Upset that gay marriage was repealed by Maine voters (albeit by a narrow margin)?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.

I had the pleasure earlier this week to spend a few days exploring Vail, one of the world's most impressive ski destinations - as much for its sheer variety of ski terrain and resort amenities as for its scenic yet convenient location just off I-70 in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Vail isn't secluded or cozy - it's an unabashedly larger-than-life ski community, and in recent years, as Aspen and Telluride have attained an increasing share of the GLBT ski travel market, Vail has steadily boosted its image as a gay-friendly getaway. The town's Vail Gay & Lesbian Ski Week, held January 27 through January 31 in 2010, continues to gain traction, and although there are not specific gay bars or accommodations in town, you'll generally find that hotels, condos, restaurants, and bars in these parts are quite progressive, sophisticated, and welcoming of GLBT visitors.

Here's my guide and photo gallery to gay-friendly Vail, including tips on approaching this mammoth - and incredibly beautiful - mountain. I'm an intermediate skier, so I've generally written about the ski terrain with a mid-level skier or snowboarder in mind. I'll be adding several more images and recommendations to this gallery in the coming weeks, including a number of additional hotels and restaurants.

The lackluster economy has torpedoed hotel rates in Las Vegas, where high-end properties that sold for $300 or $400 a night a year ago now sometimes offer deals dipping below $100, especially on weekdays when the city doesn't have any big conventions in town. Now - and right into winter - is a good time to try out some of the newer, swankier resorts in the city, such as Palazzo and Encore, or to book a room at one of the luxury stalwarts, like the Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton Las Vegas. Here's a profile of the city's gay-friendly lodging scene, with recommendations at all price points.

Also be sure to take a look at my article on gay nightlife in Las Vegas, as well as the new photo gallery I've created on Sin City. I'll be adding more pictures over the coming week.

I'm just wrapping up a two-week adventure in Mexico, having spent the last six days in three beautiful cities - all with highly distinct charms - San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City, and Puebla. (I can also say my hotels in these three places - Casa de Sierra Nevada in San Miguel, Hotel Condesa in Mexico City, and La Purificadora in Puebla - have all been exceptional). I'll be writing plenty more about these cities in the coming months, as I will the friendly, culturally rich, and affordable city of Guadalajara, the second-largest metropolis in Mexico, which somewhat to my surprise, has a remarkably vibrant gay scene.

I'd long heard about the elegant buildings and churches that make up the city's historic center, the stylish shops and cafes of the fashionable suburb of Tlaquepaque, and the easy proximity to the beloved town of Tequila, home to the Sauza, Jose Cuervo, and numerous other fine distilleries. Indeed, there's much to see and do in Guadalajara and the surrounding region. But I hadn't known that the city has nearly two-dozen gay bars as well as gay-friendly colonial B&Bs and plenty of welcoming restaurants and cafes, the majority of them within easy walking distance of the central Plaza Tapatia.

I'll soon be creating a comprehensive guide and gallery to gay-friendly Guadalajara, as well as more detailed reviews of different places to stay, eat, and socialize. For now, here are just a few quick highlights I'd suggest any GLBT visitors to the city rank among their top priorities:

Viewing the brilliant (and mammoth) ceiling murals by Jose Clemente Orozco inside Instituto Cultural Cabanas, a former orphanage at one end of the City Center's main plaza that's been converted into a spectacular cultural arts center.

Eating tacos al pastor (delicious shepherd's-style lamb, pork, or goat tacos prepared at numerous street carts and small cafes around the city) or one of the frozen ice desserts (flavored with vanilla and walnut) sold by street vendors in Tlaquepaque.

Partying into the wee hours at one of Guadalajara's vibrant, friendly, and wildly energetic gay nightclubs - Black Cherry is the swankiest, Circus Club also has a great high-decibel sound system and a very hot crowd, Angel's is popular after-hours on Saturdays, and Club YeYe is a relaxed but hip gay cocktail bar - these are mostly in the City Center or nearby Zona Rosa

Staying at one of the city's old-world elegant B&Bs, such as the posh and gay-friendly Villa Ganz in Zona Rosa, or more affordable but still highly charming gay-owned (mixed gay/straight clientele) options near the City Center, such as La Perla and Old Guadalajara B&B.

