According to a front page article on SFGate this afternoon, Vegas ranks ahead of San Fransico as the number two gay travel destination (just under New York City)...
They shouldn't have been surprised. The Rat Pack ethos, with its thinly veiled - or sometimes blatant - homophobia has long been relegated to nostalgia. There's a gay nightclub on the Strip, and plenty of others scattered around the city. Mayor Oscar Goodman, a former mob lawyer, marches in the annual gay pride parade...Sounds fun to me! My partner has been talking up Vegas for a while now. Knowing that there are not only gay-friendly staff and destinations around the city, but also a gay-exclusive resort and other clubs makes it sound worthwhile instead of having to watch out for the urge to hold hands or sneak a kiss.
..."Vegas is big and glitzy and exciting," said David Paisley, the firm's senior projects director, "and gays and lesbians are drawn to that."..."For a long time, Las Vegas has been perceived to be an inclusive destination," said Terry Jicinsky, a gay man who is the convention authority's senior vice president of marketing. And, unlike some destinations, it doesn't need to remake its image for this audience. Gays and lesbians are attracted to Vegas for exactly the same reasons everyone else is. The agency, said Jicinsky is "not attempting to position Las Vegas as a destination for a 'gay experience,' such as Key West or Palm Springs might try to do."
I've written before about Napa's gay paradox--having great gay destination worthy things such as decadent food and wine and amazing scenery and spas, yet a fairly invisible gay scene. Do you consider Napa to be a gay destination? Why? What would it take to bump up Napa's gay friendly status?
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