Gay Puerto Vallarta: Separate But Equal?
05. Dec, 2008 
12 Comments
This past week, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico has been “Latin Fever”. It’s a week long event over the Thanksgiving holiday that offers dinners, dances, and parties for the gay tourists. I found this out, after a teacher from Houston, took me to the gay beach one day.
So we walked. We went down to the beach, took a left and kept walking. And walking. If you want to find the gay beach, here’s how to do it. Go past the pier. Go past the rows and rows of beach chairs. Go to the spot where the beach ends and look for the 100 or so men in speedos. See any women? Then you’ve found it.
At first I was thrilled to go. I have a general rule to always say yes to invitations, even if it means sticking out among the throngs of well groomed, well tanned, well sculpted young men. Puerto Vallarta is well-known as the gay-hub of Mexico. But then it occurred to me. Isn’t it odd that they are clustered on the southern most part of the beach? Isn’t it strange that they would pay all this money, to fly out to a gay-friendly vacation spot, only to be sequestered far away from the families and tourists?
It’s not unusual to see this kind of self selecting seclusion for the gay community back home. I went to school in Amherst, MA – just down the road from Northampton, MA– the lesbian capital of New England. In the summers we would vacation on Cape Cod and visit Provincetown—the gay male capital of New England. In Boston, we lived in Jamaica Plain, which housed much of the gay community.
On the west coast, it’s the same thing. Think of San Francisco or Capital Hill in Seattle. Every major city seems to have these nooks, where gay and lesbians go to be left alone. And the cities themselves are refuges for gay people growing up in rural areas, where they ultimately fled in large droves.
I get it. In college I campaigned for the HRC. I’m not gay, but I can understand the inclination to want to feel safe. I understand wanting to be able to vacation with your partner and hold hands without fear of violence. What I don’t understand, is how blithely we allow this to occur. Even with Proposition 8 being ratified in California, there seems to be a lack of public outrage.
In California. They won’t let gay people marry. One of the most liberal states in the country. The same people who watch Ellen every morning, think she is living in sin. And sitting on that beach, in sunny Puerto Vallarta, I felt a little sad. The last civil rights movement has turned into a marketing campaign for high priced resorts. Come here, we’ll accept you and your American currency. Come here and we’ll give you a special spot on this beach, far away from where the “normal” tourists are. Come and as long as you’re rich, we’ll let you stay.
So I drank my $4 coronas, and listened to techno remixes of Madonna’s latest album. But this week I found a video, that made me smile:
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That’s ridiculous. First of all, it’s the nicest part of PV, with the coolest bars, best shopping and best restaurants – it’s also where the nicest houses and condos are. Why does anyone hang out anywhere? Why are there Asian bars in SF? Why are the yuppies at Starbucks with their laptops? Why do the hipsters in PDX hang out in SE? Everyone has to go somewhere and like begets like. Puerto Vallarta is extremely tolerant of gay visitors and they don’t just sequester themselves into gay resorts and gay bars – they stay in popular family resorts, B&Bs, in Nuevo, in the Marina, anywhere they want. It just so happens that since that’s where the gay scene started, that’s where it’s blossomed and so that’s where it stays. Many gay and lesbian tourists come here especially to stay in that part of town, by choice, not because they were corralled there.
Well that video is funny! The reality of tolerance in 2008, not so much. When I was in Rio, the gay section was also in an area off to the side, out of the way from the majority of beach goers. I think there is no outrage because most poeple don’t realize their privileges until they are taken away. Many gays live without basic rights to marry, show affection or even dress the way they want without being physically attacked but if you’ve always had that right, it’s easy not to think about those that don’t. I used to live in the most prominently gay neighborhood in Chicago until it became gentrified with yuppie couples. They attacked gays holding hands and protested the loud music coming from gay clubs. They were outraged that gays had a “special” parade of their own. They didn’t get a special parade, they fumed, not realizing that all the city’s parades were their own “special” hetero parades.
