Old Town (Casco Viejo) Panama is a small section of the much larger Panama City. Located on a rocky peninsula it was the hub of life a hundred years ago during the construcion of the Panama Canal with elegant buildings, churches and hotels and many common residences. But the area was too small to hold
Panama City, Railroad and Canal
Panama City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 813,097, with a total metro population of 1,206,792, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. Panama City is the political and administrative center of the country. The Panama Canal Railway Company is
Libertad City and Beach
La Libertad, city and port, southwestern El Salvador. Its open port as well as its location south of San Salvador encouraged La Libertad’s development in the 19th century as a shipping outlet for “balsam of Peru”—a variety of balsam yielded from El Salvador’s coastal forests. During the early 20th century La Libertad was one of
San Salvador City
San Slavador is the capital and largest city of the nation of El Salvador. It is the third most populous city in Central America after Guatemala City and Managua. The city has a long history, with origins dating back to the Spanish conquest of the Pipil tribes. The name of the capital city is the
Belize City Images
Belize City is the largest city in Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 79,600 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country’s principal port and its financial and industrial hub. Several cruise ships drop anchor outside
Images of San Pedro
San Pedro is a town on the southern part of the island of Ambergris Caye in the Belize District of the nation of Belize, in Central America. According to 2005 mid-year estimates, the town has a population of about 12,400. It is the second largest city in the Belize District and largest city in the
Gay Mexico: a Three-Part Journey
From three Mexican cities come three different stories about gay life. Part one reveals a subdued LGBT community in the provincial capital of Morelia in the state of Michoacan, a hundred miles west of Mexico City. Part two derives from the big city itself–Mexico City, an enormous megopolis of twenty million where, expectantly, the LGBT
Gay Panama Life 2010
Intro: The view of modern Panama depends on where you stand: in a luxury high-rise city condo or a tiny jungle village or a small working class town. All three will present a different face of homosexuality in this famous canal country. Homophobia runs high but gay life carries on openly, hidden or appreciated in
Gay Nicaragua – New Life and New Hope 2010
Intro: Nicaragua is a scenic mountain-and-lake country with a variety of social and ethnic groups, including a sizeable LGBT population. Unfortunately most live behind closet doors as the dominant macho/catholic culture has a major influence on sexual lifestyles. But surprisingly, there are several bold and vigorous human rights organizations that are unafraid, especially since homosexuality
Gay Life in Modern Guatemala 2010
Introduction This small ambitious country is one of Central America’s more prosperous nations but it doesn’t appear that way even to a casual visitor. Under the glaze of business and industry are serious human rights abuses, especially against LGBT people. Here is a small portrait of life when one is gay, poor, and disenfranchised. However,
Gay Honduras: Hidden, But Busy and Present 2010
Intro: Honduras does not come up as a gay mecca on any scale and I expected as much. But to my pleasant surprise I found the capital, Tegucigalpa, to be home to a bustling community of LGBT groups and activists. All it took was connecting with the right person who knew just about everything and everyone. So I was escorted to the half dozen beehives where LGBT life is alive and well–despite the political chaos.
Gay Life in El Salvador 2010
Intro: The small country of El Salvador has seen it share of politcal, economic and social troubles, like other Central American nations. But for the past fifteen years, undaunted by threats, hackers and preachers, the single LGBT organization in El Salvador, Entre Amigos (Among Friends), has endured with determination and compassion thanks to help from benefactors such as Elton John. Today Entre Amigos is a beacon of light for many gay souls in this homophobic culture. But gay life can also feel good, as testified by a young lover called Ricky.
