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NEW YORK — Do LGBTQ tourists have a system like the Green Book to stay safe while traveling in these politically uncertain times? They don’t have one. They have multiple systems.
In recent years, there has been a flood of specialized blogs, cruise and tour operators, and booking sites for accommodations. There are organizations that certify transportation operators, destinations, and support special events. And there are also watchdog groups that keep track of the world’s laws and customs.
“People are concerned because we realize that in some cases our rights are being attacked,” said Mark Chestnut, a New York-based travel writer and speaker with 30 years of experience in the industry. “People are not going to stop traveling. They’re just more careful and taking precautions. They’re choosing destinations wisely.”
Read reviews. Network with locals. Learn the laws and customs of the destination, Chestnut and other experienced LGBTQ travelers and their allies suggest. Is it illegal to be gay there? Is it a taboo that could get you murdered? Is it safe to hug or hold hands in public? What are the consequences for HIV-positive travelers? How about mishandled documents and security scans for trans people?
Advocates said the potential dangers are many for LGBTQ travelers, especially couples who want to express their true identities. But the potential dangers must be weighed against the joys of exploring new places, said Stephane Arestis and Sebastian Chanek, the globetrotting couple behind the travel blog Nomadic Boys.
“Us gay people have to do more research than my straight friends. They can just get on a plane and go,” said Arestis, a Greek Cypriot.
She and Chanec, who is French, quit their jobs in London to make Cyprus their home. They turned more than a decade of extended travel into an elaborate website and this year created a handbook for LGBTQ travelers, “Out in the World: The Gay Guide to Traveling with Pride.”
Arestis said that when she began blogging about her year-long vacation in Asia for friends and family in 2014, it became clear that LGBTQ travelers were hungry for information.
“After about a year, a lot of people started coming to our site. We wondered who are these people? Basically, they were searching on Google for things like where are the gay bars in Bali? Are there gay hotels in Shanghai? Is it safe to go to Taiwan? They were searching for our content,” he said, as there was very little information on the subject online at the time.
Arestis has traveled to 97 countries. Chanek is not counted on that list, but there are several places he would rather not visit because of security concerns, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
On their website and in the book, the Nomadic Boys tell it as they see it, including practical tips and insight into the political and cultural landscape.
In Lebanon, for example, she felt horrified when she was told she had been blacklisted when trying to leave the country. And her book lists these warnings about Peru: It “lags behind its more progressive neighbors” in terms of LGBTQ rights, but in 2017 it introduced anti-discrimination laws.
“We recommend caution when it comes to PDA, unless you’re in a gay-friendly environment. However, Peru relies heavily on tourism, so gay travelers will feel comfortable and welcome,” he advises.
The couple said they had no trouble finding a double bed in any of the hotels they visited in Peruvian cities – Baranco, Miraflores, Cusco, Arequipa and Lake Titicaca.
It was this level of detail and practicality that attracted black travelers to the Green Books during the Jim Crow era.
Some other LGBTQ travelers prefer to stay in safer and more accepting places for comfort and as a kind of boycott against hostile destinations. Others travel outside their comfort zone for adventure and to support local and often repressed gay communities.
“It’s a really vigorous debate,” Chestnut said. “It’s a personal decision and travelers should make a personal decision.”
Travel can be particularly distressing for trans people.
Gabrielle Claiborne is the co-founder and CEO of Transformation Journeys Worldwide in Atlanta, a training and consulting firm that works with Fortune 100 companies on creating cultures for trans and gender-diverse people. She also chairs the Transgender Advisory Group of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association Foundation.
Claiborne is a trans woman who frequently travels around the world. Her height of 6 feet 2 inches and high heels often put her under the radar of security guards.
“I get a lot of whispers and stares from people just by being in that space and being visible,” she said. “The security checkpoint is triggering for trans people because of their experiences with TSA agents from other people in line.”
Some trans people have documents in which the photo and gender marker do not match. Going through the security scanner can be frustrating, Claiborne said. Agents have to press a button that designates a person as male or female.
“If they press the wrong button and some part of our body gets marked, we have to go through a very invasive search,” he said.
Claiborne does not support boycotting unfriendly venues.
“We still have a long way to go, but I’m optimistic about the progress we’re making,” he said. “The reality is we make progress when people are willing to stand up and be visible. Until we’re visible in a space where we can be the only person like us in the room or in that space, people won’t know what they don’t know.”
This article is generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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