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@RN:
I was expecting this kind of response but not on the first comment! PV may be extremely tolerant of gay visitors… but just the word: tolerant, gives me pause. What exactly is there to tolerate. It’s just a sad state of affairs when we have to tolerate anyone.
It’s interesting though, that you’re arguing that there isn’t an issue at hand, and yet use language that demonstrates exactly what I was talking about.
When I worked in Texas, I had gay coworkers who had other men in the department refuse to use the bathroom after them. There’s a huge difference in the way gays are treated through out the US… and just as much in Mexico. PV maybe the gay capital (I said as much right?) but why does there need to be a gay capital at all?
I will concede that gay communities tend to be in nice, stylish or cool areas. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem.
Just want to say just love the new look of the blog and wishing you happy times.
Those of us who live on the south side know that is where it is happening and the people in the hotel district are sequestered far away from the action. We are not sequestered away from them.
For you to come to Puerto Vallarta not knowing anything about it and to say something that is so un-true makes me wounder if it is you that is so intolerant. Why would you say this with out knowing anything about Puerto Vallarta.
pvkid
http://www.puerto-vallarta-rentals.com
Great post Christine, and while I haven’t been to PV so can’t comment on the specifics there, I do agree with your point overrall. There’s obviously very valid reasons why separate gay spaces developed in the first place, and why they became so popular, but I do think the long-term trend will be for those spaces to decline in popularity over time as being gay becomes increasingly accepted and less of an issue. I’ve already noticed it in London where I (and most of my gay friends) spend less and less time on the gay scene as there’s really no need to be ghettoised any more. Increasingly the younger gay men I meet reject the gay scene altogether for similar reasons, and are happy socialising in mixed spaces.
Despite all that though, there will always be an important place for gay scenes and gay holiday destinations, especially for the single (it’s a simple fact of maths that in mixed environments, it’s much harder for single gay men to find each other).
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This is the most rediculous post I have read yet. You merely look at a situation without digging into the details, make a bunch of assumptions, and then form an opinion based on those assumptions. Was there a gay person in PV who told you they were “sequestered” to that area? Did any of them express their dissatisfaction with being on the south end of the beach?
The fact is that people like to be around similar thinking and acting people. This is why there is usually a Chinese and Latino neighborhood in almost every American city. Is it because city-goers in America are racist? Not necessarily. It is because people choose to live there to because they know someone there or feel comfortable in that environment.
If you’re going to label a whole town or a whole group of people homophobes then do some research first. Otherwise, you’re acting just as close-minded and presumptuous as they are.
Ok, I’m going to try to address these comments, even knowing that if you don’t understand where I’m coming from, a few short sentences isn’t likely to change your mind. Here goes:
1. No one is arguing with me that there is a separate beach, they are arguing intention.
2. Try this game: replace gay with any other group. Would walking down the beach and seeing a section of the beach based on race or gender or job occupation for that matter make a difference to you?
3. I never said that any one made gay people go to this beach.
4. I understand that this topic makes people feel very strongly. I feel very strongly about it.
5. I’m not saying PV is worse than any place else.
In summary my observation: It felt wrong, to see a beach 25% full, to walk down past hundreds and hundreds of chairs, and then to see one small area of the beach packed with gay people. Want to make a gay friendly town? Don’t make a gay beach, just have beaches.
Are there latino and chinese neighborhoods in cities, yes. Is this a good thing? Not necessarily. Where I grew up in Massachusetts there use to be huge French, Irish, German, Polish, Finish and Italian neighborhoods. This was back 30, 40 years ago. Those first generation immigrants lived together because it was easier. Because they hadn’t integrated. Eventually their kids moved out of those neighborhoods. They disappeared because they weren’t needed anymore.
What I’m trying to get at is: I understand the need (and even the desire) for gay people to meet in the same place. I just can’t wait until there is no need for it anymore.
As for the chinese and latino neighborhoods? The 2nd and 3rd generations won’t live there. If people keep imigrating, then the neighborhoods will survive. If not, then those neighborhoods will go away too.
