Hong Kong -- Lamma Island's Most Famous Son

Did you know that movie star, Chow Yun-Fat grew up on the idyllic Lamma Island? Check out this story, which appeared in the Toronto Star on May 24. I had a lot of fun researching this one. Special thanks to Rita Leung, who hiked up and down the hills with me for four marathon days! www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/428332

Pink Planet -- "Coming Out" for a Journey Within

(c) Julia Steinecke

This story appeared in the Toronto Star on March 8, 2008. Visit www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/94592

April Frederick Quintana felt like a new woman. When she'd arrived at Hawaii's Kalani Oceanside Retreat she was, "In a million pieces after being chewed up and spit out by New York City." Soon she was chanting and drumming at a Temescal sweat lodge, near Big Island's Kilauea volcano.

"It truly and profoundly was a rite of passage," she says. "It was an opportunity to let go of some painful things in my past, to shed some old skin, and to really step forward in my life with a new found sense of freedom, acceptance and healing." What's more, she had this experience in the company of queer women like herself.

After centuries of huddling in the shadows of many religions, lesbians and gays are experiencing spiritual, emotional and physical transformation at a growing number of retreat centres around the world. Some of these cater mainly to LGBT folks, others provide special gay-focused events, or create communities of integration where everyone is welcome.

At Kalani (www.kalaniyoga.com) there is integration, as well as LGBT focused events.

"Kalani Honua means harmony of heaven and earth, and this is what we aspire to," says Marketing Manager, Nathan Marcy. "We are guided by the Hawai'ian tradition of 'ohana -- extended family -- respecting our diversity yet sharing in unity." The retreat centre has a diverse group of owners and a large number of lesbian volunteers. Organized events include "Unleashing Your Fire," a planned women's erotic creativity retreat, co-facilitated by Quintana.

Michael Cottrell, a United Church minister, also found his life changed, after attending Body Electric workshops at the Easton Mountain Retreat Center. (www.eastonmountain.com) At this intentional, interfaith community, near Albany, New York, gay men live together and host a variety of events, like Hot Nude Yoga and a Gay Shaman's retreat.

Cottrell had to confront his own anxieties first. "My fear was centred around body image. Because the work is a lot of body work, naked body work, I was afraid that my body just wouldn't be good enough."

He soon learned otherwise. "When you are standing in a room of men, naked men of every age shape and size you realize how wonderfully and marvelously we are made... I have come to lovingly accept my body. I have learned to live in my truth and to celebrate my queer perspective. Through the workshop, Power, Surrender and Intimacy, I have confronted, and continue to work on, the power to surrender. I have become a much more lovingly powerful person. My sexuality and the expression of my sexual energy have magnified and taken me into some exciting paths."

Another men's retreat that celebrates the body is "Come to Your Senses," a weeklong escapade (www.cometoyoursensestravel.com) in Tuscany, Italy. Following the tenets of ancient Epicureanism, the program devotes one day to each of the five senses.

"The approach is relaxed and helps explore the good life by noticing how Italians go about life," says co-facilitator, John Ballew. "This is very different from the way many North Americans travel; the focus is on the quality of the experience... not on seeing every possible tourist attraction."

There aren't as many well-known lesbian retreats to choose from, but the girls do gather. Ferron, a folk musician with a cult following, has opened a women's creativity sanctuary called The Fen, near Kalamazoo, Michigan. (www.thefensanctuary.com). The website says, "Our mission is to hold a space where women can get connected or stay connected with their creative passion."

There's a recording studio and Ferron's musician friends are known to drop by and give concerts with her. Workshops cover topics like creative writing, visual arts, mothers and daughters.

Some people prefer a less busy retreat, a chance to sink into silence and pure consciousness. John Pollard, a sociologist, therapist and teacher has done a number of meditation retreats at the Dharma Centre in Haliburton County. (www.dharmacentre.org) These are silent retreats, where even eating is a meditation in which participants savour the goodness of the food and give thanks for the life force that brings it to the table.

Pollard knows some of the other LGBT participants and has always felt accepted, and, for him, once that base line is established, sexual orientation doesn't matter so much anymore.

"There's a sense of interconnectedness that goes beyond boundaries and categories... It's like, life, spirit. You get to know people more in a silent retreat... there's an incredible bonding that takes place."

Julia Steinecke can be reached at www.juliast.net.

OTHER RETREATS

Dhanakosa Buddhist Retreat Centre offers yoga, hillwalking, Tai Chi, and health getaways in the Scottish highlands. It's affiliated with the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order which has a large contingency of LGBT participants. www.dhanakosa.com

Radical Faeries hold retreats in rural and urban sanctuaries around the world, with a focus on gay liberation, communal living and earth-based spirituality. See www.faeriecampdestiny.org, www.folleterre.org, www.kawashaway.org, www.zms.org.

