Gay Travel News

WORLDWIDE: The truth about the day our blog Couple of Men went “viral” because our photo got stolen by internet trolls to connect the LGBTQ+ community to pro-pedophilia.

Our 6 Top Queer Films 2018 for Homochrom Filmfest in the German cities Cologne and Dortmund. The leaves are turning orange and red, and autumn always means it‘s cinema time again in Germany! To give you the best of 2018 queer cinema, we from Couple of Men had an interesting chat with festival director Martin Wolkner about the program of the 8th Filmfest homochrom in Cologne and Dortmund. The queer film festival scene in Germany is second only to the USA (40+ festivals), and homochrom has become the second-largest among the 25 German festivals. But homochrom is also one of the up-and-coming festivals to watch for when they announce their program loaded with insider tips. You will always discover and be surprised by some rare and perfect world cinema which could also have been at the Berlinale or even has been. Yet the biggest surprise of the 8th Filmfest homochrom might be that admission is free to all films in 2018. We would like to give you some suggestions to help you navigate your festival experience. There are many very different queer topics in the 2018 selection, and we give you the 6 best, sexiest, most important or most dramatic movies showcasing bisexual, transgender, intersex, gay, and slightly straight stories.

Our 5 Top Lesbian Films Filmfest Homochrom 2018 in the German cities Cologne and Dortmund. It’s autumn, that means it‘s cinema time again in Germany! “Couple of Men” had a nice talk with festival director Martin Wolkner about the programme of the 8th Filmfest homochrom in Cologne and Dortmund. It has quickly become the second-largest among a very active crowd of two dozens of queer film festivals in Germany. (Then again Cologne is still the homo capital of Germany, isn’t it?) But the Filmfest homochrom has also been one of the up-and-coming festivals to look for rare film discoveries and surprises. The biggest one yet might be that admission to all films is free this year. So grab your friends and head to the cinema. There’s no good reason to not see the whole festival, but if you have a good excuse and need to choose just a couple, you might like our suggestions. So we wanted to know which of the 2018 selection are the best, sexiest or most dramatic movies showcasing love between two women or girls. Which are the unmissable films of 2018?

Our 5 Top Gay Films Homochrom Filmfest 2018 in the German cities Cologne and Dortmund. It’s October, the Oktoberfest in Munich is over, and the trees are turning all orange and red, while it’s getting cooler. It’s cinema time again, not only in Germany! We from Couple of Men had an inspiring talk with festival director Martin Wolkner about the program of the 8th Filmfest homochrom in Cologne and Dortmund in the western part of Germany. The LGBT film festival has quickly become the second-largest among a very active crowd of two dozens of queer film festivals all around Germany. (Then again Cologne is still the gayest city in Germany, isn’t it?) But homochrom has also been one of the up-and-coming festivals to look for rare film discoveries and gay movie surprises. The biggest one yet might be that the admission to all films is free in 2018. We wanted to know from Martin Wolkner which of the 2018 film selection are the best, sexiest or most dramatic movies showcasing love between two (gay) men. Which are the unmissable films of 2018?

AUSTRIA: It is time for one of the most important annual AIDS charity events in the world. It is time for the 25th edition of Life Ball 2018

Top gay-friendly destinations around the world at the Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2018. Spartacus, the German publisher of gay travel guidebooks based in Berlin just released their annual Gay Travel Index giving a detailed ranking of LGBT-friendly countries worldwide. Since 2013, gay and lesbian travelers can find information about how gay-friendly their holiday destination really is. The guys behind the Spartacus Gay Travel Index thereby include the facts of how legal homosexuality actually is and if there are any anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation or HIV travel restrictions.

AMSTERDAM: The 15 Best Gay Movies 2018 selected for the 11 days LGBTQ+ Film Festival Roze Filmdagen in the Dutch capital Amsterdam together with Werner Borkes, festival director of the so-called Pink Movie Days.

NETHERLANDS: The 10 Best Lesbian Movies 2018 selected by the Dutch LGBTQ+ Film Festival Roze Filmdagen – It is time again to get ready for the biggest Dutch film festival “Pink Film Days”.

The 10 Best Queer LGBTQ Movies 2018 selected by the Dutch Film Festival Roze Filmdagen in Amsterdam – This year for the first time, we selected the best queer movies for the biggest Dutch film festival “Pink Film Days”. Festival director Werner Borkes helped us to find the top feature films about transgender journeys, intersexual identities, and deeply personal stories of individual struggles about sex, love, and faith. Movies like “Jesus is dead” with a very diverse family road trip from the Philippines, the story of a threesome relationship “We Are Thr3e” from Argentina and the queer LGBTQ movie “Saturday Church” about faith, hope and finding yourself are just a view of the best 8 Queer Movies for this year’s 21st edition of the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam.

