I am always a little leery of “LGBTQ+” cruises because I think of them as really LGB cruises. Take for example Aruba, it has protections for LGB people but not for trans people and Asher & Lyric gives it an overall rating of C- but if you are trans is probably not as good.
If you Google “How safe is Aruba for transgender people?” the search results are…
- Aruba Proves the Caribbean Is Finally Warming Up to LGBTQ
Jun 19, 2019 — Most Aruban hotels are LGBTQ-friendly. Crimes against LGBTQs and same-sex couples are extremely rare, and the city of Oranjestad boasts plenty ...
- Which Caribbean islands are safe for gay travelers?
Aruba — How safe is Aruba for gay travelers? Aruba is safe and welcoming for LGBTQ travelers. It is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and generally ...
- LGBT Aruba - Gay-Friendly Caribbean Destination
Aruba's remarkably friendly hospitality naturally extends to LGBT vacationers. In fact, Aruba celebrates the LGBT community by offering a range of …
- How Lesbian Friendly is Aruba in 2019 - Lez See the World
Oct 5, 2019 — We had an incredible visit. We felt safe knowing that Aruba openly welcomes LGBTQ+ travelers and that the country has anti-discrimination laws …
Did you notice that not one said anything about trans?
With that in mind...
Cruising to Equality? The Cruise Industry & LGBTQ+ Rights
Gay cruises helped establish the LGBTQ+ tourism market — and gain civil rights. Has the ship now sailed?
Out Traveler
By Jacob Aanderson-Minshall
August 26 2022
In “Cruising to Equality: Tourism, U.S. Homonationalism, and the Lesbian and Gay Family Market,” author Liz Montegary wrote (as she explains now) that “spending money in local and global tourism markets increased the visibility of ‘respectable,’ economically privilegedm [sic] lesbian and gay parents and, in doing so, strengthened lesbian and gay demands for marital and parental rights.”The focus of her study was the LGBTQ+ family cruise company R Family Vacations.
Montegary is now director of graduate studies at Stony Brook University’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and author of the 2018 book Familiar Perversions: The Racial, Sexual, and Economic Politics of LGBT Families. In the nearly two decades since R Family launched, the LGBTQ+ cruise industry has been dramatically transformed. (Read how R Family is changing as well). And while marriage equality is currently the law of the land, parental rights are under threat and a Supreme Court justice wants to undo our marriages.
[…]
Has cruising contributed to LGBTQ+ equality?
I think cruising has played a role in moving some LGBTQ+ people toward equality, but I also think it has contributed to moving other LGBTQ+ people further from equality.
The cruise industry helped establish the LGBTQ+ tourism market — and gain rights. But has it gone far enough?
As companies began more aggressively courting “pink dollars” over the course of the 1990s, group-based commercial activities, like tourism, took on new meaning. Lesbian and gay identity was organized around a shared set of desires — not just in terms of same-sex eroticism but now around shared consumer wants and common political interests. Within this context, private acts of consumption — like booking a cruise — could be experienced as politicized public acts. Not only were these travelers doing the political work of building community, they were also increasing their visibility as valuable consumers deserving of state recognition and legal protections.
Now for my but. Tourism is only a liberatory site for LGBTQ+ travelers equipped with the bodies, resources, legal status, and cultural capital needed to engage in leisure travel. By increasing the visibility of gender conforming, economically privileged, and able-bodied/ minded LGBTQ+ citizens, the industry effectively marginalizes those who cannot or will not conform to the white middleclass norms of consumer culture.
Ding, ding, ding… alarm bells just went off “who cannot or will not conform to the white middleclass norms of consumer culture.”
That is a great big red flag! In other words people like me.
Of course then there are the other passengers and we do not know how they will behave!
Anything else you’d like to share about LGBTQ+ cruises?
I wanted to clarify that, regardless of how companies market their cruises, we can’t be totally sure how people will use the space of the ship. In the longer version of my “Cruising to Equality” article (which is chapter 2 of Familiar Perversions), I talk about some of the unexpected encounters I had while on my Alaska cruise.
[…]
So, even as I wonder (and maybe worry) about what might be a growing preference for “inclusive” vacation opportunities, I want to acknowledge that people don’t always use spaces in the way they are intended. I have the utmost of faith in the capacity of queer sexual cultures to permeate these new configurations. And we can’t really know what kinds of queer desires and alliances — erotic, political, or otherwise — might take shape on the decks of these “gay-friendly” cruises.
Back in 2012 I wrote about a “Ru Paul Drag Cruise” that went awry.
Carnival letter to passengers on drag cruise: 'Refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct'
Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines is in hot water tonight over a letter received by passengers scheduled to take a Drag Stars at Sea Caribbean cruise beginning Dec. 2.
One passenger reported receiving this email from Carnival:
Carnival attracts a number of families with children and for this reason; we strive to present a family friendly atmosphere. It is important to us that all guests are comfortable with every aspect of the cruise. Although we realize this group consists solely of adults, we nonetheless expect all guests to recognize that minors are onboard and, refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas.
Arrangements have been made for drag performances in the main theater featuring stars from LOGO TV. These functions will be private and only the performers are permitted to dress in drag while in the theater. Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.
Carnival said any passenger who breaks the rules will be forced off the ship, no refunds given.
So beware!
I not saying you will run into problems with cruises but there is a strong possibility that you will and I would hate to be stuck on a cruise with a bunch of Trump's MAGAers.
I would like to offer an observation I've made on seemingly one of the stogier lines - Cunard.
ReplyDeleteCunard is old fashioned enough that the LGBT gathering is listed in the daily newsletter as 'Friends of Dorothy". The customer facing staff (dining room, bartenders, pursers desk...) seemed to treat the occasional cross dressed passenger with the same aplomb as their Provincetown counterparts. Our waiters and sommelier seemed to be disappointed when I wore a tux on formal nights.
On our last crossing (2019) I had a long conversation on a variety of topics with the QM2 Security Officer - he mentioned that Cunard made special accommodation for trans passengers, going so far as providing ships cruise cards for both gender presentations for folks who are 'part time'. [The passenger's picture is displayed when the ship's card is scanned returning from shore excursions -that way the correct presentation would be displayed]-. He did caution that even full time, but pre-op folks should be circumspect in communal shower and locker rooms - principally the changing area for the spa's "thermal suite".