RAINBOW PILGRIMAGE – New York City Tourism Embraces Gay Stonewall Anniversary
(Photo – Announcing a new marketing campaign aimed at gay tourists were George A. Fertitta, chief executive of NYC & Company, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, and Rosie Mendez, a Manhattan councilwoman.)
New York City is a great place to be gay in, that’s for sure. We have come a long way, but still have a long ways to go. New York City boasts an abundance of destinations that not only shed light on the LGBT past, but continue offering entertainment, education and opportunities for work relating to the community.
In the New York Times today SEWELL CHAN reports,
Announcing a new marketing campaign under the slogan “Rainbow Pilgrimage,” tourism officials said on Tuesday that the new marketing campaign would seek to portray a visit to New York “as a ‘rite of passage’ for the gay and lesbian traveler.”
City officials found little remarkable in using an event associated with violence and resistance as the centerpiece of a marketing campaign.
“I don’t think it’s ironic; I think it’s significant,” Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who is openly gay, told reporters at a news conference Tuesday announcing the campaign. “You know, 40 years ago a group of people said, ‘Enough was enough.’ And they struck back against police officers. They struck back against unfair treatment. They quite frankly did what they felt they had to do. And it created the modern L.G.B.T. civil rights movement.”
I don’t know….I kind of feel like the city is trying to make money off the gay community. Like we are being exploited for the Gay $$$.
Get equal LGBT rights and gay marriage passed!
Give us respect. Give us equality.
Will the tourism board be working with groups like Heritage of Pride and The Center?
It sounds like they created this campaign without the imput of the gay community….
I hope in the coming months, we see this as a good thing.
Read the full gay tourism piece by Sewell at New York Times
A great historical piece on Stonewall from Columbia
COMING TO NEW YORK? The campaign includes travel packages that can be booked online.
Best Prices on Gay Travel Packages!
The Best of Gay New York and Best Gay Cities
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