#Lgbti travel

[inselrubber-toffy]

Mein Schatz und ich. #aida #onelove #aidanovamomente #aidaikone #aidacruises #ikone #hiddensee #Promi #lgbtq #LGBTI #place #Travel #weltenbummler #sleeping #reise #place #unikat #fetishman #fetishmen #bluf4457 (hier: AIDA) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClUhcdJsH7B/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[queeranarchism]

What can an anarchist minor do?

This is a question I received today. It was about a young person who had no means to travel to places where there were anarchist communities and such. I’m not answering the question publicly to protect the identity of the question-asker, but wanted to republish my answer here, so others could also contribute stuff:

Hi there. First of: so cool that you found your way to anarchism so early in life. Many of us take decades of unlearning stuff before we open our minds to anarchism. Yay! :)

Second, and I know this probably isn't exactly the answer you were looking for: taking some time to get to a point where you can do very meaningful stuff is fine. Learning new stuff and having fun with friends and figuring out who you are is kind of what being young is for. You don't have to be a 'productive' anarchist.

If you do want to start doing anarchism, the world that you can impact is mostly the world very close to you. Look at your school for example: is there a students union bringing together the power of the pupils? (if not, could you help start one?) Is there a racist curriculum that needs changing? Is there a lack of gender neutral bathrooms? Do the students have access to real sex education, birth control and safe sex tools, including material that meets the needs of lgbti+ students?

In the same way, you could look around your neighborhood and social circle and see what could be better. Remember that small things matter. Helping elderly people take out their garbage is doing an anarchism. Reaching out to a teen who seems lonely and depressed is doing an anarchism.

If you do decide to target something bigger, you have very little power as a minor. It is an oppressed position. However, you have one asset: adults think idealism in other adults is irritating, but idealism in young people is cute and inspirational. That's why Greta Thunberg got such a platform while thousands of adult activists didn't: she could be the inspirational child because she had no power. That sucks but you can use that strategically. If a minor starts a campaign to remove anti-homelessness spikes or to reduce water consumption by replacing lawns with local plants, they're going to have an easier time getting positive press aboutn that than an adult would.

That's a few thoughts. I hope they're helpful. To close, I wanna say again: it's fine to just be you for now. It is fine to just hang out or make art or prank your friends or have crushes or play in a band or meet really cool dogs. You don't owe the world more than that right now.

[beautiful-basque-country]

Kaixo! This might be a difficult question to answer so I completely understand if you can’t. This summer I’ll be going to Euskadi for the first time and I’m incredibly excited but there’s one thing I’m apprehensive about. I am a trans person and the current political climate towards trans people across the US and parts of Europe makes traveling a little difficult for me. What is the general attitude towards trans people in Euskadi? I know that might be hard to quantify or give an answer to. My apprehension isn’t based around anything I’ve heard about Basque culture or people, just general anxiety about being a trans person in today’s world (I do know there is a history of rad feminism in the basque country which makes me very uneasy but I’m pushing that all to the side to not make any judgments). Again I know this is a challenging question to answer and also not your job at all I’m just not sure where else to look for an answer. Thanks!

Kaixo anon, and thanks for your message!

Don't know anything about that history of rad feminism in Euskadi you mention and would love to, could you provide any source to check out?

Some data from the 2022 Official Report on Hate Attacks in Euskadi:

there were a total of 438 attacks due to hatred in Euskadi, which are obviously quite a few, but put into perspective not an overwhelming number for +2M people (+ millions of visitors) in 365 days.

the most incidents had a racist or xenophobic nature (52.03%), followed by incidents regarding sexual orientation and identity [ie. being queer] (21.62%) and crimes committed on the basis of gender [ie. against trans people] (15.32%). That's 65 cases. I wish it was 0, but, as you can see, that's a fairly low number for transphobic attacks.

Bizkaia accounts for the majority of hate crimes (56.09%), streets (43.45%) is the place where most hate crimes are committed, followed by home (43.45%). This shouldn't be surprising since Bizkaia - and Bilbo - are the most populated areas in Euskadi, it's obvious that more people, more crimes.

