amazing 4-day beach party in one of the most beautiful places in the world! We are hosting the biggest party of the year on the wonderful coast of Gallipoli, in Puglia, Southern Italy!
Yes, Italy Gay Pride is coming! And it is going to be a big bold celebration in Gallipoli, the Ibiza of Italy!
This year, for the first time, from 21st – 25th September 2017, Italy Gay Travels and I will be hosting the highly anticipated Italy Gay Pride Summer Party. A 4 day sensational Summer Party in one of the most beautiful undiscovered gems of Italy: the bay of Gallipoli (not in Turkey)! Are you ready to celebrate with me? Book now and join the fun!
Italy Gay Pride Summer Party gives you the chance to discover one of the trendiest holiday destinations in Italy. A destination that, as you know, is very familiar to me! Puglia, an amazing region in Southern Italy, is the talk on everyone’s lips! It is no surprise the gay community in Italy and around the world are flocking here. Gallipoli, and Puglia as a region, is developing a reputation for openness and tolerance. For this reason, Italy Gay Travels is confident that everybody can feel safe and be themselves in this beautiful stretch of Paradise.
Tens of thousands gathered at Copacabana beach on Sunday to celebrate the 21st Rio Pride Parade.
Organizers said this year’s parade was focusing on passing legislation in Brazil that would allow adults to legally change their gender on identity documents and eliminate bureaucracy involved in gender confirmation surgery, reports the Associated Press.
They called on the public health system (SUS) and private health plans to pay for hormonal therapy and surgery.
We’re already super stoked about this year’s NYC Gay Pride. The world’s biggest LGBTI festival takes place next month, from 19-26 June, with this year’s theme being ‘Equality Needs You.’ Managing Director Chris Frederick says the theme ‘serves as a reminder of the continuing fight for full equality and the effect a single individual can have on their world.’
Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, adds: ‘Whether it’s in the West Village – the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement – Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, the East Village, Williamsburg or Jackson Heights, we encourage visitors and residents to participate in the iconic and vibrant Pride events taking place throughout New York City this June and July.’
Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, adds: ‘Whether it’s in the West Village – the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement – Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, the East Village, Williamsburg or Jackson Heights, we encourage visitors and residents to participate in the iconic and vibrant Pride events taking place throughout New York City this June and July.’
Here, we look at seven parties, events and activities not to be missed from this year’s jam-packed lineup…
Over 100,000 people came to Miami beach on Sunday (10 April) for the 8th annual Miami Beach Gay Pride to prove that the community is still alive and well and its historical legacy as one of the hottest gay destinations is going from strength to strength.
Sydney Mardi Gras closed with a glitzy concert with the likes of Courtney Act and Conchita Wurst, the party continuing into the night. The parade had 178 floats and over 12,500 participants marching.
Participants included representatives from indigenous Australians and other ethic communities, the police force, political floats and the 78ers – the people who marched for the very first time in 1978, and were brutally attacked by the police.
Participants included representatives from indigenous Australians and other ethic communities, the police force, political floats and the 78ers – the people who marched for the very first time in 1978, and were brutally attacked by the police.
Photo / Destination New South Wales[/caption]
Dramatic drag queens and droll drag kings. Bears (the hairy-male type), bogans and Bananas in Pyjamas. Grooving and gyrating mer-drags, macho muscle Mary’s and minx-y mistresses. Sinewy prancers, dancers, hula-hoopers and hedonists in harnesses.
With such decadence and debauchery, it could only be Sydney Mardi Gras – the annual glittering gem of a pride event that showcases the diversity of Sydney’s LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) communities.
Now in its 38th year, Mardi Gras marks a high point in Sydney’s social calendar and holds its own as an internationally recognised celebration of equality, passion and freedom.
Borne from a rocky start, this much-loved parade originally began as a protest. Following years of hiding their sexuality, a group of around 1000 men and women took to Sydney’s inner-city streets on Saturday June 24, 1978, to march for the recognition of their rights. Despite the peaceful intentions of those who protested, the police reaction was violent, and many arrests were made.
Half a tonne of glitter and 5 kilometres of fabric is needed to get Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade on the road, and it shows. The gigantic street parade is a dazzler. Dressing up in feathers or leathers isn’t just for those in the show – people in the huge crowd of onlookers also tog up in weird and wonderful ways such as their favourite comic character, movie star (Marilyn Monroe is a favourite), or even the Sphinx.
Anything goes in the circus-like event, which has grown way beyond its original platform for the gay community to express themselves in all their diversity, and display their love of putting on a show. It’s become a gigantic street party and a sea of happy faces that anyone can join.
Mardi Gras is a must-see for visitors to the city in early March. The loud, lurid, and licentious cross-dressers generally grab all the media attention but the parade is more than just a huge-scale drag performance.