Hello to all and welcome! This is my first ever blog. It took me a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to write about. I thought about all the things in my life that were important to me, and then I narrowed them down to what could be taken to the intercultural and international levels. So I thought what would fit more perfectly then discussing an intercultural issue with an international twist. So here it goes!
Although I am not gay or lesbian myself, I am a huge advocate of equal rights for everyone, regardless of sexuality. I think it all really started when I found out my cousin was gay. I had never really cared either way, to me everyone was just a person, I never drew lines and I didn't see differences. Needless to say, when I found out my mentality changed. I started to care and I wanted everyone to know I was fighting for what I believed was right. Luckily everyone in our family has always been supportive of my cousin's life and the choices he makes, because if they weren't, then I am sure family reunions would have been quite a bit more interesting!
Even though I cannot make everyone in the world believe as I do about the rights of gays and lesbians, what I can do is give as much information about traveling outside of the United States. Where they shouldn't go, what countries are the most accepting, basically like a safety travel agent. There are a ton of websites I have found that give all sorts of information about going internationally that I found while researching all this. Here is just the short list. I hope to be able to have time soon to go through all of them a summarize key points for everyone.
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission: This website basically keeps up with abused based on sexuality around the world. http://www.iglhrc.org
International Gay and Lesbian Association: Associated with over 80 countries around the world, it has compiled a worldwide list of almost 400 gay and lesbian organizations. http://www.ilga.org
Lesbigay Special Interest Group of NAFSA: This website has travel resources and guidebooks for gays and lesbians. http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/lesbigay
Those are just the main websites that I have found. More research is coming, including many student written articles about life studying abroad as a gay or lesbian student! Stay tuned!
