We’re a sucker for Brazilian butts. And nowhere on earth are there more on display then in the incredible city of São Paulo. It’s not only the largest city in Brazil; it’s the largest city in all of South America, and the seventh-largest city by population in the world.

It’s just another example of the fact that size matters. At last count, the population of São Paulo was just over 11 million—three million more than NYC.

Ah, and the people. Attractive, friendly, open, and happy. And, lest we forget the most charming part, they speak Portuguese—but with an Italian accent, in case you’re relying on your Rosetta Stone. They’ll be rattling it off at such a machine-gun pace that there is no point in trying to keep up your end of the conversation. It’s all part of the adventure in this city named after Saint Paul—as in the Apostle, not Minnesota.

Getting to São Paulo can be a bit of a headtrip since it’s an eight-hour flight from Miami (or ten hours from New York) non-stop as the crows fly via the national airline TAM Linhas Aereas. Translation: two full-length movies, a fourcourse dinner and a three-hour nap. It gives new meaning to the phrase: somos nós lá ainda? (Are we there yet? for the Baptists among us.)

Upon landing at the São Paulo/Guarulhos– Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport, take a deep breath and plunge head first into the excitement. You get to the city via taxi (there is a bus, but you’re gay, remember?). This will set you back exactly 85 Brazilian reals, or $42 in real money. Buy a prepaid taxi voucher in advance, since the traffic will be monstrous. Though it’s only 19 miles to São Paulo, it could take as long as an hour to get there. You don’t want to be in the back seat when that meter is ticking.

Our favorite hotel in São Paulo is the Mercure São Paulo Alamedes Hotel. It’s not the most luxurious hotel in the city, but it is one of the most convenient and reasonably priced at $139 per night. It has everything you could possibly need—room service, a good gym, rooftop pool with a view, a fantastic cute staff, and wi-fi service.

It is centrally located in the most fashionable part of town, called the Jardins district, which not only has the most exclusive shopping street in the country—it’s called Oscar Freire (think Rodeo Drive), it has the majority of the gay clubs as well as the São Paulo Museum of Art.XXX On the club scene, spending Sunday at Dorothy Parker (Alameda Lorena, 2119 – Jardins) is must do. During the rest of the week, it’s a very very private club with a guest list. And no, you’re not on it. On Sunday, however, they open the doors to extremely cute gay guys who like dancing flesh to flesh beginning at 11 p.m. and hanging out until 2 a.m. or so.

Not far away is the Ritz (Alameda Franca, 1088 – Jardins), a fun burger and pizza joint where you can people watch all night, and linger over a cappuccino. Afterward on Fridays and Saturdays, head across town to Flex Club (Ave. Marquês de São Vicente 1767 – Barra Funda)—an enormous hanger-like structure that holds 2,000+.

While that may sound like a large number, wrap your head around 4 million! That’s the number of gays expected to attend the Parada do Orgulho Gay GLBT de São Paulo on June 10. Translation: Gay Pride, São Paulo style. Prepare to sweat—and grin ear-to-ear.

Robert Elias Deaton is a world-traveling epicure who enjoys the finer things in life.

We’re a sucker for Brazilian butts. And nowhere on earth are there more on display then in the incredible city of São Paulo . It’s not only the largest city in Brazil; it’s the largest city in all of South America, and the seventh-largest city by population in the world. It’s just another example of the fact that size matters.

At last count, the population of São Paulo was just over 11 million—three million more than NYC. Ah, and the people. Attractive, friendly, open, and happy. And, lest we forget the most charming part, they speak Portuguese—but with an Italian accent, in case you’re relying on your Rosetta Stone.

They’ll be rattling it off at such a machine-gun pace that there is no point in trying to keep up your end of the conversation. It’s all part of the adventure in this city named after Saint Paul—as in the Apostle, not Minnesota. Getting to São Paulo can be a bit of a headtrip since it’s an eight-hour flight from Miami (or ten hours from New York) non-stop as the crows fly via the national airline TAM Linhas Aereas.

Translation: two full-length movies, a four course dinner and a three-hour nap. It gives new meaning to the phrase: somos nós lá ainda? (Are we there yet? for the Baptists among us.) Upon landing at the São Paulo/Guarulhos– Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport, take a deep breath and plunge head first into the excitement.

