I was quoted in today’s piece on CNN.com’s article “The best picks for around the world for celebrating Pride.“
The Best Picks Around The World For Celebrating Pride
All that Jazz at the Kitano Hotel, New York
If you enjoy jazz, the Kitano Hotel on Park Ave. has just introduced its JAZZ at KITANO series, with a constantly changing schedule of acts from well known performers to lesser known rising stars.
We recently checked out Barbara Carroll, formerly of the Oak Room who performed a tight, set of standards—fingers flying over keyboard and her sexy, low voice belying her years (probably in her 80s). But just fabulous. There is usually a gay presence: On our most recent visit, out of about 20 couples 3 were gay male couples and 1 was a lesbian couple.
It’s on the lobby level of the hotel so just enter and proceed directly to the back. Alternatively, there is also a separate main entrance on 38th St. closer to Park Ave.
Enjoy small plates or a full meal of contemporary American cuisine with Pan Asian influences and a full bar.
Jazz performances take place every Monday through Saturday as follows:
- Monday: Open Jam Session from 8:00p.m. to 11:30p.m.
- Tuesday: Piano Solo Series from 8:00p.m. to 11:00p.m.
- Wednesday to Saturday: Live Jazz, two shows nightly. 8:00p.m. and 10:00p.m.
- Sunday: Tony Middleton Trio Jazz Brunch, two seatings at 11:00a.m. and 1:00p.m.
$10 cover, $15 minimum drink and food per person, per set on Wednesday and Thursday.
$25 cover, $15 minimum drink and food per person, per set on Friday and Saturday.
Menu: Sunday Jazz Brunch menu Lunch menu Dinner menu
Jazz Reservations: 212-885-7119
Dress: Casual
What Do You Call A Bear In Turkey? Why Not Find Out?
You probably think bears are a uniquely American phenomenon. You’d be incorrect!
Bears are everywhere. BearArabia.org is organizing a bear cruise around the Turkish islands.
This 7-night tour, organized by IGLTA member LebTour, disembarks September 1.
For more information, click here.
Los Angeles: Mid-Summer Pride Fetish Ball
We love the new and ever-improving downtown L.A. area. What used to be a gritty, scary, urban wasteland is now transforming into a fabulous, must-go destination in its own right.
And what to the folks at TwistMyNight.com, creators of Unusual Earth Events, do? They decide to turn part of it back into a gritty, scary, event called PRIDE FETISH BALL. Though of course the difference is you’ll really want to check this out. Halloween is one of West Hollywood and L.A.’s most exciting time to visit with folks really dressing up (this is home to Hollywood, for heaven’s sake), especially with slutty, sexy, and fetish-type costumes.
This “scandalous masquerade,” is scheduled for Friday, June 8 from 9pm-2am at Infusion Lounge at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles.
Information:
- Tickets: $20, available in advance at 665 Leather-West Hollywood, Stockroom-Hollywood and Rough Trade-L.A.; online atwww.twistmynight.com or at the door.
- Recommended dress: Tasteful fantasy/fetish. Ages 21 & over. I.D. required. Infusion Lounge is located at: 1000 Universal Studios Blvd, Ste 208 Universal City, CA For more information, visit www.twistmynight.com
Deal of the Week: Kimpton Hotels Invites You to Get Your Pride On
The incredibly gay-friendly Kimpton Hotels is offering a special Pride package (15% discount, cocktails, a welcome gift and more) at their hotels, approximately 50 properties across the U.S. (in many of the cities where you may be celebrating Pride).
Click here for more information including restrictions relating to their Pride packages.
Click here to explore their InTouch Loyalty Program, a frequent stay award program that grants free WiFi and other perks. Click “LGBT” to receive information and specials designed especially for us.
Philadelphia Delivers A Kick In The Arts
With the much anticipated re-opening of the famous Barnes Foundation, a 93,000-square-foot, two story garden/gallery housing Dr. Albert C. Barnes’s legendary art collection, the City of Brotherly Love kicks up their cultural offering a gigantic notch.
It’s getting so you can’t swing a Van Gogh (see one below from the Barnes Foundation) around the Benjamin Franklin Parkway without hitting a major art establishment, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum and the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul and much more.
Click here to “curate your own art experience” with this easy-to-navigate website: http://withart.visitphilly.com.
Credit: Courtesy The Barnes Foundation
Provincetown: Something For Everyone
The folks from Provincetown tourism rounded up a terrific array of events and activities for travelers of all sorts from gay and lesbian to nature lovers to culture vultures.
Here’s their hot list.
For the LGBT Visitor
Provincetown’s reputation as a gay and lesbian mecca began in the 1920s when the town was a summer destination for artists, writers, playwrights, poets, socialists, radicals and dilettantes. This reputation was fostered throughout the 20th century thanks to summer regulars taking up permanent residency and purchasing local businesses to further entrench themselves in the town’s fabric. Today, Provincetown, the “Gayest City in the U.S.” according to the 2010 Census, attracts a wide swath of summer visitors for its annual LGBT events and festivals.