As for the persons charged, the majority are Spanish (73.98%) - of which 81.32% are from the Basque Country - men (76.82%) and between 18-29 years of age (26.82%). I highly doubt that those men are radfems, not to worry about females (radfems or not) being violent around here.

On the other hand, there were 44 arrests in 2022. Most of them were men (93.18%), foreigners (68.18%), and most lived in the Basque Country (92.85%). Two points of view here: a) foreign men tend to commit the most serious hate attacks or b) foreign men tend to get more arrested than locals when comitting the same attack, choose your flavor.

Regarding victims, 50% of the victims were of Spanish nationality - 79.02% of them from the Basque Country - and mostly male (53.85%) and between 18-29 years of age (36.01%). Foreign victims were mostly attacked for xenophobic and racist reasons.

So after all this:

Euskadi is still one of the most LGBTI+ friendly regions in Europe.

There's a very low chance to be attacked out of the blue for whatever reason: attacks - as told by victims - usually occur after a situation escalates [ie. someone insults / mocks you, you respond, a violent argument starts, and it ends up in a physical attack].

Euskadi is one of the safest regions in Spain, and also one of the best ones to live in.

So there you are the data and the cold facts.

Personally I would advice you not to be anxious: we're tolerating and open people - with the mandatory black sheeps among us, though.

[chasenews]

Lisbon Encourages LGBTI+ Travellers to Celebrate Pride in June

With Lisbon, in Portugal, revealed as host of the annual EuroPride festival in 2025, and more than 100,000 people expected to attend annual Lisbon Pride events over two weekends in June, the team at Visit Lisbon (visitlisboa.com/en) has revealed its recommendations for uncovering the best of the region for LGBTI+ travellers.  The annual Pride March (22 and 23 June 2024), transforms the city with…

[thomascarterpd]

Beyond Borders: How to Prepare for Your Big International Move

There is no such thing as a small international move. Even if you are moving to New Zealand from Australia — a rather short trip compared to other overseas moves — there is still so much to organise and prepare for before the big day comes around. Relocating to a whole new country is a big decision, and one that should be given the appropriate level of respect and attention prior to committing to such a significant moment in your life.

Thankfully, with the help of the seasoned international removalists at Overseas Packers & Shippers, you can let go of some of the stress of your international move. But while our international packers and shippers will help you transport your belongings to your new country, there is still a lot of preparation that you are responsible for to ensure your relocation goes as smoothly as possible. Let’s take a look at some of the main things that need to be considered and/or completed for your big international move.

Check if the Destination is Safe

Moving to a new country is always exciting, but there are some risks involved that you should be aware of. According to the Australian Government’s foreign travel platform Smart Travelle r, certain countries have higher risk levels than others.

Before you move to a new country, you should definitely do some research into your chosen destination’s risks.

Here are some of the main things to check before you move:

Laws and customs: each country has their own laws and cultural customs that you need to abide by while living there as a resident.

Legal drinking age: while it is 18 years old in Australia, the age is different for certain countries.

Penalties: certain consequences for crimes in Australia may be harsher in other countries.

Natural disasters: it’s important to research how prevalent earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, wildfires, cyclones, droughts, and other natural disasters are in your new country.

Every country has its own risks associated with living there, so it’s important you understand any that are relevant to where you are relocating. This way, you can prepare appropriately to give yourself the best chance of settling in safely to your new country.

Marriage and Relationships Overseas

Different countries around the world hold different views and attitudes towards marriage and relationships that are important to be aware of before you move there. Marriage, divorce, relationships outside of marriage, cross-cultural relationships, and same-sex relationships may be viewed through a different cultural lens than how they are perceived in Australia.

It’s important you research your new country’s attitudes and laws relating to the relationships most relevant to you. SmartTraveller has a series of resources to help you through this process, including a page dedicated to overseas advice for LGBTI people.