Womongathering is a Goddess spirituality retreat in Pennsylvania, open to womyn and gyrls of all ages, races and sexual preferences. www.womongathering.com

Five Oaks is a United Church retreat centre near Paris, Ontario, which has been officially recognized as an LGBT Affirming Ministry. www.fiveoaks.on.ca

Kirkridge is an ecumenical Christian retreat centre in Pennsylvania, with four annual LGBT programs. www.kirkridge.org

Saratoga Springs is a gay-owned retreat centre in Northern California which offers yoga, meditation and spiritual group retreats. www.saratogasprings.com

The Body Electric School offers workshops and retreats around North America. Faculty include LGBT and gender-fluid therapists. www.thebodyelectricschool.com

Gay Men's Yoga offers Gita style yoga retreats in Thailand, Puerto Rico, Greece and Spain. www.gaymensyoga.com.au

Pink Planet -- Caribbean in Transition

EACH ISLAND OFFERS A DIFFERENT KIND OF WELCOME TO GAY AND LESBIAN VISITORS

by Julia Steinecke

This story appeared in the Toronto Star on November 10, 2007, launching a four part Caribbean series. To see the rest of the series, visit www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/94592

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES -- In St. Maarten, we criss-cross the island in vain, searching for a lesbian who will talk to me – though, later I hear the cafés in Marigot are full of them.

In Jamaica, some Dancehall performers sing about shooting gay men in the head, pouring acid over them, and raping lesbians. So far this year, 100 LGBT folk have reportedly been attacked in 43 mob incidents. Yet, there's a huge, lively underground scene.

In Cuba, gays and lesbians can't get permission to start their own advocacy organization. Meanwhile, the government is working on same-sex partnership recognition as well as free sex-change surgery and hormones on demand.

This is the Caribbean, with some of the most complex and least understood gay and lesbian destinations in the world. Some travellers write off the whole district as homophobic, forgetting that each island has a distinctive history and culture; each has a unique intersection of sexuality, race, and class.

I visited three islands and spoke to residents, activists and tourism professionals. Over the next few months, Pink Planet will look at Curacao, St. Maarten and Saba. In the meantime, here's an overview of what else is happening in the region.

First, the bad news. Some say that homophobia is worse on the islands colonized by Victorian-era England, or the islands with the least present-day European and American influence. I suspect it has more to do with economic resources and other social challenges.

Jamaica, which struggles with a heavy foreign debt, large income gaps, and chronic unemployment, still enforces the old English laws against "buggery." Amnesty International is constantly reporting on mob violence and murder, including the attack, earlier this year by a crowd of 200 on a pharmacy in Kingston that supposedly harboured four gay men. In September 2007, the Jamaica Labour Party was elected, under the leadership of Bruce Golding, who has stated that he will provide "no solace" for gays and lesbians. In fact, during the 2001 campaign, the party used a song called "Chi Chi Man" which advocates for the shooting and burning of gays.

Through it all, Jamaican gays and lesbians meet and have fun together. Middle and upper class men drive in convoys to house parties in wealthy neighbourhoods. Promoters organize semi-public events at secret locations with high security. Playwright, Trey Anthony, creator of Da Kink in my Hair, told Torontoist.com that she visited the island recently and found a huge underground community -- and she got picked up by a lot more women than on Toronto's Church Street.

More good news comes from places like San Juan, Puerto Rico, which has a gaybourhood with bars, guesthouses, restaurants and stores. Pride has been celebrated there for over a dozen years. In local politics, many gubernatorial candidates include LGBT rights in their platforms. Homosexuality was legalized in 2005, and assaults can now be prosecuted as hate crimes. The Puerto Rican island of Vieques is known as a gay getaway, with gay-owned accommodations.

Some islands of the Netherlands Antilles are promoting themselves as gay-friendly destinations, with Curaçao in the lead (gaycuracao.com). On the three Antilles I visited, local activists tried to convey the importance of discretion, a sort of "don't ask, don't tell," that was hard for me, as a Canadian, to understand. A very active and out resident of tiny Saba tried to explain how strange it is, even on his open minded island, when a boat unloads a hundred gay men who don't always understand the low-key island culture. They've had better experiences with more seasoned travellers.

Cruise ships have been a sore point on many islands but acceptance is growing. In 2005, gay passengers were prevented by a port official from disembarking on Nevis, but the Tourism Minister later expressed his regrets and reaffirmed the island's welcome. In 2006, the Cayman Islands, which had turned down cruises for several years, admitted an Atlantis cruise with over 3000 on board. In the Bahamas, ships have encountered protesters, as well as an official on-board welcome from the Ministry of Tourism. In October 2007, Bahamian police raided an off-board party for the eighth annual Black Gay and Lesbian Pride Cruise. Police reportedly videotaped participants but no arrests were made. A few days later the Tourism Director General sent a written apology to the event producers, stating that the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation is against all forms of discrimination.

Cuba has come a long way since the 1959 revolution, when homosexuality was considered a sign of capitalist degradation. Legal reforms are being introduced by the government's National Center of Sexual Education, headed by Mariela Castro Espin, (Raúl Castro's daughter and Fidel's niece), who has publicly discussed the police harassment of gays and lesbians. Transsexual rights to name and identity document changes are already recognized.

Change is coming, sometimes where we least expect it.

Julia Steinecke's trip was subsidized by the Curaçao Tourism Board, the St. Maarten Tourist Office, and the Saba Tourist Bureau.

RESOURCES

wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_Americas
Describes legal and social environment on all islands of the Caribbean, with links to several detailed articles.

globalgayz.com/art-index.html#caribbean
Personal travel experiences, interviews and news from 13 Islands including Haiti.

gaycuba.ca
Educational tour described as the "historic first LGBT tour of Cuba."

jflag.org
Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, which operates largely underground

Introducing Pink Planet

My column on lesbian and gay travel appears in the Toronto Star on the second Saturday of every month. Visit www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/94592. Read about new destinations, pride parties, film festivals, cultural happenings, new nightclubs, around the world. You'll find other travel feature stories too. Email the author, julia(at)interlog.com.