Florianopolis for Gay Girls

In recent edition, Diva Magazine, the leading lesbian mag in the United Kingdom, published a feature written by our director Lesley Cushing about what lesbians can do in Florianopolis... Check it out!


TAKE ME OUT...
Florianopolis, Brazil
Southern Brazil’s beautiful, laid-back island city

9am
We’d wake up at Majestic Palace, a gay-friendly hotel downtown. The rooms have beautiful views of the bay. After breakfast, we’ll go on a fascinating walking tour of the old part of town.

12pm
Visit the old customs house for local arts and crafts, then the fish market, making a quick stop at BOX 32 Seafood Bar for prawn-filled pasties and an icy chopp (Brazilian draught beer).

2pm
Drive to Lagoa da Conceição neighbourhood, a trendy and bohemian area of the island. We’d stop at the viewpoint at the top of the mountains for great views of the lagoon and the East Coast beaches. Then we’d head to Lagoa for coffee & cakes at
one of the many friendly cafes. I’d take you shopping for aBrazilian bikini (or a surf board!) before hitting the beach.

4pm
It’s a short hop to the gayest beaches in town along the short trail to Galheta, a gorgeous naturist beach. Then we’d spend the rest of the afternoon people-watching at Bar do Deca in Praia Mole. This is the summer hang-out for local lesbians.

7pm
Drive to the south of the Island to the old Azorean Village of Ribeirão. Enjoy great oysters and a caipirinha at the pier of Ostradamus, while watching the sunset. A lovely, romantic way to end the day – before the night gets started!

10pm
Pre-clubbing drinks at one of the most gay-friendly bars in
town – check local sites or the best options.

12am
Go to Mix Café club for the best gay night out in town or, if you are in town on the first Friday of the month, check out the Perversion party – the biggest party for gay girls in South Brazil!

•For more info on gay and lesbian life in Florianopolis visit our web site, http://brazilecojourneys.com/gls_travel.php

Lesley Cushing is a director of a travel company, and lives on the island city of Florianopolis in south Brazil. She says, ‘It has gorgeous beaches,beautiful nature, and good weather all year around. It is a very laid back city and a friendly place for lesbians to live and work’.

May 2009 - Diva - p.69

Floripa Pride - Acceptance & Respect

Florianopolis is gearing up for its Pride Parade on 6th of September. We are in the organizing commitee, so lots of work to be done in the next 5 weeks. The theme this year is acceptance and respect ( Eu aceito, Eu respeito)- specially related to our own families. The focus will be on the positive examples of the families that do accept & respect our sexual orientation. So I thought this banner from the Pride in Sao Paulo is very relevant. Here it goes.

It says "it is the duty of the family to protect its children from all forms of cruelty, oppression and discrimination". Ditto.

Thanks to Clovis Casemiro for this photo.

Florianopolis Pride 6th September 2009

Florianopolis Pride will happen on 6th September this year, at the end of the Semana da Diversidade, a week of LGBT events including theatre performances, video festival, debates and a sports day (Diversity Games).

Tomorrow, 24th July, we will have the first of 3 special fundraising parties at the Mix Cafe, with drag queen shows and resident DJs.

Festas em prol da Parada da Diversidade 2009:
24 July - Mix Café; 15 August- Concorde Club; 21 August - Mix Café

Our tip:

This year, AEGLBTS-SC, the Association that organizes the Pride Week , has had the important support of Mercure hotels, which is offering special deals for Pride weekend. For more info contact the hotel directly.

Buenos Aires is SO GAY!

WELL, I am definitely going way down south on this one, but there is a good reason for it.

Last week we were in Buenos Aires for the GNETWORK event - the 2nd International Meeting for Gay and Lesbian business. The event was at the beautifully designed Axel hotel , the first "hetero friendly" hotel in South America. It was a great event with speakers from all over the world and with a big audience on both days.

I gave a talk on incoming LGBT tourism in Brazil and the promotion of destination Florianopolis for the international LGBT market (here is the connection to this blog!).

Another reason to link Buenos Aires to Florianopolis is that a lot of Europeans and North Americans that visit one, want to visit the other. And it is a great combination for a short holiday: Buenos Aires with all its culture, excellent restaurants and parties and Floripa with its great beaches and relaxing atmosphere (and parties too!).

In summer, there are direct flights (a mere 2 hours journey) between the two cities, making it a very easy going holiday.

Brazil Ecojourneys tips:

• To find your way around gay and lesbian Bs As grab a GMaps guide. Updated every 3 months the guide is a great help for any G and L visitor;
• An economical alternative for accommodation in Buenos Aires is to rent a flat. There are many options but these two companies cater mainly for the LGBT community: BA4U and Friendly Apartments.
• When going out to clubs , remember that Argentineans go out even later than Brazilians- places don't get busy until 3 am!

• Tango has become popular once again with the younger crowd and there are venues that cater for same-sex tango classes- check GMaps for details;