Planning to Move Overseas

Moving to a country is not something you can achieve overnight. Whether you are moving for work, study, or family, you need to give yourself enough time to get everything in order to ensure relocating is as stress free as possible. Here are some of the key things to consider organising before your big international move.

Read the full article to know more about Beyond Borders: How to Prepare for Your Big International Move

[bookstattoosandtea]

GLO is hosting its first LGBT+ Author signing event on April 15, 2023. Due to COVID and lockdowns, we have unfortunately had to push the event from 2021 until now and we are so excited its finally happening. With an intimate number of authors from Australia, New Zealand and Overseas travelling to Sydney for one day that is sure to be full of laughs, love, and many memories. GLO is proud to be sponsored by Saxon James and Hot Tree Publishing. Along with our other sponsors Elle Keaton, Book Addiction, ARRA, Pinny’s proofreading and ME (aka Books, Tattoos and Tea)!!! This is a non-for-profit event and all money raised from GLO is being donated to The National LGBTI Health Alliance. Tickets are available from: [https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/321612300047](https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/321612300047) If you know of any authors that would love to sign at GLO - let them know! I also will have a booth and am making custom Funko Pops!! #glo2023 #glosydney #mmromance #lgbt #lgbtromance #lgbtbooks #bookstagram #booksigning #booksigningevent #sydney #gaylitoz #gaylit #gayliterature #queer #queerbooks #queerbookstagram #loveislove #booklover #funkopops #custompops https://www.instagram.com/p/ComN9rgLTeQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[translationandbetrayals]

Yuri! on Ice and Queerbaiting

Queerbaiting is a recurring theme and debate in the otaku community, this term refers to the marketing technique in fiction and entertainment media1 of suggesting, but then not overtly depicting, an LGBTI character or homosexual romantic relationship. This is intended to appeal to the LGBTI audience by suggesting relationships or characters that appear not to be part of the community, while at the same time avoiding alienating other types of consumers. Yuri on ice is an anime that has been accused of using this technique, however in this post I would like to defend the anime from these accusations.

Yuri on ice is an anime that tells the story of Yuri, an ice skater who suffers a crushing defeat in the Grand Prix Final, an important skating competition. After this, he has serious problems with his  motivation so he returns to Japan, here, still in a depressive episode, he decides to imitate one of Victor's programs, an ice skater whom Yuri admires a lot. Unknown to him, a daughter of a friend of his records it and uploads the video to the internet, where it goes viral.

Victor, for a reason that is not explained in the first chapters, decides to leave the competition, travel to Japan and become Yuri's coach. From this moment on, the chapters are full of scenes that show that there is chemistry between the two of them. Even in one episode they share a kiss, but it is covered by their arms so many people still debate if such a scene was a kiss or actually just a hug, these and other scenes are deabited by the public for being ambiguous. However, it seems to me that we can understand yuri on ice as a romance anime, this is because yuri and victor's relationship is subtle and full of subtexts. My favorite scene of this anime that exemplifies this type of relationship is when Yuri proposes to Victor at the airport, he says : "Will you be my coach until I retire?" and Victor responds with "I hope you never retire" the scene is subtle and for the western audience it doesn't make much sense, but for the Japanese culture it does because marriage proposals  tend to be more indirect and somewhat private affairs with phrases like "will you tie my tie for me every day" or "do you want to grow old together? and not directly Will you marry me? the viewer who understands this will recognize the dialogue for what it is.

Paloma Verdugo

[infiniteglitterfall]

Yeah. Bi+ and trans people are almost never mentioned in LGBTQ+ history sources, unless they were active in the gay rights movement - and even then, it will say they're trans, but not that they're bi+.

We know about Brenda Howard because the fact that she was bi+ and "The Mother of Pride" is important to everyone. To the community in general, because Pride. And to bi+ people, in particular, because it provides an iron-clad rebuttal to exclusionist bigots.

Fun fact: "it wasn't until 2015 that NY Pride had its first out bisexual grand Marshal, J. Christopher Neal, and that was only after bi-activists raised a fuss about it when the 2014 parade had three Marshals- representing L, G and T."