You get to the city via taxi (there is a bus, but you’re gay, remember?). This will set you back exactly 85 Brazilian reals, or $42 in real money. Buy a pre paid taxi voucher in advance, since the traffic will be monstrous. Though it’s only 19 miles to São Paulo, it could take as long as an hour to get there.

You don’t want to be in the back seat when that meter is ticking. Our favorite hotel in São Paulo is the Mercure São Paulo Alamedes Hotel . It’s not the most luxurious hotel in the city, but it is one of the most convenient and reasonably priced at $139 per night. It has everything you could possibly need—room service, a good gym, rooftop pool with a view, a fantastic cute staff, and wi-fi service.

It is centrally located in the most fashionable part of town, called the Jardins district, which not only has the most exclusive shopping street in the country—it’s called Oscar Freire (think Rodeo Drive), it has the majority of the gay clubs as well as the São Paulo Museum of Art. On the club scene, spending Sunday at Dorothy Parker (Alameda Lorena, 2119 – Jardins) is must do. During the rest of the week, it’s a very very private club with a guest list.

And no, you’re not on it. On Sunday, however, they open the doors to extremely cute gay guys who like dancing flesh to flesh beginning at 11 p.m. and hanging out until 2 a.m. or so. Not far away is the Ritz (Alameda Franca, 1088 – Jardins), a fun burger and pizza joint where you can people watch all night, and linger over a cappuccino.

Afterward on Fridays and Saturdays, head across town to Flex Club (Ave. Marquês de São Vicente 1767 – Barra Funda)—an enormous hanger-like structure that holds 2,000+. While that may sound like a large number, wrap your head around 4 million!

That’s the number of gays expected to attend the Parada do Orgulho Gay GLBT de São Paulo on June 10. Translation: Gay Pride, São Paulo style. Prepare to sweat—and grin ear-to-ear.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – The city of Liverpool, England is considering formally recognizing the Stanley Street area at its “gay quarter,” in accordance with a city council study. The report, which was presented to the city council, recommends that the area which includes Eberle and Cumberland Streets be registered as the center point of the gay community in a bid to boost tourism and encourage spending.

O ther recommendations in

the report include opening a gay hotel and demolishing a building to create a public,
community square.

The Research Was Lots of Fun

VANCOUVER, BC – A new book has hit the bookshelves: “The Gay Travel Guide for Tops and Bottoms: A New Way for Gay Men to Travel”. The book, written by Drew Blancs, has set the record for new release sales at Icon Empire Press. The tongue-in-cheek look at gay travel is based on sexual performance of the locals is a unique approach in travel books. The research was done by two gay male travelers – one exclusively a top gay male and the other an exclusively bottom gay male.

The idea was created by Drew Blancs, who became tired of the complaints of his top and bottom friends of their lack of finding compatible sex partners. “I wrote this book so that gay men can set out and find the city the fits them best and, yes, that pun was intended,” said Drew Blancs, a frequent Los Angeles blogger and now first-time author.

The book took over five years to complete, due to the travel schedules of the two featured travelers.  As the two visited each country, they rated the local top or bottom gay men by sexual performance with up to a 5-point rating system. The book was able to determine which country had the best top and the best bottom gay male locals.

“The Gay Travel Guide for Tops and Bottoms” ($13.99) is available at most online retail bookstores.

Last Known Homosexual Holocaust Survivor Passes

PARIS, FRANCE – The last known homosexual survivor of the Holocaust, Rudolph Brazda, died last week at the age of 98. Known as the “pink triangles”, Brazda was a prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp.

The son of Czechoslovakian immigrants in Germany, Brazda was 20 when Hitler rose to power. He had lived with his homosexuality freely and openly until “Paragraph 175,” the law penalizing male homosexuality went into effect. On August 8, 1942, after having gone to prison twice, he was sent to the concentration camp of Buchenwald, where he was given the number 7952 and a pink triangle.

Even though Buchenwald wasn’t an extermination camp, an estimated 56.000 prisoners (out of the 238.000 who were incarcerated) died in the camp, either because they were executed or from exhaustion or illness.

