Transgender Travel: Advocating for Inclusivity

For many LGBTQ people, traveling can be riddled with combating stereotypes. It can also pose some risks. The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association reports that, in 55 countries, there are no protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Furthermore, many still have laws prohibiting same-sex sexual activity, with the threat of imprisonment and even death.

Transgender travelers have even more to contend with, as highlighted by a recent feature in Travel Weekly.

Richard Gray, senior vice president of diversity and inclusion at The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, admits that while he often uses the initialism "LGBT," he often refers to "the 'forgotten T'" – or more specifically, how the tourism industry often neglects transgender travelers.

Many aspects of travel can be gendered in a way most people don't think about, such as greetings. Hearing "good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" from a tour guide or an emcee might be taken (for granted) by cisgender folks as welcoming. The gendered language excludes transgender and non-conforming travelers. The industry suggests that awareness can create change – replace "ladies and gentlemen" with a simple, non-gendered "everyone."

Karen DeJarnette, a member of Guide, an Expedia resource group for LGBTQIA diversity and inclusion, authored a piece in 2018, "Traveling While Transgender," which discusses the issues transgender travelers face.

"Transition is hard enough. Just living your life is hard enough on a day-to-day basis," DeJarnette told Travel Weekly. "Interacting with strangers is harder. But then going through the process of legal examinations, body checks, X-rays, pat-downs, going through name checks and examinations, sitting next to strangers for extended periods – all of this is just intensely, intensely difficult."

As Travel Weekly notes, "for transgender or gender-non-conforming travelers, that can present obvious problems" in the form of additional screenings and pat-downs. It is important to note that travelers can request private screenings with witnesses of their choosing.

In some instances, travel advisors familiar with the concerns of LGBTQ travelers will often guide them toward safer and more LGBTQ-friendly destinations. Gregg Kaminsky, founder of R Family Vacations, said, "It's a scary world out there, where even in our own country I feel like we have taken some small steps in the wrong direction."

Kaminsky also advises travelers to book with travel advisors, when possible, to communicate with suppliers to ensure travelers will have proper bed types in their accommodations.

One entrepreneur is taking on the challenge for Black queer travelers, developing a dedicated guide for this often underserved market. Paula Akpan, a Black British lesbian journalist and historian, is crowdfunding the guide, telling PinkNews, ""I'm very dependent on what other people – specifically Black people, and ideally, Black queer people – have to say about places that they've been. When you're having a gay bar being described to you, it's like, but is it white? Is this a space that I'll feel comfortable with?"

DeJarnette reminds the tourism industry that, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, travelers are all people, saying, "we're just human beings, and we just want to be respected just the way you do. That's all."