Buenos Aires Guide
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Gay Buenos Aires by www.buenosairesstay.com
I am Luka Nola, a 28 year old gay New Zealander who has travelled the world at least three times and I am currently living and working in South America. I am working on a number of web-based travel and tourism projects and it has been my great privilege to spend the last twelve-months in Buenos Aires.
This section of Buenos Aires Stay’s gay city guide will fast become a directory and notice board (blog), with a difference, listings will be reviewed by our clients, I am afraid that I have some way to go and the first directory pages will not be published until late September. To start the ball rolling, I have decided to give you a flavour of what you can expect and ask you to contact me personally should you want more personalised advice.
Buenos Aires has surprised me. I expected a city that after hundreds of years of social, political and economic turmoil would have seen better days. I thought many of the less appealing European attitudes and traditions, which criminalised and discriminated against homosexuals, may have prevailed. I suppose my wild imaginings had created some sort of mental time capsule, mainly because many websites sell you ‘old Europe’ in South America. When I got here, I was over old Europe (until next time of course). Apart from the architecture and language, much of the airplay could not be further from the truth – Buenos Aires city is a modern metropolis in need of some TLC, but building for the XXI Century; moreover, Argentineans generally have a much more enlightened view of homosexually and since the mid-part of the XIX century homosexual acts were decriminalised, giving gays, in all but name, a get on with it you ‘poofs’ declaration, shouted from the balcony of the wonderfully presidential pink palace – so we have green light to practice consensual ‘naughties’ without being prosecuted.
My most pleasant surprise; I find Buenos Aires the most welcoming gay destination in the world. It does not have the time-old gay infrastructures, ghettos and mass commercialisation of homosexuals as do other more established gay capitals such as London and New York. I feel so at home here, in any part of the city, in any restaurant or any bar; being gay in Buenos Aires does not become all consuming part of your life and being. In Buenos Aires you are you first, and Gay if someone can be bothered to ask. In summary, you will find the city has a metro-sexual nature, no gay ghetto and a gay culture, which is not always evident but extends city life.
This is a gay destination for those who want something entirely different. What I hope to do is give you a sense of what makes Buenos Aires so different and such an amazing city. There is so much general information about Buenos Aires on this website that I am going to focus solely on Buenos Aires’ gayness and offer you links to other more general reviews written by my team.
In my opinion, it is the portenos that make Buenos Aires a fantastic city for the inspired gay traveller - I find gay portenos more sophisticated, cultured and friendly than their peers I have met in many cities throughout the world, and they are so hopelessly romantic. I never spend long in a bar feeling isolated, portenos make an effort, they are fun, witty, a touch too serious at times, and love to have a good time or set the world to rights with lively discussion. The alcohol, body and ageist culture that prevails in other cities is not so evident in Buenos Aires.
I have been told to keep my shallowness to a minimum on these pages, but I have to say it – there is also the ‘wow-factor,’ I get married numerous times just toddling off for milk. I also have to add that my Gaydar has failed dismally since I arrived. Not all that is pretty, in touch with their more feminine feelings, gives you the time of day or seems to look at you longingly is gay! So be careful.
What you will quickly notice is that portenos Argentina bash as much as the British whinge about Great Britain. When you talk to portenos many wish they could leave Argentina. They crave stories from our homes and cannot wait to travel and increase their knowledge of the world. You must understand that this is a country that has suffered significant social, political, and economic crisis and although things are better now than they have been for a very long time, people just seem to wait with certain inevitability for the next crash. This pessimism makes foreign lands a lot greener (we know the truth) to the young porteno.
My experience has taught me to beware those that befriend you quickly and tell you almost by the minute how careful you should to be of their countrymen. Andrew sets you straight on this website, these people are running businesses within a re-emerging economy, and many feel like they have to profit now to weather the next crash, which history tells them is just around the corner. In 2001 professional classes ate in soup kitchens. If you throw your money around, some portenos will happily take it. You have a responsibility to buy goods and services well.
I have never witnessed homophobia and the people I meet from all walks of life seem so disinterested in the ‘gay label’ that your sexuality becomes a non-issue. So much so, I see many a gay boy arrive with all the characteristics of modern gay society- you know, the clean cut XX1 century clone, self-conscious, consumed by homosexuality, on their second round of muscle juice and trying too hard- who after a few months in Buenos Aires find some individuality. You can really relax in BA.
You would have already read the hype claiming 1 million plus gay visitors each year, you would have seen the tons of sites and articles on the web claiming that Buenos Aires is now the leading gay destination in South America, and so my objective is to pack our of website with your of queer views, but straight advice. I urgently need your emails. Help me make this the best information portal for gay visitors by emailing me and telling it like it is – I will publish those reviews, which are balanced and of interest to our readers – Luka@bastay.com. |
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