Gay & Lesbian Scene in Sao Paulo - so far...

Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade, Avenida Paulista

There have been some unbelievably rapid changes in law and attitude towards gays and lesbians in Brazil in the last 10-15 years or so.  Cities like Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Florianopolis are some of the most gay-friendly places to visit on earth.  The countryside of Brazil in places may be a different matter, but that's the same in most 'gay-friendly' countries anyway.

I regularly see PDAs between gay and lesbian couples every day in Sao Paulo, far more than I'm used to seeing in other cities like London, Toronto and Vancouver - all cities with sizeable gay populations.  

Despite having a slightly smaller gay population than Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo has the largest Gay Pride Parade.  In fact, it's the largest Gay Pride Parade in the world.  This year, on June 6th, 4.5 million people are expected to attend.  It has grown steadily in attendance since the first parade in 1997, which attracted 2,000.

My experience of the gay/lesbian scene in Sao Paulo so far, and from what I've been told, shows it to be very different from what I'm used to. 

Firstly, the amount of gay-oriented and lesbian-oriented bars/clubs in Sao Paulo is pretty much equal.  In London there are far more gay-oriented bars/clubs than lesbian-oriented ones.  The only bar I'm aware of that is specifically 'for' lesbians in London is 'Candy Bar' (which is a god-awful hell hole).  I remember hearing about something called the 'Oak Bar' in North London, but I lived in South London so it didn't appear on my radar.  There are quite a few lesbian 'nights', but very few dedicated venues. 

Gay-oriented bars and clubs in London, however, are diverse and many.  There are numerous gay venues in Soho, Vauxhall, Clapham, etc.  The majority of these are inclusive, which means that any member of the LGBT community (and in a lot of cases straight people) can attend.  Lesbian venues in London tend to be more 'cliquey'.  I remember once visiting the [now defunct] Glass Bar in Euston: I had to knock on a closed door, a girl popped her head out, looked me up and down, checked that I knew what kind of bar it was, then let me in and closed the door behind me.  This was back in 2005 - that kind of crap wasn't necessary, even for security reasons.  Candy Bar used to be almost as bad, but it has become more inclusive since being taken over by Ku Bar (a gay-owned chain of bars in Soho).  Lesbians (i.e, me) who aren't uptight will often attend gay bars/clubs because they're more relaxed and fun.

Generally, lesbians in London don't appear to go out as much as gay men.  They're more homely, they don't spend as much money when they go out - I used to think it was because lesbians were boring, but it's not.  It's just English culture.  Not everyone is like that of course (I'm not like that and neither are several of my friends), but it's a decent majority.

Things here are different.  Brazilians in general like having a good time, they like going out, they enjoy being sociable - it's a big part of their culture.  Lesbians here generally follow suit.  Lesbian venues here can be a lot of fun.  I went to one called Vermont on Sunday for their samba night.  There was an equal split between gay and lesbian clientelle, it was a very mixed crowd.  Gays are attracted to some lesbian venues in Sao Paulo the same way lesbians are attracted to some gay ones in London - they're just more relaxed and fun.  

The other nice thing about LGBT venues in Sao Paulo in general is that they're open to everyone - there's no one at the door checking if you're gay, there's no one giving you the once-over.  A venue may be oriented a certain way, but it's by no means exclusive.  Which is nice.  

The whole 'us and them' attitude doesn't help anyone and I'm glad it's not really an issue here.

I *LOVE* RIO

OK, so I’ve changed my mind about this city.  I’m sure everyone who’s been here knew that would happen.

We spent the first couple of weeks in a tiny studio in a sleazy part of Copacabana with an asshole host.  The refrigerator wasn’t working (he tried to make it out it was, it just “wasn’t very cold”), the toaster oven wasn’t working (he tried to make out that, despite the fact there were clearly two heating elements in the toaster oven, only one of them was supposed to work: “that’s how they work in Brazil”), the apartment building backed onto a favela, the entrance hall stank of sewers, there were cockroaches in the hallways that weren’t cleared away for days, the apartment was humid and dark… I could go on. 

Anyway, when we did complain about the refrigerator (quite reasonably, given we were staying for a month and a refrigerator is ESSENTIAL in 30C-35C heat) he firstly tried to make out it had been working until we got there, we then reminded him he’d said himself it wasn’t working very well when we arrived, he then backtracked and said it was a new refrigerator under guarantee he just hadn’t gotten around to calling the repair service because he would have to wait around for them to come and he’d need our permission, we gave it to him, he then backtracked again and said we’d have to wait, we said “fine, because we need it working”.   Long story short, it took 3 days out of OUR holiday that WE had PAID FOR waiting around for a repair man to service HIS refrigerator, he got very unpleasant when we started getting annoyed, we ended up complaining to the booking website and they rebooked us into a much nicer apartment.

We are now 10 seconds from Copacabana beach in a much nicer part of Copacabana near the Copacabana Palace Hotel, the apartment is still a studio but has at least another 10m2 to it, it’s brighter, it’s not humid, there aren’t cockroaches, the amenities in the flat are old but they work, and our new landlord couldn’t be more helpful and welcoming.

Apart from that, Rio has really grown on me.  Most of the favelas have been pacified – especially near the tourist areas – so all those warnings about safety in Rio are mostly redundant.  I wouldn’t walk around with a massive SLR camera strung around my neck and R$500 in my wallet, but then I wouldn’t do that in London either.  Copacabana beach is a very interesting place to take a stroll of an evening: lots of people out, live music on the beach, restaurants and bars along the front, art and tourist fairs.

I’ve been to the Botanical Gardens, several museums in Centro (especially the National Historical Museum – finally some Brazilian history has been filled in for me), Sao Bento Monastery to hear Gregorian chants at Sunday morning mass, Flamengo Park, Lage Park (it’s like Neverneverland), Petropolis to see the Imperial City, walked all the way around the Lagoon, and had a night out in Lapa.

We’ve got plenty of stuff left like Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf mountain), the Christ, jeep tour around Tijuca forest, the zoo & winter palace, Fiscal island….

Basically, Rio is about more than just sitting on the beach, getting a suntan and sipping a caipirinha.  It’s stuffed full of culture, art and history – and finally I am really beginning to enjoy it.

P.S. I don’t have a reliable internet connection here, which is why I’m not posting so much.

P.P.S. I have taken shitloads of pictures.  Due to aforementioned unreliable internet connection, I am not posting any pictures to my blog until I get back to SP.  I’ll do a blog with a few selected highlight photos later.