Parada da Diversidade 2012 - venha mostrar seu Orgulho em Floripa

A Parada da Diversidade de Florianópolis, como é chamada a Parada de Orgulho LGBT da Ilha da Magia, está agora na sua 7ª edição e já se estabeleceu como uma das favoritas do Brasil.

Concebida desde o início para ser mais um grande evento LGBT da cidade, a Parada recebe anualmente milhares de turistas de todas as partes do país durante a semana do feriado da Independência.

A Semana da Diversidade tem programação cultural e social e tem como diferencial o Floripa Diversity Games- um concorrido evento esportivo de confraternização da comunidade LGBT e aliados.

No centro de Florianópolis, os bares e clubes GLS como Mix Café e Concorde têm festas todas as noites da semana e lotam com o público local e com turistas. Na Lagoa, as meninas contam com festa própria no Caravana Fusion Bar: a animadíssima Babalu.

O encerramento da Semana ocorre no dia 9 de setembro com a Parada na Avenida Beira-Mar Norte e um show, com talentos locais e nacionais, no palco junto à baia Norte que reúne centenas de milhares de participantes.

Venha mostrar seu Pride em Florianópolis com os pacotes especiais da Brazil Ecojourneys.

Parada da Diversidade de Florianópolis 2012
4 dias/3 noites a partir de R$449,00 por pessoa

Pacotes incluem: serviço de Meet & Greet com guia gay-friendly no aeroporto, traslado privativo IN/OUT, 3 noites de hospedagem, pacote de informações com mapa e guia LGBT personalizado.

Pacotes não incluem: vôos, seguro de viagem.

Consulte as opções de hospedagem.

LGBT events in Florianopolis

Florianopolis, or Floripa for those in-the-know, is a gay-friendly destination year-around but it becomes a BIG gay destination for certain events: Pride Week and Carnival- now a strong rival to Rio, as the coolest and biggest Gay Carnival in Brazil - are already favorites in the hearts of gay & lesbian Brazilians & South Americans;

The New Year holidays' period has been attracting an increasing number of gay tourists in recent years, but this year it should be definitely included in the Brazilian Gay Events calendar as the mega Sao Paulo club, The Week International, announced that will open its Island base during that week.

They are the latest of the circuit parties to realize the demand from LGBT tourism in that period of the year- E-Joy has been coming for years, attracting thousands and local clubs open all week to cater to locals and tourists alike.

On top of that, the fireworks display in New Year's eve is one of the best in the world!

So, if you are planning to come, book early: Brazil Ecojourneys has already special packages for New Year's in Floripa.

Floripa LGBT Pride 2011

Floripa's Pride Festival- Semana da Diversidade- reaches its 6th year in 2011 and should be a great one, helped by the long bank holiday in South Brazil. More than a 100 thousand people are expected to attend this year.

The highlights are the Floripa Diversity Games (Jogos da Diversidade) that happen on Saturday 10th September and the Pride Parade ( Parada da Diversidade) that happens on Sunday 11th September from 2pm.

The Games were pioneer in Brazil and are growing every year, breaking stereotypes that gays only live to party. Well, the games are lots of fun too but they are also very competitive.

If you are in Florianópolis and want to join the fit crowd, call Pipoca Grando , the organiser and he will give you all the details = +55 48 91192656

The local clubs and bars have also special attractions starting on Tuesday, 6th Sept. Check out Mix Cafe, Concorde Club and, for the girls, Caravana Fusion Bar in Lagoa.

Enjoy Floripa!

Looking back at 2009

2009 has been a great year for us working with LGBT tourism in Florianopolis.

The international media and travel professionals from around the world seemed to have discovered Floripa.

Following a successful event for its members in March, the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association chose Florianopolis to be the host of its 2012 Convention. This is the first time that this event, the most important for Gay & Lesbian tourism in the world, will be held south of the Equator.

Articles on Gay Floripa appeared in major Gay & Lesbian magazines: the Passport Magazine from the US, Beige Travel and Diva Magazine from the UK, Du & Ich (a 40 year-old Gay mag!) and in multiple titles from Publigayte in Germany.

All seemed to agree that Floripa is the next big destination for gay travellers in South America.

The local community also had quite a lot to celebrate: 2009 saw our biggest Pride ever with almost 100,000 people attending the Parade on a cold and rainy day in September. That same day an anti-discrimination law was approved by the local town council, giving us hope that equal rights are now achievable in Brazil in the not so distant future.

Welcome 2010 - see you in Floripa!

New Site for Floripa LGBT Pride

We just finished the new site for Diversidade Floripa, Florianopolis LGBT Pride Week. The site is only in Portuguese(for now) but it is very informative.

There is information about the cultural programs, about the Diversity Games (LGBT Sports Day), about Florianopolis for visitors and a section ( EU VOU!) for those coming to Pride to comment or to invite friends.

www.diversidadefloripa.org.br

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.

Sao Paulo LGBT Pride

We ventured further north last weekend to attend the Sao Paulo Pride, where I was invited to speak at a Forum on LGBT Tourism.

It was my first time at the largest Pride Parade in the world and besides being amazed by the sheer size of it (2 to 3 million attendees, depending on sources), I was pleasantly surprised by the institutional support the event gets from all levels of government. For example, it was the first time I saw a campaign from the Ministry of Tourism targeting the LGBT segment. The slogan of their campaign was even cute: Diversity - Brazil is more beautiful with it.

Despite this support, there was a few ugly reminders that homophobia is alive and well even in the most liberal capital in Brazil (see the official note from the organizers about the violence that followed the Parade - http://www.paradasp.org.br/noticia0046).

If you feel outraged by these attacks, remember that visibility is our best action- come out and show up at the demonstration tonight in Sao Paulo. Also remember that Gay Parades are not just another excuse for a party (although they can be a lot of fun!) but they are our chance to stand up and be counted.

See you at Florianopolis Pride on the 6th of September!