Venice of the North — Amsterdam
With more than 100 gay bars, saunas, hotels and shops, Amsterdam tops the list of queer-friendly destinations. With a vibrant nightlife and cobbled streets keeping the old-world charm intact, the Netherlands’ capital city has pretty much everything. The Pink Point, a famed space for queer information and more, is an unmissable tourist-y thing to do especially if you’re queer. The buzzing queer-friendly bars that now attract pivotal tourism were the foundations of gay activism back in the 1930s and 40s when homosexuality was heavily stigmatised.
Some of the places you can visit are Café ‘t Mandje, Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Museum of Sex. Reguliersdwarsstraat is the unofficial gay district of the city and just around the city centre. In 2001, same-sex marriages were legalised, making Amsterdam a great destination for queer weddings too. More good news? There are direct flights from Calcutta to Amsterdam!
Sydney
Considering its anti-discrimination laws and acceptance, Australia is overall a safe place for the community. However, Sydney, with the world’s largest queer festival — the annual three-week-long Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival — LGBTQIA+ friendly neighbourhoods and diverse nightlife, stands out.
Parade goers kiss as they prepare ahead of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade as part of Sydney WorldPride on February 25, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade returns to Oxford Street in celebration of the event's 45th anniversary. The parade began in 1978 as a march to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York and has been held every year since to promote awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered issues. Getty Images
Universal, Oxford Hotel and Marlborough Hotel (The Marly) are known internationally for their drag shows and other activities throughout the year. And if you’re in Sydney you cannot miss The Imperial, the venue that featured in cult classics like The Adventures of Priscilla and Queen of the Desert. You can take a direct flight to Sydney from Calcutta.
Pink Haven — Iceland
A country where homosexuality is celebrated is definitely on the queer holiday bucket list. The country decriminalised homosexual activities as early as 1940. The Pride walk held in Iceland’s Reykjavík sees the participation of one-third of the country’s inhabitants. The Ring Road runs across the entire country and to plan a road trip across this road is an apt way to explore the small country.
The northern lights over Ingolfsfjall mountain near Selfoss on the south coast of Iceland. Picture date: Monday November 28, 2022. Getty Images
The cherry on the top is watching the Northern Lights as the country is close to the Arctic Circle. You can take the help of tour guides for the perfect spots to view the magical lights or take a walk and spot them from almost any corner of the place. The next international trip you take with your loved one or queer group can easily be Iceland as there are direct flights from Calcutta to Reykjavík.
Boston
Apart from a very vibrant Pride month filled with city-wide activities, Boston also hosts the LGBT Film Festival in late March or April. Massachusetts being the first US state to legalise gay marriage back in 2004, it houses an extensively queer-friendly Boston alongside other cities. Sandwiched between Theater District and Chinatown is Jacques Cabaret, the oldest gay bar in Boston that is a must-visit. If nightlife is not your scene, head over to Trident Booksellers & Cafe located on Newbury Street for a lifetime experience of shopping in a place where historic brownstone homes have been converted into stores giving a hippie-chic vibe. Enjoy a picturesque boat ride from Boston to Provincetown while staying in beautiful homestays. The city that is home to passionate baseball players and a close neighbour to universities like MIT, Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard, can be reached via a direct flight from Calcutta.
A glimpse of the traditional Canal Parade during Amsterdam Gay Pride in Amsterdam
Berlin
The German city has its own Pride month, also known as Christopher Street Day Berlin, or CSD Berlin that is celebrated annually since 1979 in the month of July. Apart from that, the city is outrageously and unapologetically gay. From gay fetish parties to the Gay Museum to being home to Germany’s largest LGBTQIA+ club SchwuZ, Berlin has numerous places and activities completely safe for queers to pursue.
Revelers take part in the annual Christopher Street Day parade on July 27, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. This year's CSD is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York, an event that many see as having galvanized the gay rights movement. Getty Images
You can also take the famous spring walk down Schöneberg, the first district to fly the rainbow flag high for the CSD Berlin. Post the Nazi suppression, Berlin emerged victorious against homophobia and queerphobia at large and is now also known as the queer capital of Germany.
New York
Cliché but we could not miss the epicentre of the gay struggle that erupted in the Stonewall Inn in 1969. The riots in the inn are massively credited for the freedom queers experience today. You can visit the Stonewall Inn in the West Village for starters and move on to the Alice Austen Museum that chronicles the works of the daring photographer in a building that was earlier home to her and her partner for almost 30 years. The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art is another interesting exhibitory that depicts art by queer artists. Additionally, all streets, neighbourhoods, pubs, hotels and shops are pretty queer-friendly in New York but there are your beloved gay bars in abundance too. Julius, House Of Yes and Ginger’s are some unique experiential bars. Take the next flight to New York now!
Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala
If looking for a queer-friendly holiday destination inside India, it is restricting to find a city that is completely accepting. Considering the rampant homophobia and stringent mindsets, creeps can be found everywhere. Meanwhile, you can also find accepting crowds in Darjeeling or Shimla and encounter queerphobia in Delhi. Nonetheless, Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala have been in the forefront in the fight of queer rights. Calcutta was the first city in Asia to hold a Pride parade; Delhi had India’s first boutique hotel and art gallery for gay people; Mumbai hosts Asia’s biggest queer film festival and Kerala is spearheading the fight for trans rights. Several gay-friendly bars (not solely for gays) and eateries and associations run by LGBTQIA+ individuals can be found in these cities too.