Scruff Hook-Up App Creates Traveler Alert: Gay Sex Is Illegal In This Country

The New York Times reports that the hook-up app Scruff has created a warning for users in countries where homosexuality remains illegal

To help keep users safer, Scruff is adding a new traveler alert feature this week. Now, when a user arrives in one of the nearly 100 countries where homosexual acts are criminalized, an alert will pop up when they open Scruff. Headed to Sudan? You might want to be aware that sexual acts between consenting adult males are illegal there, and can lead to corporal punishment or even the death penalty.

The app’s users do not always avoid hostile regions. In fact, more than 100,000 users with Scruff accounts that are registered in the United States, Britain or Australia were traveling in places where homosexuality is illegal over a recent 30-day period, according to a study Mr. Silverberg made available. (He said Scruff users overall number around eight million.)

Scruff has used a similar alert before, in the case of the report last year from the user in Saudi Arabia. At the time, Mr. Silverberg said, Scruff sent out a one-time in-app alert, notifying members in that area about what they had heard, and cautioning them to be careful. Grindr sent a similar alert to users last fall, based on similar stories coming out of Egypt.

Scruff has also limited the GPS function with "location obfuscation" - other users will be able to see that users that are relatively near to them, but without being able to identify the exact location. Critics of GPS-based hook-up apps have previously warned that the users are vulnerable to location triangulation by police or criminals. They claim that the triangulation can be so precise that a user's presence in specific rooms of a building can be identified.

Fire Island Business District Auctions To Manhattan Hotelier Ian Reisner For $10M

Via the New York Times:

A strip of commercial real estate along the harbor in Fire Island Pines sold for $10.1 million at auction on Thursday to developers with plans to continue the revival of a former mecca for closeted gay men. The sale price was well below the $25 million the previous owners sought when they placed it on the market last fall, and below the $17 million they paid for it in 2010. In a deal hammered out over more than six hours, the property was bought by Ian Reisner, who also owns the Out NYC, a hotel on West 42nd Street in Manhattan that focuses on a gay clientele. The deal is expected to close in February.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Reisner said he, his business partner and a small team of investors planned to spend $4 million over the next 18 months to “renovate and rejuvenate” the property, which includes a hotel, a nightclub, a restaurant, a bar and retail space. The Pavilion nightclub in Fire Island Pines was rebuilt after a 2011 fire and reopened, but in the interim the crowd moved on. “My idea for the Out was to have a place for L.G.B.T., because we didn’t have that at the time,” said Mr. Reisner, who said he has been visiting Fire Island Pines since he came out as gay in 1989. “The Pines is the Out.”

Reisner was last in the news back in October when a 25 year-old Hell's Kitchen club manager died of an apparent drug overdose in his $25M Central Park South penthouse.

Lonely Planet Names Most Gay-Friendly Destinations For LGBT Travelers

Lonely Planet today issued its annual ranking of the top ten most gay-friendly destinations in the world for LGBT tourism. Here's what they say about this year's list-topper, Copenhagen.

Denmark may be the home of Lego and at the forefront of New Nordic Cuisine, but importantly it made history in 1989 by becoming the first nation in the world to recognise registered same-sex partnerships. And at Denmark’s heart is the relaxed beauty of its compact cobblestoned capital, Copenhagen. Copenhagen is home to Europe’s oldest openly gay bar, Centralhjørnet, whose origins date back to the 1950s; as well as the hip and super-cool district of Vesterbro, which also happens to be the city’s red-light district. One of the most tolerant and open communities in Europe, Copenhagen’s functional yet edgy fashion scene, brilliant array of cocktail bars, excellent range of gay-friendly boutique accommodation and packed calendar of queer events make it the gay-friendliest place on Earth.

You may recall that Lonely Planet earned widespread criticism when Uganda topped their 2012 list.

Germany Pitches For LGBT Tourism

Germany's National Tourism Office has launched a new website in support of LGBT tourism. Via Gay Times:

The country that gave us Adidas, Einstein and World Cup winning super-stud, Mario Gotze (move over Beckham) has now published the perfect resource to plan your next trip to Germany, and it’s all tailored exclusively with LGBT visitors in mind. That doesn’t mean that this new website is all about pride events, parties and bars though. Of course there is some really useful information on the LGBT scene in Germany’s five largest cities — Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne, as well as details of the major LGBT festivals and events that take place across the country. But there is also information on Germany’s buzzing art landscape, cutting-edge architecture, latest design trends as well as what’s happening right now on the German fashion scene too.

Dating Website: Chicago Is Top Travel Destination For Closeted Gay Men

According to a dating website that specializes in romantic travel, Chicago is the most popular destination for closeted gay men. Via press release:

Thousands of men are secretly flocking to destinations across the globe. With many counterparts left outside of the picture, many times the real purpose of trips remains undisclosed. MissTravel.com conducted a two-part survey regarding closeted travel. The dating destination website first polled 5,184 male members seeking male travel companions, to find out if they were “out” as homosexuals. The 41% members who were in-fact closeted were then surveyed to discover their top destinations for discreet travel.

Top Closeted Destinations:
1.Chicago, Illinois
2.Sydney, Australia
3.Maui, Hawaii
4.Puerta Vallarta, Mexico
5.Vancouver, British Columbia
6.Las Vegas, Nevada
7.Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
8.Orlando, Florida
9.Buenos Aires, Argentina
10.Minneapolis, Minnesota

The press release adds: "Chicago is known as a major U.S. business hub, making it a plausible destination for prudent travel." 

At Provincetown's Carnival Week

From JMG reader Rob, who blogs here.