To address specific comments:
RN: Still not convinced that the nicest area argument works. See above. Just because gay people have the purchasing power to stay in nice places, doesn’t mean that the motivation isn’t based on something I hope the world will outgrow.
Fly Girl: Thank you for speaking up. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who has noticed this on my travels.
Donna: Thanks!
Pvkid: Not really sure what you’re trying to say, only can guess that you think gay people should definitely go to PV and pay you big bucks to rent from you via the not-so-subtle link you spammed us with.
Geoff: Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I’ve heard the same things from some of my gay friends in the states, who are specifically deciding to raise their kids elsewhere.
YHIW: Re-read the article and see above. Let me know what specifically you don’t agree with besides my existence in the world.
Finally, I don’t know what people in PV think. I never tried to guess that. They could love gay people. It doesn’t matter. The point is, from even a casual observation, it seems off to me.
Let me ask you this: if there was no issue with being gay at all, would these places even exist?
Thanks Christine, I thought it was a very well-intentioned and considerate post, and was sad (but not entirely surprised) to see some of the reactions.
I totally agree with your point, and I really do think in time these places will exist less and less – it certainly seems like it’s beginning to happen in Europe, and I think that’s an entirely positive thing.
Geoff´s last blog post..Ho Ho Ho
When did I mention your existence? It’s one thing to write what I think is a poorly researched article, it’s another to not have any sort of response to the people who disagree with you. Those of us who disagree are saying the same thing: the fact that gay people congregate in one area does not signify discrimination of any kind. Let’s try this exercise: let’s say the party consisted of middle class families sharing parenting tips. Would you then say that PV was discriminating against middle class families?
I’m insenced at this article because when I was in PV, I felt nothing of what you did. I was there during Semana Santa, I stayed in an apartment owned by a gay man that was across the street from many Mexican households. I was invited by another gay couple I met to use the pool on the roof of their condo building (which had great views!). When I was there, there were tonnes of people and no distinction between one beach or the next. I actually didn’t even know that I had walked into the so-called “gay beach” until someone pointed it out to me that there were more men than usual. In fact, most people didn’t seem to care who was gay or strait, Mexican families included, and everyone was treated equally. For some reason, you seem to be stuck on the fact that people are gay instead of just enjoying the fact that there was a party.
One last thing: to use a title that invokes the history of the Jim Crow laws is a little overboard. Please read some US history before evoking phrases such as “separate but equal”.
@YHIW:
I thought I did have a response! I even numbered my points. Listen, I get that you don’t agree. The point I was making was that I can’t really respond to your original comment, because it just flatly disagrees with the way I read things. What can I say? Ok, you don’t agree. You’re not telling me what facts are wrong, besides the way we both see the same situation.
I’m glad you brought up Jim Crow laws, because while many people don’t think the way we treat gay people is “that bad”, I happen to think that not letting people get married, or have equal rights under the law, in fact allowing in some states for people to be fired from their jobs for being gay, I think this is just as bad. (Don’t even start me on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in the armed services). I also think that in 50 years, that we’ll look back on this and be amazed that more people didn’t speak out, just like people are amazed and how horrible the laws were before the civil rights movement.
It’s funny, you use your observations to counter mine! Who’s right? You’re completely entitled to your point of view, but I don’t think it negates mine.
Anyway, thank you for speaking up, adding to the discussion. Don’t think I don’t appreciate it; I just reserve the right to disagree.
Christine,
I have been going to PV annually since 1997, and have never, ever felt that the gay beach was “sequestered” away from the families and the straight population. When I go to PV, I want to be around gay people and I think that most gay people who go there feel the same way, so that is why there is the gay beach. We do not particularly want to be in a straight area as we have to live it daily. It is nice to have an area devoted to mainly gay people. Some of my gay friends have stayed in other parts of PV and they said they never felt out of place. That is fine for them, but again, I think when most gay people go on a vacation, especially to a place known as a gay mecca, they want to be where the gay people are. You are implying that the gays are being pushed to the south side to keep them away from the straights and that is not the case at all.