Is panama gay friendly

Panama has rapidly emerged as one of Central America's most vibrant, welcoming, and inclusive countries for the LGBTQ+ community. With a lively gay scene primarily centred in Panama Capital but extending throughout the country, Panama provides a safe and enjoyable exposure for both locals and tourists. This guide will take you through everything you need to understand about the gay people, nightlife, and culture in Panama.

Panama's gay community is vibrant, diverse, and growing rapidly. While Panama Municipality, especially the historic district of Casco Viejo, serves as the heart of the LGBTQ+ scene, other areas like Bocas del Toro and Boquete are increasingly popular among Gay travellers. Local LGBTQ+ activism groups like Fundación Iguales continue to promote same rights and visibility throughout the country.

Gay Clubs in Panama City

Panama City boasts several popular gay clubs and bars, offering a vibrant nightlife experience:

• El Sotano / El Apartamento in Bella Vista is perhaps the most crowded gay-friendly venue. These sister venues offer an open-minded and friendly atmosphere with superb mu
  

  A Queer Guide To Panama City

  This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)

  This gay travel guide is your passport to exploring Panama City through a queer lens, discovering its LGBTQ+ friendly spaces, events, and experiences that will make your visit truly unforgettable. 

  Panama City has get more tolerant of Gay life over the last 10 years, and is now a place that same-sex couples will savor visiting. It’s not necessarily a place where you will see couples holding hands in public nor is same-sex marriage legal, but this hasn’t stopped a strong queer people of locals and foreigners to be out and proud! There is now a huge yearly identity parade that takes place in Casco Viejo, lots of gay-friendly establishments, and overall so many unusual experiences to have in Panama. 

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  Does Panama City have a same-sex attracted neighborhood? 

  Via Argentina is the unofficial “gayborhood” in Panama City. It’s not super gay, but is the most funky neighborhood in Panama City so you find a little bit of everything here. The main avenue of Via Argentina has several cafés, bakeries, small bars, and a park to maintain a visitor entertained, so it can be a great option for peopl
  
  

  Panama

  Same-sex sexual action has been legal in Panama since 2008, when Presidential Decree No. 332 repealed the law that criminalized sodomy, Article 12 of Presidential Decree No. 149 (1949), citing constitutional non-discrimination protections. However, lgbtq+ couples cannot marry or adopt, and in Protest 2023, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is not a human right. 

  Religious groups and conservative lawmakers have historically opposed the recognition of the rights of LGBTIQ people. There are no laws protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics, making LGBTIQ people particularly vulnerable to harassment, hate crimes, and discrimination. Trans people can change their legal gender markers, but only after undergoing surgery. There hold been reports of police abuse of trans women. The internal rules of the national police coerce also state that homosexuality is a “grave offense.” 

  The situation of intersex people’s human rights in Panama remains largely unaddressed by the state, with no specific legal protections in place to safeguard their rights. Non-consensual and medi
  

  If you have not yet been to Panama it is an absolute must. We only spent ten days in Panama and were pleasantly surprised to find gay owned hotels (like this luxury boutique in Bocas Del Toro) and a great homosexual scene in the Panama City itself.

  We met up with Roberto Broce in Panama City to discover our more about ‘gay Panama’ and find out if Panama is homosexual friendly.

  Who is Roberto? ‘Hi! My name’s Roberto Broce, I’m 26 years vintage and I work as a marketing analyst for the Innovation Centre of a foundation here in Panama called Ciudad del Saber. I’ve been travelling for 10 years living in almost every continent around the world, partaking in several social causes in places like China and Australia. I love kitesurfing, astronomy, and adventure travelling. !”

  Based on our discussion, we have deposit together the below mini gay travel guide to Panama

  Is Panama Gay Friendly?

  It depends a lot on where you go and whether the people you are around were raised in an urban or a rural environment, their age, whether they were raised in a religious home, etc.

  Let’s take a straight 30 something year old male raised in one of the suburbs of a sat
  
  

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