DEPARTURE LOUNGE // WINTER 2018
Colour it
Pink
WITH MORE COUNTRIES FINALLY COMING OUT OF THE
CLOSET AND PASSING LAWS TO PERMIT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE,
OR BECOMING MORE PROGRESSIVE ON GENDER AND
SEXUAL EQUALITY, THE WORLD IS OPENING UP FOR “PINK
TRAVELLERS” – THOSE WHO IDENTIFY AS LESBIAN, GAY,
BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, QUEER OR INTERSEX (LGBTQI).
REBEKAH FUNK LOOKS AT THE LATEST TRENDS.
16 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
Why do LGBTQI people want to travel
to destinations and stay at places that
are “gay friendly”? The answer’s simple
according to Rubin van Niekerk, editor
of Gay Pages SA: safety and comfort.
Because who would want to travel to a
place where they didn’t feel welcome or
safe – or, worse, where their sexuality is
a punishable crime, as it sadly remains in
many countries?
“I can be as butch as a lesbian
lumberjack in a check shirt, so my
experience of homophobia tends to
be more indirect and even amusingly
discreet,” quips Van Niekerk.
“Consequently, I have been adventurous
and travelled to many places that are way
off the gay travel radar.”
However, that’s not the case for
everyone, he notes – there have been
numerous cases of discrimination