In fact, Howard had a West Coast counterpart: "In 1972, Bill Beasley, another bi activist, was a core organizer of the first Los Angeles Gay Pride March. Beasley was also active in the Gay Liberation Front. Later he became a board member of what was then the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade, which was changed in the mid-1990s to the LGBT Pride Celebration due to the efforts of Beasley, and another bisexual leader on the board, Matthew L. Le Grant."

Here are a couple things I wish everyone knew about the other three people @verilybitchie mentioned.

Dr. Maggi Rubenstein is the Godmother of Sex Ed, and the Mother of the Bi+ Movement.

Dr. David Lourea, may his memory be a blessing, went to bathhouses and BDSM clubs with fellow bi+ activist Cynthia Slater (may hers, too) to do safer sex education, back before HIV was still being called "a rare gay cancer." (Slater was amazing too. And in 1985, she started the first HIV information phone line for women.)

He's also the only reason that AIDS statistics say "gay and bi men" instead of just "gay men." It took him two years to get the San Francisco Department of Public Health to make that change. But it became the practice nationwide.

(They blamed bisexuals for "spreading AIDS" to straight people and lesbians, but weren't acknowledging bi+ cases or deaths. And AFAIK, don't look at bi+ cases or deaths separately to this day.)

And Dr. Fritz Klein founded both the American Institute of Bisexuality and the Journal of Bisexuality, to fight the powerful and deep erasure of bi+ experiences, especially in published research. He also co-founded the Bisexual Forum, the second bi+ group in the United States. (The first was the National Bisexual Liberation Group, founded by Don Fass in 1972.)

 “I had more lesbians come up to me, or call me on the phone and say, ‘You don’t know me, but someone gave me your number. I’ve been relating to a man for six months and I’m really scared to come out or else I’d lose my community’—which is what happened to me.”

...In the 1970s, lesbians were fighting for visibility within the nascent gay rights movement, and identifying as one was often considered a political orientation—not just a sexual one. Early lesbian organizations encouraged bisexual women to pick a side, and many chose to hide the fact that they loved men as well as women in order to be accepted in this new community.

In response to the dominant culture’s homophobia, gay rights activists in the 1970s adopted a born-this-way, binary view of sexuality as a means of gaining legal protections that hinged on defining sexual attraction as a biological, immutable characteristic. But that political ideology didn’t match many people’s lived experience of fluid sexual desire. 

After she left her husband and moved to San Francisco in the ’70s, Ka’ahumanu bought into the stereotype that bisexuality was just pitstop to coming out as gay or lesbian. Then, after years of dating women, things changed when she fell in love with a bisexual man, Bill Mack, who was traveling through a Mendocino County clothing-optional resort where Ka’ahumanu worked as a chef. In 1983, she and Mack started BiPOL along with Autumn Courtney, Arlene Krantz, David Loreau, Alan Rockway and Maggi Rubenstein.

The founders of BiPOL were frustrated with the fact that lesbian and gay organizations treated their identity as illegitimate, telling them that they had “straight privilege” and no place in the movement. Meanwhile, in the heterosexual world, the only time bisexuals ever came up in the mainstream media was when they were demonized. “Bisexual men became the Typhoid Marys. ... We were the ones that were ‘spreading AIDS,’” Ka'ahumanu recalls. “Yet we were told we didn’t exist.”

Folks obsess over Brenda Howard, but never say a word about people like Maggi Rubenstein, David Lourea, or Fritz Klein. I’m pretty sure the reason is that the latter three provided work for the bi community, whereas Brenda’s work benefited the gay and lesbian community (for many years bisexuals were even excluded from pride parades). And we all know, in our hearts, that a bisexual’s value is not based on what they can provide for other bisexuals, but what they can do for everyone else.

