Proud to Partner with OutServe

We’re very proud here at Brand g Vacations to become a founding partner of OutServe, the association of actively-serving LGBT military personnel, and to participate in its second annual International Leadership Conference October 25-28 at Shades of Green Walt Disney World Resort.

With more than 4,500 members and 45+ chapters worldwide, OutServe is the one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world, working to support a professional network of LGBT military personnel and create an environment of respect in the military with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity.

This partnership means a lot to me personally because I know it would have made my father, a decorated World War Two pilot, very proud to see the progress that has been made for these dedicated service members.

I’m here at the conference at Shades of Green in Orlando, which is one of five vacation resorts operated by the U.S. Army. It’s so exciting to see the support being offered to OutServe’s members at this year’s event, which includes a job fair open to veterans and employers to address the ongoing employment crisis affecting veterans returning from service.

The Conference is welcoming currently serving LGBT and straight military members, veterans, spouses/partners, and allies to join workshops and meetings. Like the 2011 Conference, it will provide an international forum on creating an environment of respect in the military with regards to sexual orientation and gender identity, and provide the LGBT military community a venue for building professional networks, sharing best practices and formulating strategies that help build a stronger military community.  OutServe’s International Leadership Conference is the only conference designed around and for LGBT members of the largest fighting force in the world.

Congratulations, OutServe!

Brand g Vacations Reaches Out to Local LGBT Organizations on Inaugural Danube Cruise

Brand g Vacations is about to celebrate its first year in business with a sold-out Danube River cruise, and General Manager Charlie Rounds is making good on his promise to deliver a new and meaningful gay travel product. We’re working with local LGBT organizations in Prague and Bratislava to provide guests with optional activities that stray from the conventional.

Our pre-cruise welcome reception in Prague will feature guest speaker Czeslaw Walek, an advocate for LGBT rights and Chair of Prague Pride. Walek helped organize the first-ever and highly successful event last summer, which drew strong criticism from Czech president Vaclav Klaus and right-wing groups.

“I was very impressed that Brand g Vacations made the effort to reach out to us,” said Walek. “It shows that they are going above and beyond in their commitment to their guests. We are delighted to be a part of their itinerary.”

Walek has invited Rounds, a respected speaker on LGBT rights, to speak to a group of Czech business leaders and to address the crowds on closing day of the second annual Prague Pride.

“It means a lot to me to be asked to speak to such an influential group of business leaders, and even more so to address the local LGBT community at Pride,” said Rounds. “In all the years I’ve been in gay group travel, I’ve dreamed of taking our community one step further, of educating ourselves about the destinations we visit, and of giving back to the local communities. This is our chance to do that.”

While in Bratislava, Slovakia, Brand g Vacations has organized a private reception and LGBT photography exhibit at the local offices of Open Society Foundations (OSF), established by philanthropist George Soros to help countries transition from communism and whose mission includes the protection of LGBT rights. Rounds will be making a personal contribution to Queer Leaders Forum, a local organization in Bratislava, and guests will have the option of doing the same.

In addition to its Danube cruise, Brand g Vacations has signed two new charters for 2013, including a Mekong River cruise through Vietnam and Cambodia, and a Burgundy and Provence cruise on the Rhone River in France, with pre- and post-cruise programs in Paris and Barcelona.

Rounds points out that both Vietnam and France are poised to pass legislation in the coming year granting marriage rights for their gay and lesbian citizens. He says it would be another dream come true to celebrate those victories and support destinations that are improving the lives of LGBT people.

“There’s no better way to support destinations that welcome us than with our tourism dollars,” says Rounds. “A full ship of LGBT passengers can make a strong statement, and it gives us the chance to validate the power of travel through our choices.”

Celebrating Memories of France – and Making New Ones

I have decided to spend my 58^th birthday, August 4, 2013, in the City of Light. I remember seeing the Eiffel Tower the first time, two days after turning 19 – almost 40 years ago. Growing up I had often stared at a picture of my father flying under it on his golden birthday, August 25, 1944. I am sure his feeling of exhilaration of this accomplishment was mixed with the horror of the last 10 weeks of his life in combat. And on that special day I am sure that he was not thinking of four months later when he would again fly dangerously low, this time over enemy lines at the Battle of the Bulge. For the Eiffel Tower stunt he got a photo and lifetime of memories, for the bravery at Bastogne he would receive the Silver Star from the future President Eisenhower.

My father,
Darwin D. Rounds

I joined my father and mother in Paris in 1981 to celebrate my father’s retirement from decades of holding two jobs to ensure that his children would never know the economic hardship of his childhood. Returning from over three years in the Peace Corps in Cameroon, I had stopped in Greece for six weeks before coming to Paris. It was in Greece that I came out after meeting someone in Mykonos. David joined us in Paris for three magical days with my parents – days that I will never forget. The City of Light, the City of Love – to me there is no place as magical as Paris to look into someone’s eyes and really let yourself go.

When we were planning our 2013 schedule for Brand g Vacations, I decided that it was time to share my love for Paris with other travelers. Our two days there will precede one of the first-ever LGBT cruise down the Rhone River. This cruise is such a great way to see the varied French countryside, without having to unpack, for seven days. From the verdant vineyards of Burgundy to the ancient ruins of Arles, our guests will have the opportunity to taste great wine in the fields where the grapes were harvested, or climb the massive Pont du Gard to try and understand the ingenuity of the Roman architecture that built this massive aqueduct. But perhaps the greatest moments will simply be sailing along France’s greatest river and watching the world go by, surrounded by 130 friendly people who share the experience of having seen the great leap forward of the LGBT community in the last few years. Perhaps France will soon offer full marriage equality to its LGBT community?

And after the cruise, I look forward to the optional two-day excursion in Barcelona, for which I have fond memories as well. I doubt I could have imagined in 1974 when I was first there and the country was still shackled by the dictatorship of Francisco Franco that Barcelona could change much in 38 years. I was there again in July of 1995 with a cruise ship of 220 LGBT passengers, and I remember to this day an excursion bus driver saying that he didn’t think there were 220 of “us” in the entire world. I am sure that 10 years later, when Spain passed full marriage equality, he finally understood that there were many more than 200!

Great cities, countries, and memories for me. I hope that you will join me in creating more.