Love Story of three Gay Couples: “Love Beyond Borders” – An extraordinary love between two human beings needs an extraordinary love story. And some really good storytellers, of course. But before we start to tell you a story of three couples, imagine the following scenario: you and the person you love are separated by several time zones, thousands of kilometers, a couple of countries and oceans, permanently. The only thing how you two can be in contact is to chat via apps, Skype, and, of course, to travel. But despite the distance between you and your love, the only thing that really matters to you is that you are in love.

Same-Sex Marriage Austria – For many of you, and even for us, this great news coming from Austria feel like an early Christmas present, especially for the LGBTQ+ community of the European country Austria. The Constitutional Court of Austria decided today that by the beginning of 2019 same-sex couples will be allowed to marry in the alpine country. After Germany this summer, the next European country will get marriage equality, although some time and patience is still needed.

Great News from Downunder: Australians say YES to Same-Sex Marriage! – Australia is about to be the next country joining the list of the 24 countries already allowing same-sex marriage by law. After Germany this summer, Australia could become the 25th country legalizing marriage between two people of the same gender. By taking the decision to hold an exceptional public opinion poll as a postal vote on same-sex marriage, the Australians had been free to vote for or against marriage equality. Although the final decision has still to be made in the Australian parliament, the Australian LGBTQ+ community took a huge step forward today, November 15th, 2017.

The 9th edition of the Goldelsen-Cup Berlin Gay Lesbian Volleyball Tournament 2017 – It is time to kick-off our Gay Sports articles on our blog with this year’s Goldelsen Cup in Berlin! The 9th edition of the annual International Gay and Lesbian Volleyball Tournament in Berlin is considered to be one of the biggest European LGBTQ+ Sports Tournaments taking place at the end of November in the German capital. As chance would have it, Karl is a passionate Volleyball player who started his Volleyball career at the age of 12. After he came out of the closet, Karl decided to join the International Gay-Lesbian Volleyball League playing in tournaments all around the world with his Teams from SSL Vorspiel Berlin and SLS “Der Bogenschütze” Dresden e.V..

GERMANY: Same-Sex Marriage holds a majority within all parties except the right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) and members of the Christian Democratic Union. We will have Same-Sex Marriage in Germany!

Gay Couple Travel Blogger Benidorm Pride Spain 2017 – Summer is over! No, wait it is not! The Spanish holiday destination Benidorm is inviting the LGBTQ+ community from Europe and the whole world to celebrate one of the last Gay Pride of the Pride season 2017 in the city at the Mediterranean Sea. It will be a whole week full of events, parties, and the rainbow colored gay pride parade in the summer sun of the popular Costa Blanca coast in Spain. For the 7th time, the gay pride will take place in Benidorm expecting more than 15.000 people, especially coming from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. We as gay travel bloggers will arrive September 6th in Alicante traveling further to our final destination Benidorm at the Hotel Meliá Villaitana. Besides the incredible and unique skyline of Benidorm, the Spanish city has a remarkable old town, too. Our plans are to do an E-Bike tour along Benidorm’s coast visiting small coves and beaches and might even go snorkeling! Furthermore, we will make sure to have enough time to test Benidorm’s Mediterranean cuisine, the water park Aqualandia and the theme park Terra Mítica. But our main focus, of course, will be Benidorm Pride 2017 with its three “F”: Fun Friendly Flirty. Join us in Benidorm and on our Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter and experience the Spanish LGBTQ+ Festival in Benidorm through a couple of men‘s eyes!

GERMANY: Election in Germany 2017: Vote and stand up for your freedom! Travesty for Germany Drag Election Posters calling for a Change (in Politics).

Gay Couple Baltic Pride 2017 Tallinn Estonia – We are happy to announce that we will attend this year’s Baltic Pride 2017! The LGBTQ+ event that aims to “increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ people” joins forces with Tallinn Pride. The rainbow colored Gay Pride Festival will take place from July 6th to July 9th. Therefore, the Estonian capital is planning to organize a long list of events throughout the pride week starting with art exhibitions, LGBTQ+ film screenings to the colorful gay pride parade through the capital of Estonia. Together with supporters from the Baltic States, across Europe and from all over the world, we will celebrate the 9th edition of Baltic Pride, that rotates between the three Baltic capitals Vilnius, Tallinn, and Riga. This year, it is Tallinn’s turn to host the gay pride week. But we will have more to explore in the beautiful city of Tallinn. As one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we cannot wait to spend the first week in July in Estonia. Join us on our gay travels to Estonia and see the Baltic Pride 2017 in Tallinn with this year’s festival theme “United” through a couple of men’s eyes.

