GirlPorts’ Tanya

Girlports: Montreal-based LGBTQ travel experience at its lesbian-est

TRIVIA TIME!!!!!!!!

Who
travels 14 times a year with day job with Tourisme Montreal?

Spends
a lot of time upkeeping her lesbian website as a labour of love?

Is a super fun, sparkly girl-about-town who is a lady and new friend you really should meet?

Answer: Tanya Churchmuch from Girlports

Tanya’s the woman behind the popular website, a homegrown lesbian travel site that goes by the curiously catchy name of Girlports. Founded in 2007, this woman works on the site while working her other dreamy job, a full-time PR person for Tourisme Montreal. But the girl keeps it real, meeting me at Kafein on Bishop on a snow squall-y afternoon.

Quick facts about Girlports:

• On a recent trip to Buenos Aires, Tanya was super busy, pre-trip, making cold calls (as she usually does) to connect with the lesbians over there like a queer
  language school, queer tango school. She adds that the lesbian community is often out there, but that the language barrier is a problem if one is not familirar with the native tounge (ed’s note: NOT a pun, I SWEAR.) Tanya admits to doing a “a shit load of research”
  and even looking on Gaydar Girls or international queer dating sites.

• She says she’s always
  
   

  loved to travel. In 2006 her ex-girlfriend said “you love this so much, why don’t you try to do it?” So she did. And we are glad.

Kox & Kuntz: How
has the economy slowed down LGBTQ travel?
Tanya Churchmuch: In
the past few years more research has been done into lesbian travel,
rather than just gay travel. There is no real difference between
lesbian and gay disposable income. Lesbians will save the money to
go on vacay, but gay men might just put their trip on the credit
card. We are seeing a real uptake again, she says.

K&K: What
are you thoughts on what Nepal is doing right now to increase their
gay friendlyness?

TC: “I think it’s fantastic what their doing there. Nepal has the strongest
gay rights in the entire south of Asia. What is interesting in Nepal is
the third sex, which started the whole queer movement there.”

• Gay
  trekking with gay or lesbian guide: A very cool new thing Nepal’s gay tourism industry is working on right now.

• “The guy running (Sunil Babu Pant) that whole
  campaign is openly gay and well-loved. Alot of gov will make that kind
  of lipe service but won’t make the steps to make it legal.”

K&K: What’s
the most useful thing lesbians can gain from using your website?
Briefly.

TC: “Helping them find their community. Very few people will travel to go just
on full-on ‘gay trip,’ people go to the the museum, they go to dinner,

But at night, they’re like, ‘where are the girls?” So [Girlports] will tell you where the lesbians are. You can always tell
where the gay men are, but you can’t always tell where the lesbians
are.

K&K: Hey Tanya: Are you
as jet-setting / glamourous as you seem?
TC: You
tell me! [guffaws] I’m very fortunate. I do get to stay in hotels for
free, get drinks and stuff so that is my luck. “you gotta do what u
love, and you do what you love, it will give it back to you.”

Tanya’s
Top Montreal Resto Picks

1. liverpool
   house

2. garde-manger

3. kitchen
   gallerie

4. la
   paryse

5. for cheap eats: Euro Deli on St-Viateur

Tanya’s
awesome
fav hangout spots in the city:

1. Nacho Libre
2. Snoweshowing
   on the mountain
3. igloofest
4. Griffintown Café for food-related events
5. Montreal Roller Derby matches
   (goes to a game in a every city when she can)
6. Edgy Women fest (we love you Miriam Ginestier)
   
7. TOHU

Facebook fan Girlports here. Follow Tanya’s tweets @girlports

related posts:
Noam Lapid
Josh Bouzaglou
Matthew Santoro