Mykonos is not a "gay destination".

[wanderlust307]

I am at the airport, waiting for my flight to Mykonos for my second long weekend and I got nostalgic. I remember my very first time back when I was a teenager. I will never forget the view of the town as the ship was approaching the harbor at dusk. Mykonos was then a gay Mecca. And for me, it was a celebration of my newly discovered sexuality. I went to the Island planning to stay a few days and I ended up staying all summer until it was time to go back to school. 

Now, decades later, Mykonos has changed in so many ways. I will not write an essay on the change, just one point for the benefit of other forum members: Mykonos is not a gay destination. There are lots of gay people, you will have lots of fun but don't expect to be in an exclusively gay place. There are many reasons to go. A "gay destination" is not one.

 

[MscleLovr]

54 minutes ago, wanderlust307 said:

There are many reasons to go. A "gay destination" is not one.

I understand your views and what you wrote @wanderlust307 

I’d suggest, however, that some of the many reasons are not good for many holiday makers. So visit Mykonos if you like to party, enjoy crowds and want to spend lots of money on a hectic vacation.

My reasons to avoid Mykonos include

1. there are more interesting/beautiful places to visit in Greece

2. Other countries have more unspoiled islands in the Mediterranean, eg Croatia, Italy and Spain

3. there are many interesting resorts with better food, even the South of France is cheaper than Mykonos

[wanderlust307]

1 hour ago, MscleLovr said:

I understand your views and what you wrote @wanderlust307 

I’d suggest, however, that some of the many reasons are not good for many holiday makers. So visit Mykonos if you like to party, enjoy crowds and want to spend lots of money on a hectic vacation.

My reasons to avoid Mykonos include

1. there are more interesting/beautiful places to visit in Greece

2. Other countries have more unspoiled islands in the Mediterranean, eg Croatia, Italy and Spain

3. there are many interesting resorts with better food, even the South of France is cheaper than Mykonos

Pls don't get me wrong. I am not a travel agent selling Mykonos. All I wanted to say was that it is not a gay destination.

I agree with you that most people go to party and have a hectic vacation. On the contrary I will have lots of relaxing quiet time, enjoy good wine, good food and turn-in before midnight. 

And I now, I will get a call from Amex when I checkout. 😭

[pubic_assistance]

5 hours ago, wanderlust307 said:

Mykonos is not a gay destination. There are lots of gay people, you will have lots of fun but don't expect to be in an exclusively gay place.

I've never been anywhere in the world that was "exclusively gay".

How would you keep an entire community isolated as if you're in a gay bar ? 

Even gay bars tend to have a few "allies" hanging out with their gay buds.

 

[MscleLovr]

I know what you mean….but 40 years ago, Mykonos was VERY gay. And at that time, gay men and women were not so visible elsewhere. It’s still nice but it’s not what it was.

My personal feeling is that something was lost when the heterosexuals began to arrive en masse. Key West too was changed in a similar fashion to Mykonos.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

4 hours ago, MscleLovr said:

I know what you mean….but 40 years ago, Mykonos was VERY gay. And at that time, gay men and women were not so visible elsewhere. It’s still nice but it’s not what it was.

My personal feeling is that something was lost when the heterosexuals began to arrive en masse. Key West too was changed in a similar fashion to Mykonos.

Equality is a bitch.  We want acceptance yet yern for the good old days when we had our own places.  "Separate But Equal" isn't as practical as it sounds.

Edited August 8 by Vegas_Millennial
Excessive punctuation

[Jamie21]

I found Mykonos sufficiently gay for my liking. There’s gay bars in the town and the gay beach at Elia and it’s very mixed in with straight people everywhere. The feeling is relaxed quite hedonistic and inclusive. The prices were high though so it’s inclusive as far as only including those who can afford it! I’ve been a couple of times and would definitely go back.

I don’t particularly want to be in an exclusively gay environment so I’d not choose something like that. 

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, Vegas_Millennial said:

We want acceptance yet yern for the good old days when we had our own places. 

This seems strange to me.