The First Utrecht Canal Gay Pride 2017 The Netherlands – It is time. Time for the LGBTQ+ community of Utrecht to celebrate the annually Gay Pride Event with their first own, unique and rainbow colored Canal Pride Parade. “The heart of the Netherlands” will turn pink when for the first ever dressed up Grachten boats will ride the old canals of the fourth biggest city of the Netherlands accompanied by proud gay, lesbian, bi, trans and friends from all over the world. Starting at Ledig Erf, the Utrecht Gay Pride Parade on the canals will end at the Zandbrug, just around the corner of the well-known gay bars “Bodytalk” and “Café Kalff”.

NETHERLANDS: Scar Tissue, a Dutch gay short movie, written and directed by Nish Gara, produced by Martijn Krediet, shows how a casual hook-up between a Syrian refugee and a Dutch man, can end up being more difficult than you would think.

Our Best Lesbian Movies Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2017 – In celebration of its 20th edition in 22 years the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam is welcoming film and movie enthusiasts from all over the world to see, feel, experience over 120 short movies, documentaries, and motion pictures in Amsterdam. The topics differ from gay, lesbian, transsexual, intersexual, bisexual to all variations in between. But since it is the 20th anniversary of the biggest Film Festival in the Netherlands, the LGBTQ Film Festival will show some great Dutch movies, too. You will be amazed what cultural LGBTQ Life Amsterdam has to offer besides the wonderful Gay Canal Pride Parade every year.

Our best Gay Movies Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2017 – This year the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam is celebrating its 20th edition with more than 120 short movies, documentaries and motion pictures. Additional to the premier of SCAR TISSUE, the gay migration movie with our Daan as one of the main actors, the Amsterdam Queer Film Festival is featuring movies with Gay Men, Lesbian, Transsexual and Intersexual topics from all over the world but of course, with a Dutch focus as it is the 20th edition of the LGBTQ Film Festival in 2017. Thus, for a selection of the Top 10 Lesbian and Mix movies during the Festival, click on our Blog article “Best 10 Lesbian & Mix Movies of the Roze Filmdagen”!

Queer Amsterdam New LGBTQ Drama Series by BNN – Nine times six minutes queer LGBTQ drama on YouTube! But what is this exploration of the queer universe of Amsterdam about? Heteros, homos, women, men, transgender, and bisexual people, to pigeonhole everyone is the most comfortable way to handle diversity, isn’t it? Well, or is it just the way to show, that actually no one really fits in? The brand new Dutch LGBTQ Drama series tries to insinuate at exactly those weak points of our not always so gay-friendly society and to show these conflicts to a much broader audience outside the LGBTQ community in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Europe and all around the world. Nothing is as easy as a “normality” tries to show. But what is normal in QUEER Amsterdam? And is it important to which gender I am falling in love with or is it the human being itself?

Happy New Year’s celebrations everyone and may 2017 be a good year for you and your beloved ones! We would like to thank you for your loyalty and support during our past travel months, for your tips, advice, and for all the time we spend together along the travel paths. The past 12 months have been very special to us. Exploring unknown countries, meeting so many, so lovely people and being able to attend Gay Pride Parades in Helsinki, Tel Aviv, and Amsterdam just made 2016 to one of our best travel years we ever had.

Rotterdam Ro Theater De Gelaarsde Poes – Miauw Miauw! Welcome to the show about the Puss in Boots! Right after the super successful premiere 25th December 2015 with the clever cat, his companion Jaap, some french kissing princesses and the extra handsome James Blond, the theater play of the Rotterdam Ro Theater will start their annual Netherlands-tour from Rotterdam in January 2016. Read here all about this purrrrrfect performance!

FINLAND: Tom of Finland Movie Trailer – Most of us know Tom of Finland from provocative gay art with too big genitals, men in fetish gear, and very manly, handsome and idealistic painted male cartoons.

Wow! 100 Drag Queens United Lipdub Amsterdam Christmas Edition – 100 beautiful Drag Queens from the Netherlands lip synching for her life and your perfect Pre-Christmas mood some of the most famous Christmas songs together. Watch the hilarious 12 minutes music video of Lady Galore’s popular Drag Queens United Lipdub in a special Christmas Edition.

This commercial is simply beautiful. It was the best decision ever to include a cute and handsome gay couple in a family video clip promoting a family ticket for the East German Theme Park Belantis in Leipzig. Who is actually defining a family? We do, everyone of us and this wonderful lovely peace of equality showing Christmas love goes hopefully as viral as possible. Gay Couple Family Commercial Belantis Theme Park

From karlisworld to coupleofmen – The story of our gay travel blog started already almost 4 years ago when we met each other for the first time in Berlin. It was love at first sight between two men from different countries. The love was stronger than the distance and so our (travel) love story together began. After traveling for 6 months between Amsterdam and Berlin, Karl got a job and house offer in Amsterdam and the decision was made to move in together in the Dutch capital. But traveling was anything but over. Together we made our first big trips to Vietnam and Japan and discovered to be a perfect match when traveling together.