The Wynn is developing a separate concierge service for LGBT-related requests. The Mirage throws "gay nights" at its clubs, including an event called "Closet Sundays." Some casinos have experimented with male "bevertainers," or cocktail waiters. The Paris hotel performs civil unions for same-sex couples. The pool at the Luxor hotel, which looks like a giant pyramid, hosts a weekly gay-themed party for men in skimpy swimsuits. The shift is easy enough to see around the city, too.Īt a club called Krave, tucked away behind a construction site in the Planet Hollywood building, there are no showgirls, just men who dance in lavender boxer shorts and high-top sneakers. In San Francisco County, by comparison, 3% of households are headed by same-sex couples. In Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, same-sex partners account for 1% of households, according to an early analysis of 2010 census data by The Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. The population of cohabitating gay couples in Nevada increased 87% from 2000 to 2010, to 9,321 couples, according to the census. The Advocate named Las Vegas the third-gayest city in America this year. travel destination for gay and lesbian travelers, behind New York and San Francisco, according to a report from the group Community Marketing Inc. On the surface, these efforts seem to be working. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spent $700,000 this year on ads targeting the gay community. Vegas, he said, isn't trying to become a "gay city" - think San Francisco Provincetown, Massachusetts or South Beach in Miami - just a place where gay and lesbian people can feel comfortable. Vassiliadis said the ads, and general cultural trends, have helped Vegas' gay and lesbian community become more visible and more robust. The man behind those ads (as well as the "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" slogan) is Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive of the ad firm R&R Partners. The visitors bureau spent $700,000 on this ad campaign in fiscal year 2011. Two high-heeled women play footsie in another convention bureau ad that says, "Take a break where anything goes." Another, for the New York-New York Hotel and Casino, shows a shirtless man in a bed: "Luck isn't always a lady," the caption reads. One summer magazine ad paid for by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority shows a conga line of men at an outdoor pool party. More marketing muscle, however, is going toward presenting Vegas as a place where gays and lesbians can be comfortable and have a good time. It has also courted families, women, blacks and Latinos.Ī kiss between two men in the Cirque du Soleil show "Zumanity" still shocks crowds in Las Vegas. Sin City, the city "where anything goes," wants to welcome people of all kinds - both as tourists and residents. Gay and lesbian people tend to travel more and spend more per capita than their straight counterparts, according to a report from Community Marketing Inc.īut there's a cultural component, too. The main reason for this shift, according to casinos and marketers? Money. Long a bastion of straight male culture, with its bachelor parties, strip clubs and Sinatra-esque swagger, this desert town has been making deliberate attempts since about 2005 to become a destination for gay and lesbian tourists, and to increase its own gay community.
The city is trying to come out, but not everyone is ready. This crowd-host interaction at the start of a recent performance of " Zumanity," a Cirque de Soleil show with overt gay and lesbian themes, pretty much sums up the state of gay Las Vegas at the moment: "Did you just flip me off?" Christopher Kenney, the Las Vegas drag queen with tall black hair (and taller black heels) said, offended. "Are you guys gay?" she said into a microphone, amused. Las Vegas (CNN) - The drag queen pointed at two men in the front row. Still, Vegas has many gay-themed offerings, including pool parties and dance clubs.Residents say the city has a long way to go before it becomes "gay friendly".Las Vegas, long a stalwart of straight male culture, is marketing itself as a gay travel destination.