Pink Iceland
Although I am a non-twittering luddite, in anticipation of our upcoming trip, Kristen has spent the summer following a group called "Pink Iceland" on twitter. They are a group devoted to encouraging The Gays to visit The Iceland. (Angie asked if every country or city has such a group, and especially hoped that the one for France would be called Gay Paree.)
Iceland is, geographically, 39,768 square miles in size and has 319,000 people living there. This is smaller than Ohio, which is 44,825 square miles and has a population of 11.5 million people. Which means that, if 1 in 10 people are gay, Ohio has over 1 million gay people, whereas Iceland as a whole has about 31,000. Thus, it is totally understandable that the Icelandic Gays would want to import the Gays Internazionale.
The Pink Icelanders responded to Kristen's tweet about purchasing tickets to Reykjavik, and ever since, I have been sort-of hoping that we will get off the plane and be met by a rainbow clad delegation holding pink balloons and bearing signs that say "Welcome, The Gays!" (Or, "Halló Samkynhneigð," whichever they prefer.)
Now Iceland, as I mentioned many blog posts ago, has the world's first openly lesbian head of state, in Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. And, not that We All Know Each Other, but if the gay community is that small in Iceland, I was wondering if our imaginary escorts would whisk us off to a reception room, where we would immediately be given hot chocolate and introduced to the Prime Minister.
Kristen thinks I should not get my hopes up about this, as the Prime Minister is likely very busy. I agree with this, but she is mostly busy trying to pull Iceland out of its monetary crisis, and I feel that bringing in gay tourists could certainly assist in that area. Which leads me to wonder if perhaps the Prime Minister IS Pink Iceland. The whole thing about the interwebs is that you never know who is on the other end.
So far, Pink Iceland has mostly responsible for posting gorgeous photos of Iceland and also getting us a 10% discount on our rental car. A genuine tourism organization, or a convenient cover for Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir herself? Only time will tell...
Iceland is, geographically, 39,768 square miles in size and has 319,000 people living there. This is smaller than Ohio, which is 44,825 square miles and has a population of 11.5 million people. Which means that, if 1 in 10 people are gay, Ohio has over 1 million gay people, whereas Iceland as a whole has about 31,000. Thus, it is totally understandable that the Icelandic Gays would want to import the Gays Internazionale.
The Pink Icelanders responded to Kristen's tweet about purchasing tickets to Reykjavik, and ever since, I have been sort-of hoping that we will get off the plane and be met by a rainbow clad delegation holding pink balloons and bearing signs that say "Welcome, The Gays!" (Or, "Halló Samkynhneigð," whichever they prefer.)
Now Iceland, as I mentioned many blog posts ago, has the world's first openly lesbian head of state, in Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. And, not that We All Know Each Other, but if the gay community is that small in Iceland, I was wondering if our imaginary escorts would whisk us off to a reception room, where we would immediately be given hot chocolate and introduced to the Prime Minister.
Kristen thinks I should not get my hopes up about this, as the Prime Minister is likely very busy. I agree with this, but she is mostly busy trying to pull Iceland out of its monetary crisis, and I feel that bringing in gay tourists could certainly assist in that area. Which leads me to wonder if perhaps the Prime Minister IS Pink Iceland. The whole thing about the interwebs is that you never know who is on the other end.
So far, Pink Iceland has mostly responsible for posting gorgeous photos of Iceland and also getting us a 10% discount on our rental car. A genuine tourism organization, or a convenient cover for Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir herself? Only time will tell...