Paris

LGBT Travel Guide

Why you should go to Paris !

No other city in France - or the world - matches up to Paris as a global destination, rich in history, culture, culinary delights, shopping, architecture, fashion, sensory pleasures. And few cities are as welcoming to LGBTQ travelers. More than a dozen years ago the city began actively courting gay tourists. "We want to create a gay friendly spirit across the whole city," a spokesman for the project announced on the steps of City Hall. Gays have become a force in the revitalization of the Marais, a historic neighborhood along the Seine, but throughout the city there's the freedom of expression with gays able to display affection in public and check into hotels.

Paris has a number of Gay Pride activities and organizations. The Paris Gay Pride Parade (Marche des Fiertés) attracts hundred of thousands of people each June, slowly winding from the Left Bank to the Place de la République for dancing, DJs and live music with celebrations in bars, restaurants and clubs along the way. It is the largest Gay Pride celebration in the country. France remains among the most open-minded European countries when it comes to LGBTQ rights with same-sex marriages accounting for 14.25% of marriages in Paris as of 2014.

Paris has long been famous on the LGBTQ scene. Oscar Wilde died and was buried here. Colette and Proust wrote novels here. Sylvia Beach opened a bookstore. Alice B. Tolklas baked brownies. Dior, St. Laurent, Gaultier, Balmain designed dresses. It continues to be a gay mecca because no other city offers what it does and because France is at the forefront of recognizing LGBTQ rights. In 1985, France passed a law barring sexual discrimination in jobs and housing, amending it in 2004 to make homophobic slurs illegal. In 2013 it became the 13th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage with the right to adopt children. When Paris became the first European city to elect an openly gay mayor in 2001, his sexual orientation never came up in the campaign. The openly gay can serve in the armed forces.

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