Gay moths

This event calendar includes more than 150 listings, but you can sort and filter the list by region and date to determine where you want to go or when to plan your trip. Major cities like New York, São Paulo and Madrid host some of the largest events in the world with crowds of up to 5 million people.

A Brief History of Gay Pride

In June of 1969, a group of LGBTQ+ people in New York City rioted following a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.

The review was published earlier this month in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

The team focused on male-male interactions to simplify the analysis, and found that most of these encounters occurred as accidents. IGLTA’s members include LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ-friendly accommodations, destinations, service providers, Travel Advisors, tour operators, events and travel media in more than 80 countries.

The IGLTA Foundation empowers LGBTQ+ welcoming travel businesses globally through leadership, research and education.

In fact, one study found that certain female beetles mount each other to look larger and attract more male mates.

The frequency of homosexual behavior in the insect world also remains unclear; however, more cases have been observed in the lab than in the field. Founded in 2012, the foundation is the 501(c)3 public charity subsidiary of IGLTA and supports initiatives for industry organizations, leaders and communities to advance LGBTQ+ travel around the world.

This could indicate that the behavior occurs during stressful or isolating conditions, Scharf said, but more work is needed to confirm this idea.

And while the possibility that any sort of sexual encounter could induce pleasure in insects may seem unlikely, Scharf does not rule it out.

"I don't know if they enjoy things or not, or if they feel fear," Scharf said.

IGLTA membership indicates a city’s willingness to actively welcome the LGBTQ+ community to that destination. Don't be afraid of the world, but always research information specific to your travels. Enjoy Pride, be vigilant, and look out for each other! 

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The LGBTQ+ rights movement has made tremendous strides over the past few decades and much of the progress in visibility is thanks in part to gay pride parades and marches that have taken place in cities around the world.

The global landscape for LGBTQ+ rights, protections and acceptance varies tremendously by location, with some destinations attracting millions of visitors to their events like Madrid Gay Pride, Sao Paulo Gay Pride or San Francisco Gay Pride, while more than 70 other countries have laws that allow discrimination or persecution of LGBTQ+ people.

What is Gay Pride or LGBTQ+ Pride?

Gay Pride or rather LGBTQ+ pride events (used to be more inclusive), including pride parades and festivals were started in major urban centers to improve the visibility, acceptance and legal protections for LGBTQ+ people living in those communities.

Whereas larger animals have developed more complicated homosexual motivations — like maintaining alliances, which has been found in certain primate and seagull species — insects seem to mistakenly partake in it in a hasty attempt to secure mates. By partnering with the IGLTA Foundation, your event can make a positive impact while celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.

Learn more about the IGLTA Foundation and explore partnership opportunities: https://www.iglta.org/foundation/ or reach out to info@igltafoundation.org

Please note:  IGLTA membership is not a requirement for IGLTA Foundation beneficiary status but is encouraged.

Note: some organizations in this list have not yet published the official dates for their event.

To assess the range of evolutionary explanations for same-sex intercourse in the invertebrate world, a team of biologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland examined roughly 100 existing studies on the topic and compiled the first comprehensive review of homosexuality in invertebrates.

The host cities are selected by the members of InterPride at its annual general meeting. EuroPride operates similarly to InterPride and they also license an event by the same name (EuroPride) in a different European city each year. In many countries, June is officially recognized as pride month even though some cities may hold their pride events on alternate dates.

Global and Regional LGBTQ+ Pride Organizations 

Several non-profit organizations have also formed within the past couple of decades in an effort to support prides regionally and around the world.

There have been many different LGBTIQ+ flags over time. If your event raises funds or fosters a charitable component, we encourage you to consider the IGLTA Foundation as a beneficiary. Whether traveling alone, with friends or family, visiting during a gay pride event can be a fun way to experience a new destination and IGLTA can help you find LGBTQ-friendly business in almost any location to help make you trip memorable, safe and exciting.

How to Use This List?

We have published this calendar to inform the LGBTQ+ community of important gay pride events and parades globally to offer a complete source for planning your travel.

[Gay Animals: Alternate Lifestyles in the Wild]

"They have evolved to mate quick and dirty," said study co-author Inon Scharf, an evolutionary ecologist at Tel Aviv University. "They grab every opportunity to mate that they have because, if they become slow, they may give up an opportunity to mate."

Desperate mates

In some cases, males carry around the scent of females they have just mated with, sending confusing signals to other perusing males.

In general, female-female interactions seem more intentional than male-male interactions. Even so, one study found that certain male insects have developed femalelike genitals to lower the risk of damage from homosexual penetration.

Is insect sex pleasurable?