As a matter of fact, yes. Believe it or not, the place is so welcoming and has such a diverse set of offerings that we've published the first-of-its-kind guidebook for gay and lesbian visitors, Gay Vegas: A Guide To The Other Side of Sin City. Author Steve Friess, a widely published freelance writer in Las Vegas who has covered gay issues for years for USA Today, Newsweek and others, had this to say:
"At some point about five years ago, the city had an epiphany that gay travelers are loyal, drawn to high-end hospitality, and have loads of disposable income (in part because many have no children, are highly educated and love to travel). So MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Wynn, the Palms, and Cirque du Soleil all put significant marketing muscle behind promoting their wares in national gay publications, donating and raising large sums for gay causes, and in some cases re-educating their staffs on how not to offend gay guests. I've even heard a story of a couple of homophobic thugs being tossed from the Venetian for heckling a flamboyantly gay fellow crap player, and the Venetian owners aren't known for their liberalism. In addition, the LVCVA, led in its efforts by gay staffers there and at its ad agency R&R Partners, has pursued the market, entering floats in gay-pride parades in New York City. There's even at least one 'What Happens Here Stays Here' ad that can easily be interpreted to be involving a gay man's little Vegas secret.
"At the same time, the city's show, food, shopping, culture, spa, and hotel offerings have all skewed dramatically upscale and gay-inclusive, from shows like Zumanity and The Producers to gay wedding ceremonies in most chapels and couples spa treatments offered at Qua at Caesars and the MGM Grand, among others. In the book, we take a 'queer eye' to each of those, examining what may or may not appeal to gay travelers. Harrah's has done a terrific job, for instance, positioning Paris as its property of great appeal to gays. And Mandalay Bay is often affectionately referred to as 'Mandalay Gay' for its friendliness, its notoriously good-looking male lifeguard staff, the gay-subplotted Mamma Mia! and its restaurants. On the other end, it's not advised for a same-sex couple to hold hands at the NASCAR Cafe, say, without worrying."
In addition to examining what's gay-friendly, Gay Vegas also flat-out offers unadulterated, often brutally honest opinions from a veteran travel writer of what he likes and hates on a personal level, and some of those will surprise readers. The Chicago Tribune raved that the book "pulls no punches."
Friess does note that while the Strip has caught up with the times, the gay club scene itself remains stuck in neutral.
"There are as many gay bars in this city today as there were 10 years ago when I first moved here. And there are no lesbian bars, although as a result, women and men are more integrated in the gay club scene here than anywhere else I know of. Krave, the club attached to Planet Hollywood on the Strip, was a revolutionary development, and the owners of Gipsy's have done a sensational job in their $4 million makeover of the neighboring building in the Fruit Loop, now known as Piranha Lounge and 8-1/2 Nightclub. But for a population growing as fast as this one is, it's kind of amazing that the city can't support more and I get into some of that in the book, too."
