While it's not quite San Francisco, Chicago is a very gay-friendly city. The neighborhood commonly referred to as "Boys Town" (roughly from Belmont Ave. north to Irving Park Ave., and from Halsted St. east to the lakefront) is the center of gay nightlife -- and plenty of daytime action, too. Gay and Lesbian Pride Week (tel. 773/348-8243; www.chicagopridecalendar.org), highlighted by a lively parade on the North Side, is a major event each June. You might also want to stop by Unabridged Books, 3251 N. Broadway (tel. 773/883-9119), an excellent independent bookseller with a large lesbian and gay selection. Here, and elsewhere in the Lakeview neighborhood, you can pick up several gay publications, including the weekly Chicago Free Press (www.chicagofreepress.com) and Windy City Times (www.windycitymediagroup.com/index.html), which both cover local news and entertainment. Horizon Community Services (tel. 773/929-HELP; www.horizonsonline.org), a gay social service agency with counseling services, support groups, and an antiviolence project, provides referrals daily from 6 to 10pm; you can also call the main switchboard at tel. 773/472-6469 during the day.
The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) (tel. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626; www.iglta.org) is the trade association for the gay and lesbian travel industry, and offers an online directory of gay- and lesbian-friendly travel businesses and tour operators.
Many agencies offer tours and travel itineraries specifically for gay and lesbian travelers. Above and Beyond Tours (tel. 800/397-2681; www.abovebeyondtours.com) are Australia gay-tour specialists. San Francisco-based Now, Voyager (tel. 800/255-6951; www.nowvoyager.com) offers worldwide trips and cruises, and Olivia (tel. 800/631-6277; www.olivia.com) offers lesbian cruises and resort vacations.
Gay.com Travel (tel. 800/929-2268 or 415/644-8044; www.gay.com/travel or www.outandabout.com) is an excellent online successor to the popular Out & About print magazine. It provides regularly updated information about gay-owned, gay-oriented, and gay-friendly lodging, dining, sightseeing, nightlife, and shopping establishments in every important destination worldwide. British travelers should click on the "Travel" link at www.uk.gay.com for advice and gay-friendly trip ideas.
The Canadian website GayTraveler (http://gaytraveler.ca) offers ideas and advice for gay travel all over the world.
The following travel guides are available at many bookstores, or you can order them from any online bookseller: Spartacus International Gay Guide, 35th Edition (Bruno Gmünder Verlag; www.spartacusworld.com/gayguide), Odysseus: The International Gay Travel Planner, 17th Edition (www.odyusa.com); and the Damron guides (www.damron.com), with separate, annual books for gay men and lesbians.
