gay panama

Gay Panama – The Nomadic Boys

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Gay Panama - The Nomadic Boys

…and God said, “Let there be sexy people”, so he created Panamanians!

Wise words from the Bible itself according to our gay friends Luis and Mario from Panama City…

Panama City is often nicknamed The Dubai of Latin America because of its immense economic growth in recent years and impressive dense skyline. But unlike Dubai, this mighty Latin American metropolis has a far more welcoming gay life, in a country where although culturally conservative, is constantly striving for LGBTQ equality.

Most will associate Panama City with the famous canal, which is a reason alone to visit. The city is also the gateway to some gorgeous tropical beaches within gay Panama, like San Blas and gay friendly Bocas del Toro. We stayed in Panama City for a week and loved it. It’s full of things to do, plenty of trendy bars, but most importantly, we left with a thirst to return for more. It’s also a useful destination because it’s one of the major transport hubs in Central America.

This is our complete gay guide to Panama City following with a focus on the gay scene, our pick of the most gay friendly hotels, our favourite things to do, and more.

Is Gay Panama safe for travellers?

Overall, yes, Panama is safe for LGBTQ travellers, but assuming you stick to the touristic areas of Panama City, Bocas del Toro and San Blas. If venturing beyond, into more local areas, we recommend taking extra care and avoid all PDAs.

Panama is a very conservative country. It a strong influence from the Catholic Church. Any attempt by the government to pass any progressive LGBTQ laws in Panama almost always gets blocked! As a result, Panama does not recognise same-sex unions and has no anti-discrimination laws to protect the LGBTQ community!

For example, a 2018 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling required Panama to recognise same-sex unions and allow gay couples to adopt. Sadly, the response was a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage by the Panamanian National Assembly in October 2019. The LGBTQ community of Panama has quite a long road ahead of it…

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Gay Panama Travel Resources

Gay Panama – The Globetrotter Guys

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Gay Panama

If you have not yet been to Panama it is an absolute must. We only spent ten days in Panama and were pleasantly surprised to find gay owned hotels (like this luxury boutique in Bocas Del Toro) and a great gay scene in the Panama City itself.

We met up with Roberto Broce in Panama City to find our more about ‘gay Panama’ and find out if Panama is gay friendly. Here is our interview with him:

Hi Roberto! If you could introduce yourself to our readers first that would be great!

Roberto: Hi! My name’s Roberto Broce, I’m 26 years old and I work as a marketing analyst for the Innovation Centre of a foundation here in Panama called Ciudad del Saber. I’ve been travelling for 10 years living in almost every continent around the world, partaking in several social causes in places like China and Australia. I like kitesurfing, astronomy, and adventure travelling. I’m also single!

That sounds like you have seen a lot even at 26! Ok, so our first question – What is the stereotypical view of a Panamanian local towards someone who is LGBT (either local or tourist – is there a difference)

Roberto: It depends a lot on whether they were raised in an urban or a rural environment, their age, whether they were raised in a religious home, etc.

Let’s take a straight 30 something year old male raised in one of the suburbs of a satellite city outside Panama City in a catholic home. His exposure to LGBT people in the 90s and early 2000s was limited to TV characters that would exaggerate their mannerisms and were basically living cartoons, and to carnival queens that dress up in beautiful bright, feathery outfits and act in a very flamboyant manner. His vision is that gay people are flamboyant, cartoonish characters. Not necessarily reject them but also not completely accepting.

Full Story at The Globetrotter Guys

Panama Gay Travel Resources

Five Interesting Facts About Panama – The Nomadic Boys

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Stefan - Balboa Beer - Five Interesting Facts About Panama - Nomadic Boys

We visited Panama as part of our big trip around Latin America, celebrating Stefan’s birthday at the gorgeous Bocas del Toro.

Panama is the most southern of the Central Latin American group of countries, sitting just above Colombia. Interestingly, it is the only place in the world where you can see the sun rise on the Pacific and set on the Atlantic. Also, the famous canal generates one-third of the country’s entire economy (as does the massive US expat population living there!) We’ve put together our 5 favourite interesting facts about Panama you need to know to give you a flavour for this fascinating tropical Central American country.

The Panama canal
The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel. It was initially built by the French in the late 1800s and then completed by the Americans until formally opened on 15 August 1914.

The Canal is a 50 miles (80km) waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Vessels take around 8-10 hours to cross it. It has 3 locks, each with 2 lanes. The easiest to visit is the Mira Flores lock in Panama City, which has also been turned into a visitor center.

At the Mira Flores visitor center you can see the canal live in action: ship comes in, pays the toll, waits, water drains out to lower ship to sea level, canal doors open and ship continues on its way.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at The Nomadic Boys

Panama Gay Travel Resources