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!

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!

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia- watch this!

Together WE CAN !