Puerto Vallarta is the Gay Capital of Mexico. Due to it's geography, it's also the Gay Vacation Capital of all of North America. I had the privilege to get to know the gay community up in LA a bit, and they told me ahead of time-- Vallarta is a destination. Get ready.
To really understand why, you need to understand the collective origins of gay men on an individual level. Religious animosity against homosexuality is still quite common in the North American Anglo-sphere. We're not just talking about your common, garden-variety homophobia that has it's roots firmly planted in close-minded Evangelicalism, no no. Gay men come from Muslim, Hindu, and Catholic backgrounds as well. Both well-established, and newer immigrant communities yield gay men from time to time, and when these men grow up? They learn about a places they can go to not only be accepted, but to thrive in communities that are packed with like-minded individuals.
In the US, this is California. Los Angeles has the industry, and San Francisco has the history. When gay men strike out on their own outside of their home communities to look for like-minded people, it could be for many reasons. It could be for economic reasons, to find love, or to immerse in a culture of acceptance. Many may be forced out of their homes out of hatred and bigotry and it's their last, scariest option. For many, it's a lonely road to the West.
Then, once they arrive and establish themselves, where do they go? Puerto Vallarta. Here, even in the unapologetically Catholic nation of Mexico, a city on the western shore stands proud and opens its doors to the homosexual community of the world.
In the 1980s, Americans and Canadians from gay communities began buying properties in "Old Vallarta" now known as "La Zona Romantica" (Romantic Zone). After a few decades of LGBT traffic, the city began to embrace its status and began to hold pride parades in 2013. It's held over memorial day weekend to accommodate for a larger bump of long-weekender traffic, and the city saw a noticeable 5% bump in tourism as a result. From there, it was no question- Vallarta would be a gay travel destination.
Pride flags don the entrances of local bars and restaurants. You'll have to move them aside to navigate some of the low-clearance sidewalks. Night Clubs that open at 9PM or later serve as places to meet. Street vendors and brick and mortar stores alike stock their shelves with bulging banana-hammock man-thongs of varied colors and designs. The more risqué wares are in the back, away from the windows. Fit, scantly clad men bearing menus and pamphlets beckon you into their stores.
You find gay tourists of all kinds here in Mexico. They too are Snowbirds, Honeymooners, Backpackers, and Cruise Ship Crawlers. Their style of travel is hard to pin down because the type of tourist is normally coupled with the mode of transport. Here, they come in any way they can: By bus, by plane, and by ship- they come here to escape their already-established lives from places beyond.
If a gay man escapes their well-established life elsewhere to get here to unwind? In many ways, it means they've made it.
-JT
1/7/2022