[amsterdaminpictures]

A unique chance to see the Westerkerk in Amsterdam in rainbow colors for the 25 years of Pride. One-time opening only on Tuesday 3 August 21.30 - 23.00. Free access (Photo courtesy of Westerkerk Amsterdam)

[lgbtinews]

Gay Travel in Amsterdam

[aquavenus]

A sunny day in Hamburg

[the-consulting-slayer]

Hey there!

It’s been a while and I feel like many of the current blogs I follow are inactive and many of the recent ones that follow me seem to be bots!

That being said, I’ve really missed Tumblr, not so much for the platform, but for the community I was a part of here (If you’re still here please come yell at me btw). I think a lot of the reason I separated myself from this community was the aftermath of Sherlock, and because this is where I did/read and contributed to most of the theorising, going online felt frustrating and made me feel sad. 

Despite this, Tumblr has given me some amazing friendships, introduced me to incredible art, renewed the writer in me, helped me to be more vulnerable, self aware, and made me a creator, and I miss that more than I ever thought I would.

So, I’d like to be more active on here!

I think this requires a re-introduction though.

Hello, I’m Sophie!

I’m 23 and studying youth work while working and trying to see as much of the world as humanly possible. In the picture above you’ll see me posing like a dickhead next to the leaning tower of Pisa, this is from my most recent trip a couple of weeks ago. 

You can usually find me watching too much TV, listening to podcasts, reading fics and avoiding the 100+ books that I should actually be reading.

Currently reading: Code name: Villanelle by Luke Jennings

Listening to: The Spilling Eve podcast

Watching: JUST finished The Marvellous Mrs Maisel and wanting to start Good Omens soon!

What about you? If you’re reading this, please reply with what you’re reading/watching/listening to, or send me a message! Where’s one place you’d like to go, and why? Or  where have you been and loved?!

If you could also recommend some of your favourite active people/blogs to me that would be amazing :)

Right now I’m really interested in:

- Killing Eve

- True Crime

- Marvellous Mrs Maisel

- Disney

- Harry Potter

- LGBTQIA+ content

- GLOW (the show)

- Travel

- and as always, Buffy!

I hope to talk to you soon :)

Sophie xx

[qnewsau]

QC's Rebecca Reynolds on her vision for queer Queensland

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/qcs-rebecca-reynolds-on-her-vision-for-queer-queensland/

QC's Rebecca Reynolds on her vision for queer Queensland

Rebecca Reynolds is the CEO of the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health and Co-Chair of the Qld Government Roundtable for LGBTI Communities. She shares her advocacy journey as well as her vision for LGBTQIA+ Queenslanders. 

I grew up in rural and regional country, in the colonised state now known as Western Australia. 

It was the beauty, vastness and remoteness of that country that really was the first sense of our differences for me.  

The oldest child of a priest and a school teacher, my mother in particular raised me on books and movies that were from another time and another place.  

To take a line from the Sound of Music, they spoke of “girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, and snowflakes that stayed on your nose and eyelashes” and when I looked around me, there was nothing but salt lakes and red dirt and a white dress would not have stayed that way for long.

When I was about 16 or 17, and at boarding school, I read a book called Under the Tuscan Sun and it was the first time that I had read a version of myself written into a book or anything really that wasn’t just my thoughts and feelings. 

It felt liberating and made me want to find my people.  It was also a key defining moment for me in terms of values that I live by in my work. With visibility being core.

Community challenges

It is one of the biggest challenges for our communities today.  Speaking our differences while honouring the things that we share.  

We are a diverse bunch of people packed together under the same roof.  Those under the roof know that we have come together because of a shared sense of needing to create places and spaces of safety, those outside often only see the one structure. 

We have some big challenges for us when we start thinking about who to invite in. It’s like our identity and bodily journeys all over again.  Who do I trust?  

To our allies genuinely wanting to do better, be deliberate and intentional.  Come to the table with what you need, yes, but also what you can offer in return.  You have pathways into places that we can’t yet imagine and genuine partnerships are stronger when both parties benefit.