Approximately 650 Pink Triangles were deported to Buchenwald.

“Straight Pride”  Suggested in Brazil

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – Brazilian Evangelical leaders have suggested that the country celebrate a Heterosexual Pride Day in response to the city’s tenth annual Gay Pride Parade. This is just the latest attack on the gay community. Earlier this year, a conservative leader of the city said that if he had a gay son, he would beat him up until he started to “behave like a man.”
A vote to pass Heterosexual Pride Day has to be passed by the Sao Paulo city commission.

By BOB KECSKEMETY

WILTON MANORS, FL – The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) finished their 2011 convention in Ft. Lauderdale/Wilton Manors in what the organization refers to as being a huge success.

IGLTA President and CEO John Tanzella, after returning from a U.S. Travel Association Pow Wow event which included tour operators, travel media, hotels and others involved in the travel industry, said that he couldn’t be more pleased with the results. The annual convention, with portions being held in both Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors, drew 507 delegates from 35 countries, coming from as far as South Africa and Australia to see what the Greater Fort Lauderdale area has to offer.

And what was the impression Fort Lauderdale made on the delegates? “It was extremely positive,” said Tanzella. “In fact, many of the attendees said they wanted to move here.”

The Annual Global Convention was held for five days, from May 10th through 15th. Each year there is a different education theme. This year’s education theme was marketing. Tanzella reported that there was a special emphasis placed this year on using online marketing techniques. He stated that there were representatives from Trip Advisor and Google, along with other presenters, explaining new trends and how businesses, big and small, can reach gay and lesbian travelers.

“Every year there seems to be more and more online marketing,” said Tanzella. “I think that LGBT travelers in particular tend to be more internet savvy, and so you need to reach them using the internet, social media, etc., to reach them versus some of the more historical ways of reaching travelers. So, even if you’re a travel agency, you still might not have people walking into your travel agency the way they did in the ‘80s, but you can market your travel agency on places like Twitter and Facebook to draw clients and easily connect your clients with the marketplace.”

Globally, it is estimated that gays and lesbians spend a total of $75-billion a year on everything from airlines and hotels to tours and complete vacation packages. Brazil, explained Tanzella, is extremely popular right now, as is New York City. He added that Capetown, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia, are also very popular, but the Greater Fort Lauderdale area always places in the top-ten in popularity. Next year’s convention will be held in Brazil.

Tanzella said the public consumer show, which was held on Friday, May 13th at Hagen Park behind the Wilton Manors City Hall, was the most popular event drawing thousands of locals from as far away as Miami. Those attending the consumer show saw exhibits from different travel destinations and businesses involved in the travel industry. That evening, there was also a concert by Kristine W., which was organized by the Rainbow Business Coalition of Greater Fort Lauderdale. The RBC also helped in marketing the entire event. “It was a fantastic night,” said Tanzella.

“This was the largest convention we’ve had so far,” said Tanzella. “Each year it seems to get bigger and bigger, but the previous record was the Las Vegas convention, which was held in 2008.” Tanzella also added that it was the largest convention held in Fort Lauderdale in regards to international delegates.

Tanzella credits much of this year’s success to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick and to the Rainbow Business Coalition. Broward County Mayor Sue Gunzburger was on hand to welcome the delegates and dignitaries from Washington, D.C., flew in to welcome the international delegates.

Delta Airlines, the Brazilian airline TAM and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau were huge sponsors, explained Tanzella, but they also had sponsorships from different regions in Brazil in preparation of next year’s convention. Tanzella also appreciated the support the IGLTA convention received from local businesses like the Sawgrass Mills Mall, The Manor and Tropics, but indicated that the support received from the Rainbow Business Coalition was huge.

The IGLTA moved their international headquarters from Fort Lauderdale to N.E. 26 Street in Wilton Manors last August.

The ruling does not permit a full gay marriage. In Latin America, only Argentina and Mexico City permit same-sex marriage. Same-sex unions are legal in Uruguay and some states within Mexico outside of Mexico City, and Columbia grants same-sex couples inheritance rights.

Brazil is a predominantly a Roman Catholic county.