Dining at some of the city's more sophisticated, high-end restaurants, which are still relatively affordable compared with other large North American cities. Two of my best meals were enjoyed at Hacienda Real San Pedro along the main Independencia pedestrian way in Tlaquepaque (stellar contemporary Mexican cuisine) and Cocina 88, a hip spot near Guadalajara's City Center that specializes in contemporary Mexican seafood and steaks and also has its own on-site wine shop.

Taking cooking classes or simply enjoying a student-prepared meal at the highly regarded Escuela Culinaria Internacional, one of several excellent culinary schools in Guadalajara.

It seems only appropriate that in my fatigue from having "researched" gay nightlife in Guadalajara, Mexico late into the past two evenings, I'm just finding enough energy today to post a new blog on gay nightlife. I'll soon be writing reviews and posting photos of the many gay bars I'm checking out here as well as the ones I'll visit next week in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City, and Puebla (and, as always, I'll be writing about accommodations, restaurants, and attractions in these places, too).

But within the past week, I added new reviews and photos of several gay nightspots I've visited in recent months - everything from a laid-back, mixed gay/straight saloon in Grand Junction, Colorado called the Quincy Bar to a quintessentially laid-back surfer-beach bar in Long Beach, California, Club Ripples, which is steps from the gay-popular section of that city's beachfront. Other new reviews include the only gay bar on the Big Island of Hawaii - a cozy spot called Mask in Kailua-Kona - and the hip and beautifully designed dance club Badlands, which is in Sacramento's charming Midtown (aka Lavender Heights) neighborhood.

Additionally, I've got the latest details on several popular gay saunas and bathhouses - check out Club Fort Lauderdale (one of the best such venues in Florida), the famed Steamworks in the Bay Area city of Berkeley, Macho Sauna in Belgium's capital city of Brussels, the long-running Bodyline club in Sydney, and Phoenix Bathhouse in Cologne (the city set to host the Gay Games in 2010).

Winter-sports fans have plenty to look forward to once the white stuff starts falling in a few months. Long-running popular gay ski weeks like those in Aspen, Whistler, Telluride, Stowe, Park City, and Lake Tahoe continue to draw plenty of participants, and organizers of these events are expecting solid turnouts in 2010. Additionally, you'll find gay ski weeks or group getaways (many of the latter organized by SKI BUMS - the Gay & Lesbian Skiing and Snowboarding Club) to such diverse locales as Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Big Sky, Montana; Taos, New Mexico; Mammoth, California; and Killington, Vermont.

Fans of European skiing can also count on a number of intriguing options for 2010, with European Gay Ski Week planned for mid-March in the French Alps, and similar events slated for Arosa, Switzerland; Saalbach, Austria; Corte d'Ampezzo, Italy; the Lyngen Alps in Norway.

Finally, the Southern Hemisphere continues to get into the act with several cool events slated for August and September in such ski-and-snowboard playgrounds as Queenstown, New Zealand; Bariloche, Argentina; and Valle Nevado, Chile - and that's just the tip of the iceberg, as they say.

For a full listing of ski weeks, weekends, and group tours planned for the coming year, check out my 2010 Ski Weeks and Ski Vacations Calendar.

Just as June tends to be the powerhouse month for Gay Pride Festivals and Parades, the months of September and October - especially the period from late September through mid-October - see dozens of the most popular and well-attended AIDS Walks and AIDS Rides. These fundraisers draw hundreds and sometimes thousands of participants, who raise millions of dollars each year toward the continuing efforts to care for persons with HIV and AIDS, and to develop a vaccine for the devastating disease that has profoundly affected gay communities all over the world.

Some of the most prominent cities with AIDS walks or rides that take place from late September through October include: Albany, Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Providence, San Diego, Seattle, Tulsa, Vancouver, and Washington DC.

Here's a full calendar of AIDS fund-raising walks and rides, with links to the information and registration pages for each individual event. Even if you don't plan on participating in an upcoming AIDS fundraiser, do at least check out this list, as you can always support this great cause by sponsoring a participant or making a flat donation to the event.