Fusion Reports On Bear Week

Via the Fusion Network:

Since 1987, The Discovery Channel has gone deep into the ocean to bring us our favorite part of summer: Shark Week. But to celebrate Fusion's first summer, AM Tonight wanted to try something a little different: Bear Week. We're not talking about the 600-pound run-for-your-life grizzly bear type, but rather, the subset of gay men who since the early '80s have been redefining body image within gay culture. To better understand and celebrate this group of men, our show traveled to Provincetown, Massachusetts. For years, Provincetown -- or P-town, as it's affectionately known -- has been a popular gay destination and the host of the annual Bear Week celebration. The annual event isn't just good fun, it's good business. Local business owners say Bear Week is one of the busiest times of year, yielding huge profits.

The Accidental Bear Goes To P-Town

The Accidental Bear blogger Mike Enders has posted a gay travel recap of his visit to Provincetown. Just by coincidence, it happened to be Bear Week when he was there. This might not be office-friendly but only because of intermittent beefcakery.

Yesterday In Provincetown

Left to right: Chris Turner, Andy Towle, Michael Goff, Armistead Maupin, some short dude, Brian Sims.

Morning View - Bear Week Detritus

Friday In Provincetown

Via Towleroad:

If you are at Bear Week in Provincetown come to Towleroad's coffee meet-up on Friday from 9-11:30 am at the Central House restaurant at the Crown & Anchor (247 Commercial) and meet literary legend Armistead Maupin and Joe.My.God blogger Joe Jervis who are our special guests, along with Andy Towle and Michael Goff.

RELATED: Maupin's final Bear Week show at the Crown & Anchor is Friday night.

BONUS: Hit the top link for a woofy Bear Week photo compilation.

Afternoon View - Provincetown House

This Commercial Street house used to be a fire station. The owners remodeled the truck bay so that the door rolls up to reveal a cozy front porch.

Morning View - Provincetown Beach

Afternoon View - Bear Soup

Afternoon View - Bear Week Performers

Morning View - Provincetown

This is a parking meter on Commercial Street. Taped over the money slot is an envelope which reads, "Free parking. A random act of kindness. Have a great day! Pay it forward. Love is all you need." There's $3 in the envelope.

At Bear Week 2014

Next Friday In Provincetown...

Andy Towle writes at Towleroad:

Join us for our weekly Friday morning coffee meet-up on JULY 18 from 9 - 11 am at the Central House restaurant at The Crown & Anchor Inn. This week's guest is our friend and fellow blogger Joe Jervis who writes Joe.My.God! Come meet Joe along with Towleroad's Andy Towle and Michael Goff and enjoy some coffee to start your Friday!

I'm sure I'll have run into most of you long before Friday, but I encourage you to attend. At least at that hour you won't find me with a drink in my hand. Probably.

Key West's Island House Is For Sale, Owner Jon Allen Hopes For Gay Buyer

As many of you learned several weeks ago, Key West's famed Island House resort is for sale following the December death of Martin Kay, who owned the business with Jon Allen (above), his partner of 23 years. Knowing that I have made annual pilgrimages to the Island House for the last several years, I've been getting messages from JMG readers who are fearful that yet another of Key West's dwindling number of gay guest houses will fall into straight hands. I held off on writing about about the sale until our own Father Tony could interview Jon Allen himself. Tony's story appeared this week in South Florida Gay News.

What will become of Island House? The asking price of $13.5 million has proven to be reasonable given the excellent condition of the property, the constantly low vacancy rate, the well-trained and harmonious staff, and a clientele so fiercely loyal that upon announcement of the offering, bookings for March went up 67 percent over last year. Often, such an announcement will cause customers to hesitate. Allen wonders if the increase is because his customers could not bear the thought of never again visiting Island House. Serious offers have been received in the first week of the listing. Almost all interested buyers are former Island House guests who know the property well. Allen says that his strongest wish for Island House is that it should remain a guesthouse for gay men. For him, Island House contains wonderful memories, and he often describes his work by saying, “In my workday, I am surrounded by happy naked men and a wonderful staff that know how to solve problems.”

Allen, 70, says that he can't bear to remain in Key West, where reminders of his late partner appear at every turn. After the sale is concluded, he will move to a gay retirement community near the Russian River area north of San Francisco.

Even if the Island House is acquired by longtime patrons who change nothing and run the business  with the same high standards that have earned countless glowing reviews, the new owners will be challenged to maintain the genial "every kind of gay man is welcome here" atmosphere created by Martin Kay and Jon Allen, who greeted and treated new guests like old friends.

Gay Cruise Company Boycotts Russia

From the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News:

Tuesday night, Atlantis CEO Rich Campbell outlined the new cruises in store for 2014, including the return of the popular Baltic European cruise. This time, however, one port of call that had always been included in the past was pointedly excluded for the 2014 cruise: St. Petersburg, Russia. Campbell said that while the people of St. Petersburg were always friendly and welcoming to us in the past, and that the immense cultural attractions made it an obvious port of call under normal circumstances for any Baltic cruise ... these were no longer normal circumstances. The hostile anti-gay attitude of the current Putin regime has made Russia an unacceptable destination for a gay cruise, and he expressed hope that the economic effect of the decision would in some small way help to bring about change in the current sad state of affairs there. The crowd of veteran Atlantis cruisers at the reception responded to the announcement with cheers and applause.

Good for them. But a check of the upcoming Caribbean cruise by Atlantis Events reveals that they will be making a port call in Barbados, where homosexuality is technically punishable by life in prison, although Wikipedia notes that the law is "rarely enforced." The Caribbean cruise will also stop in St. Lucia, where homosexual acts between males are punishable by ten years in prison. At least in Russia homosexuality itself is not illegal. Yet.