If you live in or have traveled much to big cities around the U.S., you've no doubt scooped up one of the many directories that have been created over the years listing local GLBT-friendly businesses and organizations. I've always consulted these as part of my research, but I've had mixed success with these publications - some of them provide virtually no information on the destinations they cover, providing addresses and phone numbers of businesses who pay for listings but little else. During my October trip to Tucson, I met the staff behind what I consider to be one of the best-such GLBT directories I've found, Pride Guide Arizona.

This publication includes the usual directory of advertisers keen on courting the GLBT market, but I was impressed to see that Pride Guide Arizona goes well beyond the state's two biggest cities, Phoenix and Tucson, and includes listings in Bisbee, Bullhead City, Jerome, Flagstaff, Prescott, Yuma, and Sedona. There's also an especially good number of listings for hotels, restaurants, and other businesses of particular interest to travelers.

The front of the directory also includes a nice chunk of useful information that goes well beyond mere business listings, including welcome notes from several notable politicos around the state, a helpful overview on moving to Arizona, and summaries of what each of the state's major regions and communities have to offer both GLBT residents and visitors. Pride Guide Arizona is available free at numerous businesses around the state, and you access all of this information on the guide's website, www.gayarizona.com. I've included this on my About.com page on gay travel in Arizona, along with links to the state's GLBT newspapers.

The team behind this publication has begun expanding to other areas Read more...

It finally happened last May. For the first time in roughly 10 visits to Laguna Beach, I did not stop at Taco Loco for a plate of blackened mahimahi or Pacific lobster tacos. This in no way reflects a lack adulation for this simple seafood shack along Highway 1, about midway between Laguna's tiny, quasi-gay district and its comely downtown, where the main thoroughfares are shaded by eucalyptus and pepper trees and lined with decidedly snazzy boutiques and cafes (very few of them are chains). Taco Loco is a Laguna institution and de rigueur for fans of the singular Southern California (and Baja) road-side delicacy: the humble fish taco.

I was traveling with my friend Pennie, however, and had only a couple of hours to shoot photos for the gallery I planned to create for About.com. She and I had reservations in a few hours at a promising new restaurant a half-hour up the coast, in Huntington Beach, called Zimzala. Installed inside the Shorebreak Hotel, one of the latest properties opened by the hip Joie de Vivre hotel group, Zimzala created a meal for us that exceeded anything I'd eaten all week (and I'd feasted well for a few days each in Palm Springs and San Diego). So I'm okay with having skipped Taco Loco...this time, at least. But when you're in Laguna Beach, I encourage you to grab a snack or even a full meal of fresh seafood tacos or quesadillas (along with the requisite Mexican beer) at Taco Loco. It's great for people-watching, too - surfers with ripped abs, shaggy stoners, gay retirees, and assorted housewives of Orange County (along with their assorted paramours).

Politically and socially, tiny Laguna Beach - which falls roughly midway between San Diego and Los Angeles - has always been an outlier in conservative Orange County. Read more...

People occasionally ask me if gay nightlife is on the decline. Or, more commonly, I hear locals lament the number of gay bars in their respective cities. My own sense is that while the number of gay-exclusive dance clubs and cruise bars has declined a bit in most cities over the past 10 or 20 years, thus prompting some to wonder if gay scenes are diminishing, plenty of worthwhile GLBT clubs remain. As I've noted here before, singles now meet each other as much on Internet sites as they do in bars. Furthermore, gay night owls now frequent a far greater number of mainstream venues than ever before, from restaurants with hip lounges to arty and offbeat mixed gay/straight bars, coffeehouses, and dance clubs (some with weekly or occasional theme nights geared toward gays and lesbians).

Being a fan of variety, this is all good news as far as I'm concerned - there are enough predominantly gay hangouts to serve the GLBT communities of most cities and even many large towns, and there's a growing mix of nightspots that cater to a wide range of tastes and interests. Nothing breaks down social barriers and upends stereotypes than people of different persuasions hanging out together.

Over the past two weeks, first on a quick trip to Santa Barbara and then on a longer road-trip through Arizona and New Mexico, I've found countless examples of engaging bars and clubs that cater to a mixed bunch - gay, straight, bi...the entire spectrum. Here's a quick list of a few especially inviting mixed gay/straight nightlife options I checked out in recent weeks:

Albuquerque, NM: Blackbird Buvette live-music club and cafe; Flying Star coffeehouse (with wine and beer, too), which has locations all around the Duke City as well as one in Santa Fe.

Flagstaff, AZ: Rendezvous coffeehouse and bar at the Hotel Monte Vista; Macy's European Coffeehouse.

Madrid, NM: Mine Shaft Tavern - it's lesbian-owned and a fun little spot for drinks and green-chile cheeseburgers along the fabled Turquoise Trail.

Santa Fe, NM: Max's late-night cafe and bar; and right next door, Corazon lounge.

Scottsdale, AZ: At the retro-hip Valley Ho resort, Cafe ZuZu and the Oh Pool Bar are lively options. Also in Phoenix itself, Cheuvront Restaurant & Wine Bar.

Taos, NM: The historic Adobe Bar inside the rambling Taos Inn.

Tucson, AZ: The Hotel Congress (both the Cup Cafe and Club Congress bar).

Upset that gay marriage was repealed by Maine voters (albeit by a narrow margin)? My advice: go to Maine, spend your money, enjoy one of America's most beautiful states, make your presence known as gay and lesbian travelers. The key demographic that enabled this repeal to pass is fading, passing on, losing influence, becoming increasingly irrelevant. Had a similar vote been held in other states with gay marriage, it's quite possible the results would have been similar. History is on the side of basic human rights. The disappointing outcome of yesterday's election is a small bump in a long road.

Here's a gallery about one of my favorite Maine towns, Ogunquit.