I've just returned from a short trip to New South Wales, the Australian state that's home not only to beautiful Sydney but also some of the country's most stunning scenery, some of it within just a two-hour drive. I went for just a week, snapping up a super-cheap ticket on Delta, which just began flying direct from LAX to Sydney this summer (currently, r/t economy fares on this route are still very affordable - between $950 and $1,000 - through much of the next couple of months).

I'll soon be writing and posting guides and galleries related to many Sydney neighborhoods and attractions, as well as my explorations of the nearby Blue Mountains (pictured here), Hunter Valley wine country, and Central Coast. Also, I had a great meeting with the organizers of one of the world's seminal Gay Pride events, Sydney Mardi Gras, and I'll soon be writing a preview of this two-week-long festival that takes place in late February and early March - there are some very cool changes in format planned for 2010 Mardi Gras.

In the meantime, here are links to just a few of the activities I especially enjoyed during this quick Sydney and New South Wales adventure:

Climbing the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge via one of the outstanding BridgeClimb tours.

Checking out the groovy shopping and cafe scene in Newtown and Erskineville, two lesbian-and-gay-friendly Sydney neighborhoods that relatively few tourists see (had a stellar breakfast in nearby Chippendale at Cafe Giulia, and dinner on King Street in Newtown at Thai Pothong).

Dropping by a bunch of convivial gay bars and clubs along Oxford Street in Sydney's uber-queer Darlinghurst neighborhood.

Driving just 90 minutes west of Sydney to the stunningly scenic Blue Mountains, where I hiked down the "Giant Staircase" from Echo Point, stayed at a lovely cliff-top B&B called Windradyne, and ate a superb dinner in the nearby village of Leura at Silk's Brasserie - oh, and artisan chocolate next door at Josophan's Fine Chocolates.

Spending time in the fast-emerging, acclaimed Wine Country of the Hunter Valley, just about two hours northwest of Sydney, where I stayed at one of the coolest small hotels I've been to all year, Tonic Hotel, and had perhaps my best dinner of the trip just around the corner at Mojo's on Wilderness.

Finally, there was my impromptu detour during my drive back to Sydney, checking out the lovely beachfront in the Central Coast seaside resort of Terrigal, and then feasting on plump, fresh raw oysters at a slightly dive-y locals joint in the tiny fishing village of Brooklyn, which is perched at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.

I live in Portland, a city I'm admittedly a big fan of. And over the past couple of weeks I've been writing new material to augment my guide and gallery to gay travel in this progressive, eco-friendly, and food-lovin' metropolis. Among the new recommendations, I've added listings on a couple of popular gay bars (the rather saucy Silverado and Red Cap Garage/Boxxes), two relatively new and gay-friendly hotels (Hotel Modera and Hotel Fifty) as well as a classic (the Jupiter Hotel), and a number of restaurant items - from the hip and cozy Palio coffeehouse near Hawthorne to the offbeat Screen Door (notable for its stellar Southern food) to the eateries and food stalls at the famed Portland Farmers Market. Check out my full guide and gallery for a more comprehensive look at the Rose City.

Several years ago, the still-outstanding East Canyon property added a new element to the usual Palm Springs gay resort formula by offering not only swanky accommodations but a full-service spa with top-of-the-line treatment rooms and massage and body treatments performed by a skilled, experienced staff. East Canyon continues to be a lovely place to stay and experience anything from a heated-stone massage to papaya enzyme peel.

In recent years, many of the gay men's and women's resorts in Palm Springs have added in-room massage and spa treatments to their lists of growing amenities, and in 2009, the popular men's resort La Dolce Vita opened its own full-service spa in an attractive building located in a peaceful, secluded section of this expansive property. Here guests can book a slew of inviting treatments, among them deep-hydration facials, full-body "Sweet Life Massages" that incorporate three different techniques, and seaweed-infused body wraps.

If you'd begun to think that full spa vacations were available only in Palm Springs' larger, mainstream resorts, think again - East Canyon and La Dolce Vita are offering this style of vacation in an intimate, gay-exclusive setting. Here's a look at some of the best gay resorts in Palm Springs.