I thought the whole point of acceptance was that you DIDN'T need to hide in "gay only" places. Now they're complaining that straight people like hanging out with gays. It's like the old joke Yogi Berra used to love:  "No one goes there anymore...it's too crowded"

[BonVivant]

1 hour ago, Jamie21 said:

I don’t particularly want to be in an exclusively gay environment so I’d not choose something like that. 

Agree 💯💯💯

[+ Italiano]

My first time in Mykonos was in 1983. I was 23. Gorgeous island, already crowded (it was September), very gay (but of course not EXCLUSIVELY gay), and I had an amazing time. Super Paradise beach was definitely 95% gay, too crowded for my taste. I will never forget how beautiful was Elia beach, very gay but quiet and unspoiled. And still there were basically pristine beaches (Panormos). The town was very crowded at night with lots of gay men, but fun, and still you could find restaurants and hotels VERY cheap even for me who was vacationing  from Italy.

I went back twice once in June 2000 (it was still beautiful even if it had changed) and last time in 2010, when with horror I realized what Elia beach had become, with disco music, pool, beach club and the whole thing. And of course it had become an expensive place.

Never again. I prefer to keep my old beautiful memory.

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, Italiano said:

I prefer to keep my old beautiful memory.

Nothing ever matches the beauty of memory.

[Jamie21]

25 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Nothing ever matches the beauty of memory.

And we try to recreate those memories of first times…but somehow it’s never quite the same.

I remember the brilliant colour of the island; dazzling white buildings, the tone of the blues which doesn’t seem to exist anywhere else, the ocean reflecting rippled sunlight back to the beach as boats drifted past, the welcome cooling breeze on my skin and the simplicity of lying naked on the beach with just the sound of the waves and indistict chat from those I shared this idyll with.

I remember walking along the beach at the water’s edge because the dry sand was too hot for my bare feet and diving every so often into the clear cool water and the feeling of swimming naked, free and completely elemental with nature. 

You can’t recreate those first times all you can do is drink it in at the time and savour the memory. 

[wanderlust307]

6 hours ago, Italiano said:

My first time in Mykonos was in 1983. I was 23. Gorgeous island, already crowded (it was September), very gay (but of course not EXCLUSIVELY gay), and I had an amazing time. Super Paradise beach was definitely 95% gay, too crowded for my taste. I will never forget how beautiful was Elia beach, very gay but quiet and unspoiled. And still there were basically pristine beaches (Panormos). The town was very crowded at night with lots of gay men, but fun, and still you could find restaurants and hotels VERY cheap even for me who was vacationing  from Italy.

I went back twice once in June 2000 (it was still beautiful even if it had changed) and last time in 2010, when with horror I realized what Elia beach had become, with disco music, pool, beach club and the whole thing. And of course it had become an expensive place.

Never again. I prefer to keep my old beautiful memory.

We have the same good memories. I went a few years earlier when I was 16-17. Backpack and student interail across Europe, then the boat from Piraeus... 

Now I stay at a 5star hotel and spend most of my time by the pool...

Edited August 9 by wanderlust307

[ncc1701d]

I feel the same way about P-town...heard so much about it and finally made it there for a week preCOVID....while nice and enjoyable with friends it was certainly not "entirely" gay....lots of straight couples with baby strollers on the main drag and in restaurants.......

[pubic_assistance]

22 hours ago, ncc1701d said:

I feel the same way about P-town...heard so much about it and finally made it there for a week preCOVID....while nice and enjoyable with friends it was certainly not "entirely" gay....lots of straight couples

I've never been to P-town BECAUSE it was described as "all gay".

None of that kind of "gay-ghetto" vibe is interesting to me.

I've tried a few gay-centric spots  when I was younger but it always seemed kinda sad. Old gays hiding in fear that they might be "discovered" . Personally I feel more comfortable in an environment where I am around gay and bisexual people along WITH the support of allies.

This call for isolation seems counterintuitive to me. This is what gay people did BEFORE the equality movement. Why keep doing it ?

[NipLuvr212]

1 hour ago, pubic_assistance said:

I've never been to P-town BECAUSE it was described as "all gay".

None of that kind of "gay-ghetto" vibe is interesting to me.

