Hello all!

My partner and I are both females in our early 20s and want to start thinking about traveling abroad. The thing is, I want to go somewhere where we will not only be welcomed by locals but where we will also feel safe. So my question to you all is where are some of the top international destinations(we are American) that you have traveled to and can honestly say you felt safe and welcomed. Places to absolutely avoid are also helpful.

Thank you in advance take care and safe travels!

Moved to Travel Tips

Instead of welcoming would you settle for indifferent?

From personal observation, major cities or tourist destinations in Western Europe are safe.
My gay brother keeps a very low profile in Poland, it would be dangerous otherwise.

Regardless, many cultures frown on public displays of affection.

Thank you for your input!

I think indifferent was the word I should have used. I never knew that about Poland so that's definitely great to know. Do you happen to know about any Asian or South American countries?

I don't,
Personally, I don't display my politics, religion or sexuality, especially when travelling.

Puerto Vallarta Mexico (state of Jalisco, airport is 'PVR') is friendly. Especially I can speak to Old Town aka Zona Romantica, a long time gay-friendly destination. Look at this hotel to get an idea what I mean: https://hotelposadaderoger.com/ Unless I rent an apartment or condo this is my favorite choice hotel in that district. Not sure I would dub it a "top international destination" (lol) but it is very much "all people's welcome". Honestly gay males and their community are more visible as visitors than lesbians. But I feel you would be safe, picking the right place to stay, doing normal tourist things.
siempre, suze

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico might be worth investigating. Nowhere near as in-your-face as PV where gay clubs & bars, gay hotels, gay beaches & cruises are common. Which to me, tends to segregate. Here, no one really cares or gives a second look. There just isn't any need here to segregate. Charming highland colonial city, some of Mexico's best weather & food, a dynamic art community, and consistently a top rated international destination regardless of one's orietation, race, nationality etc.

You may be best starting off with a Google search to reveal which countries specifications outlaw homosexuality. This will include most countries in Africa and the Middle East which you may want to avoid as some of the penalties can be severe.

You specifically asked about Asia and South America. Both are huge continents comprised of a large number of countries with diverse attitudes and laws. In Asia , probably best to avoid countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam etc are reasonably relaxed about such things.

My wife and I have travelled extensive in South America and I recall meeting up with a a lesbian couple a few times who had also been travelling the continent. We chatted a lot about their experiences and their feeling was that it was generally ok , but some countries were more welcoming/less reserved than others. Colombia is way more laid back than say Peru or Ecuador which are very reserved, largely catholic countries.

Much of Western Europe you will find to be perfectly fine, Eastern Europe not so much.

I think it is important to remember that we are all guests in someone else’s country and as visitors we need to accept their social conventions and behave accordingly. Holding hands and kissing in public etc. may be perfectly acceptable in London or LA but really isn’t in Kuala Lumpur or Lima.

There are loads of online resources you can use. A couple of which are:

https://ilga.org

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/lesbian-...-travel-advice

https://www.globalsupport.harvard.ed...ance-resources

The more planning and preparation you do before a trip , the better that trip is likely to turn out. You just need to do that extra layer of research before starting on the rest.

Happy travels

I appreciate your valid concerns as a Gay individual but I am inclined to caution you that Gay MEN may not feel as vulnerable as gay women might. That is not to say there are no dangers. How many gay men have been “rolled” and sometimes murdered over these past years? Plenty for sure. I travel extensively but I would not go to some African locations certainly. In Asia I have had no trouble in Japan, Thailand , Viet Nam , Korea, or Cambodia, and parts of China. We are not able to display affection in some countries as we can in certain cities in the US and even that latter geographic comes with warnings these days.

have you looked at online resources such as GayCities for info?

"can honestly say you felt safe and welcomed."
The Big Question is = What do you mean by "welcomed"?
Do you mean "safe and welcomed" with PDAs?
Honestly, Provincetown and Key West.
Do you mean "safe and welcomed" as two women traveling together?
Pretty much anywhere.
It just depends on what your expectations are. I've traveled a lot for more than 20 years but those are the only places I would feel "safe and welcomed" holding a partner's hand, kissing, etc. in public.
For years, the Damron guide was THE guide for gay travel. I didn't even know if Damron is still in existence but the website seems to be active.
www.damron.com

Thailand. They are open to LGBTQ. In fact, there are many transwomen in Thailand.

I can't really help you with Asia or South America. Haven't been to any Asian country and only Santiago Chile in South America. Fwiw, we felt quite safe in Santiago. Outside that, I can't recall ever feeling unsafe in any of the places we've visited - but thinking about it, it seems we've chosen places that are known to be either LGBTQ friendly or indifferent. Also, we are not into PDAs but if you are, that is something to take into consideration when debating traveling to more conservative countries or regions within countries.

The world is a big place. You might get more constructive responses if you shared some more specific information about which countries you are interested in traveling to.