- Provincetown Bear Week (July 7-13, 2012)
A Provincetown tradition, Bear Week celebrates the bear community and their admirers with a week of tea dances, galas, barbecues, dance parties, performances and more. (www.ptownbears.org)
- Provincetown Family Week (July 28 – August 4, 2012)
As an organization that celebrates diversity and promotes community building for same-sex parents raising children, the Family Equality Council sponsors a week of family-oriented picnics, clambakes, activities, unity and pride parades and more. Events are open to all families. (familyequality.org)
- Carnival (August 12-18, 2012)
Rivaling the diversity and energy of Rio, Provincetown celebrates Carnival every August with this year’s theme being “Ptown: A Space Odyssey.” Events include DJs spinning dance music, karaoke, the infamous Gay Pride Parade (August 16) with floats down Commercial Street, art exhibits, boat cruises and more. (ptown.org/Carnival)
For Lesbians
- Single Women’s Weekend May 18 – 20, 2012
- Memorial Day Weekend May 24 – 28, 2012
- Women of Color Weekend May 30 – June 3, 2012
- Girl Splash: The Women’s Summer Party July 17 – 21, 2012
- October Women’s Week October 8 – 14, 2012
Deal of the Week: Millennium Hotels 2012 Gay Pride Discount
I’m a big fan of the Millennium Hotels and Resorts and, as in year’s past, they are offering a terrific special for Gay Pride. The offer (with restrictions) and relevant properties, including one on Anchorage, Alaska, is listed below.
From Millennium: The Millennium Hotels and Resorts, a proud sponsor of the IGLTA, is offering a special PRIDE rate of 15 percent off our best available rate to those who want to complete their gay-cation in any of our U.S. hotels.
The dates and respective Millennium Hotels for pride week are as follows:
- Millennium Bostonian Hotel in Boston: June 1-10
- Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago: June 11-23
- Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles: June 8-10
- Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, United Nations in NYC: June 16-24
- Millennium Broadway Hotel, Times Square in NYC: June 16-24
- Millennium Alaskan Hotel in Anchorage: June 2-10
- Millennium Harvest House in Boulder: September 16
- Millennium Hotel Buffalo in Buffalo: June 2-3
- Millennium Hotel Cincinnati in Cincinnati: June 23-July 1
- Millennium Hotel Durham in Durham: June 4-10
- Millennium Hotel Minneapolis in Minneapolis: June 23-24
- Millennium Maxwell House in Nashville: June 15-17
- Millennium Hotel St. Louis in St. Louis: June 23-24
Guests can book online or call 1-866-866-8086 and mention rate code PRIDE. Rates subject to availability. Taxes and gratuities not included. Blackout dates may apply.
Tanzania, Myanmar and India, Oh My!
Alyson Adventures/HE Travel have announced a few new destinations that you don’t normally see on the gay travel radar. Here’s information from the owner, Phil Sheldon:
We are excited to showcase two brand-new tours! “Tanzania Safari” offers a week in ideally-placed small luxury safari camps and an extension to the exotic Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar. Treasures of Myanmar” invites you to visit four distinct regions of Myanmar, and includes Bangkok, the Bridge over the River Kwai and an extension to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.
We are also excited to announce new 2013 dates for our Jewels of India and South African Adventure tours. Please follow the links, and let us know if you’d like to join us for one of our new adventures. We hope you are as excited about these tours as we are!
For more information, click here: HETravel.com
UPDATE: TSA Pre Check To Add More Airports
- A sign of improvement at airport security
***UPDATE: Expedited screening coming to more airports. See note below.***
The TSA is not really gay at all but I had to somehow include a queer angle to an essentially sexual-orientation-free story.
This brief update is to offer praise for two time-saving and stress-reducing new(ish) programs offered by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is part of Homeland Security.
The first, which helps expedite domestic travel, is the TSA Pre-Check (Risk-Based Security Initiative). This program places more focus on pre-screening individuals prior to their flight. It’s being rolled out to airports around the country. Click here to learn more about it and to sign up.
I enrolled. Here’s how fabulous it was. At both JFK and LAX airports I skipped ahead of a very long line to the “TSA Pre” line and was waved to the empty X-ray machines. I was allowed to keep my belt and shoes on and my computer in its bag. I was asked to put my cell phone in my bag and if I had a jacket, I would have been asked to remove it.
The other program, available for travelers returning from visiting other countries, is the Global Online Enrollment Program (GOES). You provide TSA with some information about yourself, participate in an in-person interview at the airport, and provide electronic fingerprints in exchange for expedited processing when reentering the U.S. after visiting foreign countries. Click here for more information.
I’ve used it several times already and was able to skip ahead of long lines of sullen, shuffling masses directly to an ATM-size electronic kiosk. With this system you don’t even have to fill out a customs and immigration form upon arrival. That’s handled at the kiosk which prints out a receipt you drop with the customs official when you leave the baggage area. So much time and aggravation saved!
UPDATE, May 11, 2012
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TSA Expedited Screening Coming Soon to More Airports
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Dear Edward Salvato,
As a registered TSA PreCheckTM program participant, you may experience expedited screening by not having to remove shoes, belt, jacket, laptop or liquids in 3-1-1 compliant bags.*
The trial TSA screening program is currently offered throughout many major airports and is continually expanding to new locations:
Available Now
Coming Soon
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Show and Go
When at one of the designated TSA expedited screening checkpoints, simply present your boarding pass and it will identify you as a program participant. It is that simple.
Get the latest program information, including a complete list of expedited screening locations, by visitingAA.com/tsascreening.
The LGBTQ Travel Expert. Educator. Speaker. Author. 