The first part of our look at Gay Camping (and we mean living under canvas and not screaming ‘oh! There’s a sale at Ikea darling’) finished with a quick look at gay nudism and camping - which is where I’m going to start now, with this look at what’s available in the USA, specifically, for the gay camper.

The site I mentioned, nakedplanet.org has a section on it specifically for the USA. This long page lists loads of different organisations in just about every US state. Those that have a website are linked in here and you also get e-mail addresses and other contact information. So if you are looking for a nudist, gay club from Alabama to Wisconsin to will find it here.

But what about camping: what about going native in the woods with a group of other guys? What about changing that heterosexual myth of hunting, drinking beer, fishing and camping with the guys and changing it into the gay version? (What would that be? Cruising, cocktails and camping with the guys, I guess!) What would that entail do you think? Becoming like the two hunks from Brokeback Mountain? Dragging your equipment miles up a valley to find a secret spot so you and your lover can relax and enjoy each others’ company without getting hassle from the straights? Or simply putting ‘Gay Camping USA’ into a search engine…

Well, that’s a good starting place, and one which will bring you to campgayusa.com. This is a simply designed site where there is no messing around. You have a list of campgrounds, camping adventures, gay camping clubs and you can even advertise your own fields, or whatever, as a suitable location for gay folk to come and stay on. The campgrounds are again listed in alphabetical order but these are general gay and gay friendly campgrounds. The difference here is that the emphasis is on camping and not on getting your kit off and looking at everyone else’s dicks. And remember that ‘gay friendly’ means that the owners like or don’t mind gay people but the other guests could be straight. Look out for ‘exclusively gay’ if that worries you - but I always wonder how they know you’re gay when you drive up to check in? Do they make you take a gay test I wonder?

Going back to my search and looking through the list I found loads of other sites that simply listed Gay Camping USA places and so you will have no trouble finding sites that advertise their grounds, activities, events and so on,. But what about meeting other folk who are into the same things as you - putting on a backpack and getting off the trail, or driving around the country in your RV and staying on campsites that are like five star hotels with grass? Well, going back to gayoutdoors.org I clicked on the Forum link. Forums are a good way of getting to know people who are interested in a specific thing and people who have experience of places. Regular posters aren’t going to be there to sell you their campsite but instead will want to share experiences with you. This Forum, for example, had threads from Colorado River Nude Camping to Fly Fishing in Philadelphia. So surely there will be someone on the board who has been to the place you may be thinking of going to.

I think the bottom line about camping USA is that you’re lucky: there are hundreds of places, there are loads of GLBT only or gay friendly campsites (and I include lesbian in ‘gay’ for convenience) and there are hundreds of sites set up to guide you in your search for that perfect getaway camping trip.

Here are a few recommendations of places/events I know are guaranteed to be fun-fullfilled:

• • Rainbowranch.net - Rainbow Ranch is about 1.5 hours south of Dallas, Texas. This is a great destination for any age with sand volleyball, cabins to rent, fishing, sites for tents, swimming, hiking, basketball, etc. There are unlimited amounts of spaces most of the time and some spaces have electric hookups, some tent spots don’t. It is great to do something different for a change and go camping and enjoy the outdoors with fellow gays and lesbians.
  • Temptationranch.com in Northern California
  • PrideFloat.org annual event in Missouri
  • Camp Willowswish - TX/OK September 6-9th - This is an annual event held at Lake Murray. This is a DO NOT MISS event for all gays and lesbians. There is no one better who can tell about this exciting gathering than Floyd Martin’s Myspace Blog or the Willowswish site itself. You do not need much of a vacation fund for this campout which is held the weekend after Labor Day and weekend before Dallas pride.

I watched one of those old British movies the other night, ‘Carry on Camping’. Although that’s obviously a play on words too, it did remind me of years gone by when I used to go camping. It was all cold water and very basic amenities then and it got me wondering what it would be like to go camping now. Are there specific gay campsites around the world? Where do I start if I wanted to go on a gay camping holiday? As usual when I don’t know what to do I started with a search engine search.

Having entered ‘Gay Camping’ as my keywords I viewed the list and found the majority of the sites on the first page to be USA based. That’s fine, I thought, and we’ll come to the USA specifically in part two of this investigation. I tried ‘Gay Camping Worldwide’ instead. The site that caught my eye first was gayoutdoors.org. This site had lists of articles, travel opportunities, links and blogs all to do with exploring the Great Outdoors. It also had a search engine which, when I entered ‘camping’, took me to several articles on the subject. There were links to nude camps, adventure holidays, free events and much more including general camping safety and advice.

After some more searching I came across gaycampers.com which has to be one of the best sites for any gay guys or gals interesting in camping and the outdoor life. They list sites and activities not only in the USA and Canada but also Europe, the Caribbean and down under in Australia. I checked out their list of camping grounds in various countries and found them not only up to date and informative but they also came with other sensible links attached - like to the weather and other travel tips.

