I found Angel Cakes Cafe after searching for gay tourist attraction in Hamilton. I made my way to the carefully decorated cafe and sat down to a well-made cup of coffee and most heavenly chocolate brownie. This gay owned and operated venture creates a safe place for gay couples, where they wouldn’t be accused of ‘flaunting’ (one of my favourite labels to critique) their sexuality when engaging in PDA (public displays of affection). I note that heterosexual couples too occupy this space, some unaware of the cafes discourse and others accepting of it. The results from researching lesbians in the home in 1995 led others to question whether gay tourism operations could replace feelings of safety and acceptance and notions of privacy for the sexual identity of queer bodies in which ‘home’ would otherwise provide if these bodies weren’t constantly de-queering the spaces for visitors. Unlike the SkyCIty Casino the warm atmosphere and queer space of Angel Cakes Cafe made me (the tourist) feel at ease in the embodied experience. This experience is a sound example of how gay tourism operations can act as a haven from the queerly concealed home. My visit exemplifies also, the difference in tourism embodiment for queer and heterosexual bodies. I will later question as to whether straight bodies experience such anxieties when becoming a tourist in queer spaces.
Comments welcome
Photograph by Jessica Keppel
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