For the third year, the IGLTA Foundation is collaborating with the Pacific Asia Travel Association, an IGLTA Organizational Partner, on a convention scholarship for a student in the Pacific Asia region that is enrolled in a PATA member educational institution or is a PATA Young Tourism Professional member. The program will cover air, hotel, and expenses so the student can attend IGLTA's 36th Annual Global Convention in New York City (24-27 April 2019) for networking, mentorship and education. "It was the best convention I have ever attended," said 2018 IGLTAF/PATA Building Bridges Scholarship recipient Bella Vongvisitsin of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "I made so many connections and new friends and learned a lot about what's really going on with respect to LGBTQ tourism."
Application deadline is 1 December. A special thank you to IGLTAF Scholarship Founding Partner, Delta Air Lines, for the ongoing support. (Pictured, Bella Vongvisitsin. Photo by Rachel Stevenson/OUTCOAST Photography.)
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Please join us in welcoming Cape Town travel professional Martina Barth to our team! Barth, who has a long career in the hospitality industry, will serve as Membership Coordinator – South Africa. IGLTA made history with its Cape Town convention in 2016, the first LGBTQ business conference on the African continent. Martina's role was created to better connect with the participants of that successful event and enhance IGLTA's member outreach efforts in South Africa, the most progressive country in Africa for LGBTQ rights. She will be supported in her role by IGLTA's longstanding volunteer ambassador for South Africa, David Ryan of Rhino Africa. To contact Martina, please email martina.barth@iglta.org.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Please join us in supporting the small business members of IGLTA, such as Across the Pond Vacations, specializing in the United Kingdom and Ireland with a focus on providing unique experiences on exceptionally high-rated tailor-made tours; and Benchmark Inn, centrally located on quiet Dyer Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts (U.S.) with a warming fireplace and your very own private entrance. READ MORE
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Two Austrian women are celebrating being the first couple to tie the knot in Austria.
The happy couple married in a private ceremony on Friday (12 October).
This comes about 10 months since from Austria's Constitutional Court ruling to legalize same-sex marriage.
Vienna's city government confirmed that the wedding took place at a registry office in the capital, according to ABC News.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation voted on Sunday to postpone voting on an amendment to the controversial surrogacy law passed in July, which expands eligibility for state-supported surrogacy to include single women while excluding single men and gay couples.
Before the law passed, state support was only given to married heterosexual couples.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and the first New York City Pride parade, as well as in preparation for World Pride 2019, Virgin Atlantic is now selling tickets for a special Pride Flight from London to New York City for the event. According to the airline, tickets are selling fast.
Virgin Atlantic is also working with non-profit tourism organization NYC & Company and the Alliance for Downtown New York for the flight, The Guardian reported.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
When Matthew Shepard died on a cold night 20 years ago, after being beaten with a pistol butt and tied to a wooden fence, his parents cremated the 21-year-old and kept his ashes, for fear of drawing attention to a resting place of a person who was a victim of one of the nation's worst anti-gay hate crimes.
But now with an anniversary of their son's murder approaching on Friday, the Shepards have decided to inter his remains inside the crypt at Washington National Cathedral, where gay equality activists say they can be a prominent symbol and even a pilgrimage destination for the movement.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Australia's conservative government will ban schools from expelling students over their sexuality, after a public outcry over the issue that threatened to sway the result of a crucial by-election and change the balance of power.
Laws allowing faith-based schools in some states to discriminate against gay students and teachers were highlighted in a review into religious protections that was leaked in the media last week.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Britain's Supreme Court supported on Wednesday the right of a Belfast bakery to refuse to bake a cake with a message supporting same-sex marriage, finding that its Christian owners could not be compelled to reproduce a message contrary to their beliefs.
Although the person who requested the cake was gay, a five-judge panel found that the bakery owners' refusal was based not on his sexual orientation, but on their Protestant faith’s opposition to gay marriage.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Hundreds of people turned out on Wednesday for Kosovo's second Gay Pride parade under heavy police escort after a party that espouses Islamic values urged the government to scrap the event. Participants waving rainbow flags marched in bright autumn sunshine in the rally - whose motto is "In the name of freedom" - from the main government building in the capital Pristina to a central square where they danced, embraced and kissed.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Polish police used tear gas and a water cannon Saturday against right-wing extremists who were trying to block the first equality parade in the city of Lublin in eastern Poland.
More than 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists with rainbow-colored flags and banners gathered Saturday in Lublin for the parade, while around 300 right-wing opponents stood in the march’s way. Police used tear gas, concussion grenades and high-pressured water to disperse them.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
Pride Toronto says Toronto Police can march in next year's Pride Parade, pending receipt and approval of an application from the police force.
Police have been banned from marching in uniform in the annual parade for the past two years.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
On Nov. 24, the people of Taiwan will vote on whether same-sex marriage should be enshrined in Taiwan's civil law after the Central Election Commission decided to accept a petition filed by an anti-gay marriage group.
That group, the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance, gathered more than 300,000 signatures for the referendum, refusing to give up its fight against same-sex marriage even after Taiwan's top constitutional court ruled in favor of marriage equality last year.
17 Oct 2018 14:12:49 CDT