We rely heavily on our largely unfunded and underfunded community-based organisations who are often forced down a path of responding to what is in front of them. Meeting the needs of our local communities, and leaving little time and energy to think through the precious gifts of mentoring and sustainability.  

It is why our funded organisations, like Queensland Council for LGBTI Health (QC), need to hold space for communities to take a breath and know that all of the passion, hard work and energy won’t have been lost.  It is another reason for the way I work.  

Going deeper

Going back to a much younger version of myself, when I had found the lesbians in Tuscany (Under the Tuscan Sun) I was connected through the Western Australian AIDS Council to HIV/AIDS and the crisis and loss of life that our communities were experiencing at that time.  

While life moved on, my connection to working within the HIV/AIDS response remained.

This ultimately, saw me heading to Thailand to live and work for four years.  

Here, one of the roles that I was privileged to get to know was travelling with the outreach nursing team. They explained treatments and co-infections to a generation of families across Thailand who were grappling with a lack of access to treatments.  

On one particular day, we were visiting with a 10-year-old who had lost her parents during Thaksins’ War on Drugs. She was living with her Aunt and Uncle who would use their income to stock up on ice (to keep the medication cold) and batteries (to enable her to stick to her medication regime of 6am and 6pm daily).  

Her friends had all started having sleepovers and she did not want to miss out. However, the clock was an essential piece of her daily routine. 

I suggested to the nurse in English, that we drive back to the nearest 7-Eleven to buy her a Casio watch. She could then go to the slumber party and still achieve her medication regime. 

“Rebecca,” she says sternly (or kindly) “what happens when the watch runs out of batteries and where will she tell her friends she got the money for the watch?”

It created a big shift in the reasons why I work for change now.  Rather than making myself feel better by buying the watch, I shifted my focus to the systems that keep our communities silenced, isolated and not fitting in.  

Don’t buy the watch. Go deeper.

A future vision for Queensland

So with the long-term hat on, I know what I want to see change for our communities here in Queensland. With an election before us in 2024, eight years out from a time when our State and the way it treats its communities being showcased on the world stage, there is no time like the present to make some big, bold and deep changes that will have a lasting impact on our communities.  

The commitment from our State Government to fund not only a Strategy for Queensland, but also a Peak for our LGBTI community-based organisations is significant. And in terms of the Peak, would be a first for Australia.  

This would create a visible conversation for people everywhere to participate in and bring solutions that fit our local communities to the table. 

On the other side of that, is that we know all too well the impact when conversations about our race, our lives, our bodies, our relationships and our feelings happen in public settings. That people can be cruel and in my time working within LGBTI health and wellbeing, I and the teams of people that I work alongside see the impact of that up close and personal.  We live it.  

As members of our communities, we are the people best equipped to make decisions about those changes that will most impact us and we need places of safety to do that work from.

A Pride Centre for Brisbane

A Pride Centre for Brisbane would be a visible, safe and welcome start.  It would change the story for the younger folk and generations that are still to find their voice and their feet. 

However, more importantly, it would give us the chance to build a model that extends strength and support radiating across the state to connect with those folk in communities who are doing amazing things.  

It would make us stronger and it would weave our communities together in a way that would interrupt many of the negative impacts that are happening in our lives now.  

I believe that we can change the story by sharing ours.  That we can support each other, bring visibility where it is needed and learn and grow from the unique ways in which so many of us are working across this state.  

We can create places of safety in the most unexpected ways, through the most unexpected means.  

Great things are possible for our LGBTIQ+ Communities in Queensland and when we work together. It is often the smallest of moments that catch us unaware but are profoundly life-changing.  

Rebecca Reynolds is the CEO of the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health.

Read next:

QC’s Rebecca Reynolds on Year Endings and New Beginnings

QC announces regional Queensland expansion

QC and 2Spirits at dazzling Rainbow on the Reef

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[unknownpoliticalobject]

And according to them the best countries are:

Full list can be found here:  https://spartacus.gayguide.travel/gaytravelindex_2019.pdf

[yourerunningcirclesinmyhead]

3//01//2018