306 places to stay appear in Gdansk in Poland when Idar Sundal Rangsæter searches on a randomly chosen weekend. When he ticks off “LGBTQ-friendly”, the number goes from 306 to zero. – It’s sick, he says a little shocked. He doesn’t have his holiday plans completely ready yet, but has some thoughts about where he doesn’t want to travel. “Gay tourism” facilitates safe travel for queer people. Could it be a saving grace that the rest of the travel industry also connects to this? Queer tourists to homophobic countries – I deliberately avoid certain countries because I don’t feel safe, says Rangsæter. He emphasizes that he does not know what lies behind the functioning of Hotels.com, and thus does not fully trust him yet. Nevertheless, he thinks it is a sad indicator when apparently none of the hotels in Gdansk appear on the website under the category “LGBTQ-friendly”. – It’s a little surprising, at the same time it’s a nice clarification of where I shouldn’t go, he says. Ranksæter and the girlfriend do not travel to places where they do not feel they can be themselves. Photo: Ida Yasin Andersen / news Several countries in Europe have bad conditions for queers. The LGBTQ organization ILGA Europe recently named Poland the country in the EU with the worst rights for the fourth year in a row. – I do not want to leave money in countries that do not support, for example, homosexuals or transgender people, says Rangsæter. Globally, homosexuality is criminalized in 64 countries, according to Amnesty. One of them is Kenya, where you can get a prison sentence of up to 14 years. Now, however, queer tourists flock to several of these countries, reports the New York Times, because tourism operators from the LGBTQ community make it easier. “Gay tourism” has existed for a long time, perhaps mostly as a niche market. Now the booking website Hotels.com has also added the function, which may make it easier for queer tourists. When you sign up for LGBTQ-friendly, you promise to be treated in a safe and respectful way. Photo: Screenshot Hotels.com When asked how the function has been developed, Hotels.com wrote in an e-mail to news that the partners can enter into a “Pledge of Inclusion”, or a promise about inclusion in order to be classified as an LGBTQ hotel, and write further that: “This is an exclusive product for finding hotels that stand against discrimination based on the guests’ gender and sexual orientation. We also have help articles our partners can use on how to welcome guests”. The function can be useful for many queer travelers, believes international coordinator Stein Runar Østigaard at Oslo Pride. – It is perhaps not so obvious here in Norway or the Nordic countries, where you are actually safe in most hotels. But it’s not just about being safe and not facing discrimination, but also coming to a place that understands that you’re queer without having to explain, he says. Østigaard believes that the football World Cup in Qatar in 2022 led to the tourism industry recognizing to a greater extent the need to make better arrangements for queer tourists. Photo: Ida Yasin Andersen / news Skeptical The situation for queer people in Europe is complex. In Eastern Europe, the ILGA report shows that many of the citizens do not agree with the country’s official LGBT policy, writes Blikk. At the same time, hate speech and anti-LGBT attitudes are increasing throughout Europe, writes the magazine. Also in Norway, negative mention of queers has increased sharply on Facebook and Twitter, according to a report from Amnesty and Fri. Rangsæter is positive about the idea of being able to tick off LGBTQ-friendly hotels, if he is reliable. – When we see the increase in threats and hate crimes, I would probably have felt safer myself. At least if I knew it was a developed function and that it was actually real, and it could happen that he is. The booking page states that more than 40,000 hotels have made this pledge to be classified as LGBTQ-friendly. When asked if the motivation is to make money, they write that: “Hotels.com is on a mission to enable global travel for everyone everywhere, because we believe that travel is a force for good. That is why we are dedicated to connecting travelers in ways that include all ethnicities, colours, nationalities, ages, functional variations, sexual orientations or gender identities”. – They must have seen that this has commercial interest. When it goes hand in hand with our interests in securing a safe accommodation, it is practical, says Østigaard in Oslo pride. It is important that tourism takes action During Oslo Pride, news meets several international debate participants and speakers. They say that the contrasts are great when they come to Oslo versus their home country. From left: Robin Zlatarov from Bulgaria (Foundation Resource Center Bilitis), George Ionesi from Romania (MozaiQ LGBT), Magda Dropek from Poland (Rownosc.org.pl Foundation and Özgür Gür from Turkey (ÜniKuir Association). Photo: Ida Yasin Andersen / news – In Romania, LGBTQ-friendly hotels are not something I even think about, because we are so far away from that stage. It is still challenging to show rainbow flags on the streets. When I came here (to Oslo journ.merk.) there were flags everywhere, and I thought “wow”, says George Ionesi from the Romanian organization “MozaiQ”. – We are all from countries where it is not so common to have LGBTQ-friendly hotels officially. I am from Poland, and I know that some hotels are friendly, and thus spread the word, says activist Magda Dropek. Both Dropek and Ionesi believe it is very important that the entire travel industry contributes to queer people being able to travel safely around. – So that the LGBTQ community feels welcome and safe, especially in homophobic and transphobic communities.
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Idar (27) avoids certain holiday countries because of his orientation – booking site takes action – news Culture and entertainment
