Gay by Degree is a website that has been developed by gay rights charity Stonewall. Initially when I heard about it, I wasn’t sure what to think. But when I looked at it I was impressed with the idea and how it has materialised.
Basically Stonewall has rated each University on it’s level of gay friendliness. They’ve done this by checking if the universities have the following:
•A Stonewall Diversity Champion
• A policy that protects lesbian, gay and bisexual students from bullying
• Compulsory staff training on lesbian, gay and bisexual issues
• Lesbian, gay and bisexual staff network
• Student lesbian, gay and bisexual society
• Info for students on lesbian, gay and bisexual issues
• Events for lesbian, gay and bisexual students
• Explicit Welfare Provision for lesbian, gay and bisexual students
• Consultation with lesbian, gay and bisexual students
• Specific Career Advice for lesbian, gay and bisexual students
(From: http://www.gaybydegree.org.uk/introduction-to-the-guide, Last Accessed: 18 August 2010)
The sad truth is that homophobia still exists in the world today. Some people still believe that it is a heterosexual world and that being gay is wrong and worthy of a beating. For some reason it’s usually heterosexual men that are the perpetrators towards gay men. See this video:
Now before you strug this off as American, do you remember the case of a gay teenager Michael Causer in Liverpool (a city close to were I live)? He got murdered on his way home.
Homophobia is alive in every country of the world, and we should not forget it.
The Old Town – Gay Guide
The old town with it’s narrow streets and traditional architecture hosts a selection of gay pubs & clubs. It is difficult to find a decent online gay guide (as I tried before I went away) for Benidorm, but if you go in to Queens Bar & Hotel they have a locally produced printed gay guide with a map. The only criticism of this gay guide is that it doesn’t give you any information about the pubs & clubs. So here’s my thoughts and opinions:
Queens Bar & Hotel – friendly staff, excellent food, the famous Levi on in the evening show that starts at 10:30-ish. In addition to this, it’s a great place to stay. If I wasn’t staying with Boyfriend-W next time I’m in Benidorm, I’d definitely be staying here.
Peppermint Bar – a good bar for a few drinks. I describe this bar in Adventure 2 – Benidorm Part 2. Apparently it can get raunchy towards the end of evening as the alcohol flows and the men get horny. I can’t vouch for this as I always deliberately moved on from here before it gets too late in to the evening/early morning.
Chaplins – another good bar, opens in the evenings. It had mirrored walls, is well lite and always seems to have plenty of people in (which is always a good sign).
Company Bar – Ok for a drink early on in the evening, it is mainly a chatting bar really. It’s a tiny place with bar stools and little thin circular tables crammed in.
Mercury – a club with dance music. Love it. On my last night with Boyfriend-W we ended up in there. The as the alcohol kicked in we drunkenly danced to Bad Romance by Lady Ga Ga (which we’d heard for like the ninth time that night).
Lovers Bar – you have to buzz to get in, so there’s no telling whether it’s busy or not. When you get in it’s a bar but with dance music. The owner is a local Spanish guy who was touching and rubbing his cock with his hand in his jeans pocket when I ordered a drink. Apparently I’m his type. It wouldn’t have been so bad apart from I was the only person in the place, so I couldn’t really not sit at the bar. Needless to say I downed my drink and left, sharpish.
Men Only – I didn’t really go in this bar as every time I passed it the older crowd seemed to inhabit the place. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just not my scene personally.
According to the Gay Guide there’s plenty of more places there. Some I walked past and where empty so didn’t go in and some I never found. The Old Town also boosts a gay sauna, a bears bar and a sex shop, but I never went in to any of these. Not my scene.
New Town – Straight Ville
I explored the new town on my own one of my first evenings there. My initial impressions weren’t good when on walking around the bars and clubs (a lot of which were closed due to the time of year) and was offered drugs by a Spanish local.
However Boyfriend-W took me down to the new town and we went in to Cafe Benidorm and The Red Dog. The music was camper than in the Old town! And even though it was out of season, it was still reasonably busy. Both of these pubs/clubs are good places to go.
One night I was invited by Boyfriend-W to see Levi the fantastic drag queen at a bar called Sandra’s (Levi also works at the Queens Bar & Hotel). Unfortunately I was knackard in the early evening and fell asleep. I got up too late and had missed the show. Will have to go next time when I go back to visit Boyfriend-W in Benidorm.
So that’s it the final installment of my holiday to Benidorm. So next time your due a holiday, get yourself to Benidorm. I had an ace time and will definitely be going back.
“That’s it I’ve had enough” I said a few weeks ago. And I wasn’t joking, so I went and booked a holiday to Benidorm.
I fly out a week today and the excitement is starting to fill me as it gets closer. Got my flight tickets and hotel confirmation from the travel agent today. I must say that although the last minute holiday was cheap, us in the land of singledom are discriminated against – I had to pay what worked out to about £100 more because I’m going on my own, rather than as a couple.
It is going to be a week of relaxation. Catching some sun, reading some books, eating, and hopefully making a friend or two along the way. I hope to explore the famous old town that apparently has lots of gay bars/clubs/restaurants etc. as well as making good use of the beach.
Will of course blog about it when I get back. I’m not sure if there are any pre-written blog posts scheduled to publish while I’m away – so you may still have some reading, you may not. Your guess is as good as mine.
Adiós para ahora, bloguea pronto (translated to Spanish via Free Translation)
Antony
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Tuesday 16 February 2010
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Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of nine books.
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