But what can you expect when you get to a camping ground? Obviously that’s going to depend on where it is and maybe even what country you are in. I spent some time looking at photos, not only those provided by a camp site on its own website (which are going to make everything look lovely) but also real pics from real people. It seems that the days of cold showers and holes in the ground have gone. (I am sure you can find places like that if you really want to but sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of luxury with your fresh air.) Just about all of the sites I saw had decent amenities; there were good washrooms, clean toilet bocks, some had restaurants most had shops and there were other activities too – with tennis courts and bike hire. Many of the gay ones had events, like naked weekends, or nudist weeks, but there was not too much of an accent on sex. Just because a camp site is Gay doesn’t mean it’s a sex club!

If you are looking for spicy camping – by which I mean nude camping - then you should take a look at: nakedplanet.org which has a list of gay nudist websites that are worldwide based. This is a great resource if you’re into getting naked and joining in activities, including camping and exploring. The emphasis here is on being naked but that seems to go hand in hand with swimming, camping out, living under canvas and just being with a group of other gay folk in the woods.

I think the bottom line is that it’s universal. You don’t have to be in the USA to find lots of gay camping places, or nudist camp sites. You can find them in England (if you want to be cold and wet in the summer) and other parts of Europe and the ‘westernised’ world too. There are plenty of places right across the globe advertising their gay or gay friendly campsites – nude or otherwise. Simply decide where you want to go and add that into your search and you’ll be under canvas with other gay folk before you can say ‘can you pass the billy-can Billy…’

This is a must watch! I watched the Presidential Debate on MTV’s LOGO TV the other night. I first noticed it advertised on Keith Olbermann’s show on MSNBC by the HRC. I saw Hillary Clinton and Obama and Edwards and Kucinich. The debate was upclose and it was more real than any of the debates we have seen this year with an excellent, unique format. Clinton said she still against gay marriage as Edwards.

Really good questions but I especially liked that the candidates were interviewed one at a time with no time limit for a particular answer and no posturing and no poking at the other candidates. It brought out each candidate’s best, I thought.

We were sitting here applauding Kucinich, he seemed like much less of a joke in this format, got me thinking that maybe he COULD have a chance if people got to see him in such a format more often.

Margaret Carlson was the moderator; I think I recognize her from Countdown or something. She’s written for Time and Bloomberg news. It’s those glasses, though. Melissa Etheridge was very sharp. She asked tough questions politely. Etheridge did an awesome job and put her heart into everything she said as always.

Anyway, so now I’ve seen two of the debates (okay, this wasn’t a debate, but whatever) and overall, despite Hillary and Obama’s waffling on the gay marriage issue, I think they both did well and actually, so did Edwards who was the most waffley of all. Mainly because none of the interviewers were jerks. They all treated all the candidates decently, which was good. I’m sure Biden and Dodd are sorry they sat it out; they really look like total chickens for no good reason.

I feel kind of like the lady I saw interviewed today on CNN. She was gay and was elevating the Dems showing with gay issues and she said: “It showed us that the Dems are more open to discuss equal rights for gay people” and are more willing to work for that.

Here is a bulletin posted from Matthew Shepard’s myspace:

Tonight history was made and Hillary Clinton prevailed…

Body: Tonight the Democratic Presidential candidates attended the first ever GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender) forum hosted by The Human Rights Campaign and Logo Tv in Los Angeles. Logo channel fo those of you sheltered people, is a gay channel- a sister channel to MTV. Never in the history of America has this occured.

Barack Obama impressed me which is very rare. Dennis Kucinich was very sincere and that seems so hard to come by. John Edwards lost any chance of support from “the gays” he kept on repeating that he did not support gay marriage, um good one!!! He is over… Bill Richardson well what to say? I feel like him and I should have a connection being that I am Hispanic and all. This is not the case however, sadly he also failed miserably.

The candidate that shined even through tough questions from Melissa Etheridge, was Hillary Clinton. When asked about how not much was done and how ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ was a failure she carefully and accurately described how it was a good policy at the time. She continued saying how the Republicans had control of the House of Reps and how much her husband fought for some middle ground regarding gays in the military. No one understands that progress takes time. Hillary Clinton is our girl!

Here is the Debate on Logo’s Visible Vote ‘08 Blog

Here are 2 clips that show the distortion of the model/ad world so
perfectly.

One is a parody of the original makeover but very well done.

http://commercial-archive.com/node/139355

This kid is singing about having two fathers, in a language that is not known to me, but its great. Someday in our country, all people will be treated with respect, dignity and fairness in all things, including adoption and parenting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qf0puHJ-KM
(sorry we do not have the plug in that lets us embed youtube videos on the blog yet… I am working on that issue)

That kind of reminds me of why there is so much disparity in this country. Because half always wants to tell the other half how to live. if you don’t believe in same-sex marriage, don’t marry someone of the same sex. If you’re against abortion, don’t have one. If you hate Bill O’Reilly or “The View” or rap music, don’t watch or listen to it. If you’re a vegetarian, or a non-smoker, or a non-drinker, good for you, don’t eat meat, smoke or drink. It’s pretty easy.

Gay Marriage can be accomplished