Gay Life and Work in Belize 2010
This story starts in Belize City, the largest and former capital city of Belize where I spoke to a leading activist, Caleb Oroczo, about LGBT and HIV organizations in Belize. From there I went to San Pedro, a small town on the island cay of Ambergris off the east coast of Belize to talk with
El Salvador and Survival: Gay Life Among the Chaos
Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com San Salvador, February 9, 2010 I am often amused and irked at how the gay community in any one country is portrayed both in the majority media and in the gay media as well. El Salvador is another one of those ‘throw-away’ countries in Central America that is mostly ignored unless there
Considering the Mayan Ruins in Honduras (and Human Hubris)
Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com Copan Ruins, Honduras February 7, 2010 After 1200 years, the Mayan stones tell a mute story of empire and human dominance. Teased out piece by piece by modern hands from the jungle’s clawed roots, from a millennium of rain and floods, baking sun and vegan onslaught, the exposed stones tell stories of kaleidoscopic religion, political intrigue
Letter from Gay Honduras
February 5, 2010 Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz Honduras It’s February 5 and the temperature is 100 degrees (F) in the village of Copan Ruines, Honduras where ancient Mayan ruins have baked under the hot sun for over 1500 years. Honduras is one of those ‘throw-away countries that hardly registers on any international scale of influence, enterprise
Gay Rights Activist Murdered in Honduras
Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com December 17, 2009 Once again we are humbled and infuriated that yet another courageous gay activist has been gunned down for his human rights work. In a previous blog we considered the irrational persecution and killing of LGBT (gay) people across the world and how human fear and hatred make us inhumane.
Gay Life in Belize 2009
Intro: In a conservative corner of the Caribbean/Central American lies quiet Belize, passed up by most of the world. But for some wise expats and knowing natives, this patch of earth offers a mellow life not found elsewhere. Despite some poverty and violence of Belize City–40 kms across the bay– the modest town of San Pedro offers a place of calm and natural beauty for a community of LGBT residents.
Gay Nicaragua: Gay Cultures in Managua
A brief guest commentary by an academic observer reports on the homosexual patterns in this small country long wracked with civil war and politcal corruption. Add these problems to the common ‘gay’ troubles from a strong machismo culture and fervent Catholic bias and life does not appear too rosy for lesbigays here. Also see: Gay
Mexico – Mexico City: Chapultepec Castle
Chapultepec Castle has been used for numerous functions over the last three hundred years. It was on this hill that the Aztecs made a temporary home after arriving from northern Mexico in the 1200s. In the early 20th century it was home to Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg until he was executed. For a while it
Gay Costa Rica: Gay Life and Democratic Process in Costa Rica 2007
A former psychologist and resident of Costa Rica looks back over ten years of legal and cultural progress for the lesbigay community in Costa Rica. Also See: Gay Costa Rica News & Reports 2008 to present By Richard Stern Reprinted from Gay and Lesbian Review July-August 2001 Updated July 2007 Costa Rican lesbians and gay
Mexico – Playa del Carmen and Tulum
Playa del Carmen and Tulum Playa del Carmen is a busy coastal city popular with tourists. It is the center of the Riviera Maya concept, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve. Playa is a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks,
Mexico – Coba Village and Coba Mayan Ruins
The ruins here date from about 500-800 CE and are spread across many kilometers. The site contains several large temple pyramids, the tallest, known as Nohoch Mul, being 42 meters in height. The bulk of Coba’s major construction seems to have been made in the middle and late Classic period, about 500 to 900, with most of the dated hieroglypic inscriptions from the 7th century. However Coba remained an important site in the Post-Classic era and new temples were built and old ones kept in repair until at least the 14th century, possibly as late as the arrival of the Spanish
Mexico – Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza Ruins The ruins at Chichen Itza date from about 600-900 AD and are a mix of Mayan and Toltec styles. Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico. Archaeological data, such as evidence
Mexico – Ek Balam Ruins
Ek’ Balam is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Yucatán built by the Maya civilization. There are 45 structures, including the Acropolis, the largest structure at Ek’ Balam. It contains the tomb of Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’. It measures 146 meters across, 55 meters wide and 29 meters tall. Read the story about gay Mexico