I've tried a few gay-centric spots  when I was younger but it always seemed kinda sad. Old gays hiding in fear that they might be "discovered" . Personally I feel more comfortable in an environment where I am around gay and bisexual people along WITH the support of allies.

This call for isolation seems counterintuitive to me. This is what gay people did BEFORE the equality movement. Why keep doing it ?

helpful words from someone not of our community telling us that we shousld not want to be with one another in a space of our own choosing and design.

thanks.

[pubic_assistance]

13 minutes ago, NipLuvr212 said:

words from someone not of our community

When I was in my late 20s I identified as gay and this is when I explored gay-only destinations.

Just saying ...the only thing that was common in these places was a sense of shame. I think gay men of younger generations have moved past that.

[NipLuvr212]

7 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

When I was in my late 20s I identified as gay and this is when I explored gay-only destinations.

Just saying ...the only thing that was common in these places was a sense of shame. I think gay men of younger generations have moved past that.

i am sure your perception of those places was spot on and not colored by your state of mind at the time.... i, however, was always struck by the sense of JOY in "those" places

[pubic_assistance]

Just now, NipLuvr212 said:

I , however, was always struck by the sense of JOY in "those" places

Absolutely.

That joy did not pass my notice.

But I know these gentlemen were incapable of that sense of joyfulness outside of their safe-space.

Most of my younger gay friends have no problem enjoying a mainstream venue to hangout / make-out / hook-up etc. with same sex partners. They aren't afraid to grind on the dance floor with another boy while their female friends watch and cheer them on in his sexual pursuit.

To me ..this is a far more evolved community that should be more comfortable because they enjoy a more diverse system of emotional support. Not just other gays.

[NipLuvr212]

17 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

 

But I know these gentlemen were incapable of that sense of joyfulness outside of their safe-space.

 

ahhh....

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Mykonos has become just another cruise ship stop and a spot where influencers try to get cred.  Tbh, the island hasn't been interesting in years.

As others here have said, this is what comes with general acceptance.

It seems like a fine trade-off to me. 

Edited August 19 by BenjaminNicholas

[EZEtoGRU]

I have to say I agree with the view that the gay ghettos are not interesting to me.  I find Weho and Wilton Manors way over the top on the gayness scale. It’s just too much for me. I don’t need to be surrounded by gayness to feel comfortable and to have fun. I do travel to Ft Lauderdale fairly frequently but It’s only because of Johnson’s. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be going there.   

[MikeThomas]

When I started on my coming out journey in the late 70s/early 80s, I spent a lot of time in WeHo, the Castro, Provincetown, Fire Island, Mykonos, Ibiza... I never felt any shame.  I met many great people and we all had a lot of fun.  I am so glad I was gay in my 20s/30s during that time instead of queer in my 20s/30s today.  So much more fun meeting people in bars , than meeting people on Grindr.

[NYC_Lover]

On 8/8/2024 at 1:43 AM, wanderlust307 said:

I am at the airport, waiting for my flight to Mykonos for my second long weekend and I got nostalgic. I remember my very first time back when I was a teenager. I will never forget the view of the town as the ship was approaching the harbor at dusk. Mykonos was then a gay Mecca. And for me, it was a celebration of my newly discovered sexuality. I went to the Island planning to stay a few days and I ended up staying all summer until it was time to go back to school. 

Now, decades later, Mykonos has changed in so many ways. I will not write an essay on the change, just one point for the benefit of other forum members: Mykonos is not a gay destination. There are lots of gay people, you will have lots of fun but don't expect to be in an exclusively gay place. There are many reasons to go. A "gay destination" is not one.

 

interesting reaction,..... I can't say I agree with you on this and I was just there last month. i found it to be super gay and I have been going the last 5 summers. it's the gayest place in Europe to send the summer I have found.

[wanderlust307]

4 hours ago, NYC_Lover said:

interesting reaction,..... I can't say I agree with you on this and I was just there last month. i found it to be super gay and I have been going the last 5 summers. it's the gayest place in Europe to send the summer I have found.

I am glad you find it so. Probably my view is based on how Mykonos was ages ago when I first went there. It was 100% gay. You had to be gay to go. I remember at 16, I had to hide from my parents I was in Mykonos. Until I had to ask them for money via the post office 😅.