Where in the world?

Thank Goodness it's Friday! Welcome back to my weekly blog! I hope you all have had an amazing week and are stoked for the weekend. This week I wanted to write a little bit about something different, it's not about a trip I went on or any real current event but a topic that is really close to my heart, traveling while being apart of the LGBTQ+ community.

As some of you may know, I am in a Lesbian relationship. We have been together for about two and a half years and I love her very much. We have become used to weird looks, although part of it may be that Mia is more masculine and most people just think she is a boy. But, If we hold hands in public people will turn their whole bodies to watch us walk by. Now before you get the idea that we bring it on ourselves know that I am not one for PDA (public displays of affection) I believe that my relationship is my own business but I still would like to be able to hold my girlfriend's hand if I want to without everyone watching us. And this is in the USA where we are supposed to be safe. So it breaks my heart as a travel agent and a gay person watching my community being hated and punished for being in love.

We are in 2018 and people are still being punished for being gay. How messed up is that? Now, I do understand that some people do not agree with it and that's okay. I personally just believe that we as people should be allowed to love whoever we want and not have to worry about being hurt or killed. But, unfortunately that is not how the world works yet and there are in fact places I could be killed for who I love. I will never travel to somewhere I am not welcome with out being prepared and knowledgeable about the rules. Luckily enough I have been given the information to know where I am and am not welcome. So, because I love my community I have been educating myself so as a travel agent I know the places that are safe for my community to travel to.

I have included some maps below with different countries that are friendly to the LGBTQ+ community and others that are not. And I as a travel agent caution those in who are apart of the LGBTQ+ communities and allies to stay educated on the world. I want to educate everyone so when they travel they can have the trip of their dreams without having to worry about anything. Now, also I do want to bring to everyone's attention there are "Friendly" places that still have strict rulings on what LGBTQ+ couples are able to do including but not limited to PDA.

ilga_state_sponsored_homophobia_2017_web.pdf
File Size:	13880 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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The PDF file above has more information on what the maps stand for and where each country stands law wise. This is from May 2017 but is the most resent as of right now.

I do believe that is all for this week! I hope you all enjoy this blog post. If you have any topics you'd like me to write about leave me a comment below. If you'd like more information on LGBTQ+ travel call us at 715-560-8189. I love you all and I'll talk to you next Friday!