La Vida Buena
BUENOS
AIRES
by Mark Chesnut
The handsome young man pressed close
to the older gentleman on Florida Street, their feet
carefully intertwined, their hands clasped together.
The music seemed to dictate precisely their every
move. The young man’s steady gaze was focused,
passionate, as he countered each step his companion
made. Passersby on the street stopped and watched,
smiling and clapping when they were done. In Buenos
Aires, it’s not uncommon to see two men dance
tango together. Even on busy pedestrian shopping streets
in the center of town, people perform the dance that
is synonymous with the city.
Born just before the turn of the 20th
Century, the sensuous moves of tango were initially
too scandalous for even female prostitutes, forcing
men in the poorer immigrant neighborhoods to practice
together.
After World War I, the dance started
to catch on internationally, helped in no small part
by the silky voice of Carlos Gardel, the nation’s
most popular tango singer. Whether he was gay or not
is still open to debate, but the music and dance he
helped make famous continue as a tradition in Argentina’s
capital—and today you can even enjoy it in an
ever-increasing gay environment.
“The Paris of Latin America
has everything, and at less than half the price of
any top city in the world,” according to Facundo
Yebne, manager of Friendly Apartments, a gay apartment
rental service. “You can go to a stylish restaurant
with first-class service and good wine for $10 to
$15. You can marvel at an opera at one of the best
theaters of the world, the Teatro Colón, for
$5 to $35.”
Indeed, after years as one of the
most expensive destinations in Latin America, Argentina
suffered an economic collapse in 2001. One of the
few positive things to come from the nation’s
economic difficulties has been the explosive growth
of tourism, which has helped to stabilize parts of
the economy and grow some businesses.
A more favorable exchange rate has encouraged
visitors to finally get to know the “Paris of Latin
America” — a fact eagerly promoted by anyone
even remotely involved with the local travel industry.
Like Yebne, other local Porteños are quick to
note that Buenos Aires is now an ideal vacation destination.
Vacationers who’d only dreamed of staying in five-star
hotels can afford a luxury vacation in a European-style
capital city, at half the price.
This opportunity hasn’t
been lost on gay and lesbian travelers, who enjoy the
city’s sophisticated infrastructure of gay-owned
and gay-friendly accommodations, restaurants, nightlife,
and stores.
“We’re the number one gay
destination in Latin America now,” claims Kevin
Rodriguez, the New Jersey-born owner of Empire Thai,
a trendy restaurant in the center of Buenos Aires. “We
beat Rio. We used to be too expensive, but now everyone’s
been to Rio and Buenos Aires is cheap.”
A North American expat, Rodriguez moved
from New Jersey to Buenos Aires in 1996, after working
for years in New York City’s banking industry.
He’d already visited Buenos Aires and liked it
so much he decided to call it home. About three years
ago, he opened Empire Thai, a gay-friendly restaurant/bar
in the city center whose name and logo are a nod to
his U.S. roots. Rodriguez decided the city needed an
upscale Thai restaurant because in general, Porteños
“eat the three p’s: pasta, pizza, and parrilla
[grilled beef]. They needed something a little different
here.” Rodriguez loves his life in Buenos Aires—the
people, the culture, the history, and, he adds enthusiastically:
“Have you seen the men here?”
Buenos Aires wasn’t always a magnet
for gay vacationers. For nearly 300 years after its
founding in the 1500’s, it barely attracted the
attention of straight people either, taking a backseat
to more important centers of trade in the Spanish empire.
In 1776 Buenos Aires became the capital of the new Viceroyalty
of the Rio de la Plata, and after Argentina’s independence
from Spain in 1816 began its climb to become one of
the wealthiest cities in the hemisphere. During the
1930’s, colonial-era streets disappeared as the
government sought to create European-style grandeur
with wide boulevards and sweeping vistas that still
exist today.
The following years brought dramatic
ups and downs. A series of military coups in 1943 and
1944 led to the rise of Col. Juan Domingo Perón,
whose popularity with the working class was boosted
by the charisma of his wife Eva, a minor actress with
humble roots (Evita was her nickname).
Perón’s presidency, which
began in 1946, was marked by the nationalization of
many resources and the initiation of populist programs
to help the poor, coupled with restriction of free speech
and the suppression of critics. Evita expressed an interest
in holding political office, but died in 1952 at age
33. Still loved by many, her image can be seen throughout
the city.
Perón’s next wife, Isabel
Martínez de Perón, actually achieved some
of Evita’s goals, but without the public admiration.
Peronism, as her husband’s political approach was
named, sharply divided the nation, but continued to
enjoy support even after a military coup overthrew Perón
in 1955. Perón returned from exile in 1973 to
resume as president, with Isabel as vice president.
After he died in 1974, Isabel became the nation’s
first female president (and the first to have started
out as a cabaret dancer), but Isabel’s presidency
lasted only until 1976 when she was deposed by a military
junta, detained for five years, and then sent into exile
where she still lives today.
Isabel’s overthrow was followed
by one of the darkest periods in the nation’s history.
Military leaders began what is known as the “Dirty
War,” banning the free press, political parties,
and worker strikes, and dissolving the Congress. As
many as 30,000 political opponents disappeared. My friend
Ivan, who traveled to Buenos Aires frequently in the
1970’s, told me how it was not uncommon for a black
Ford Falcon to stop in front of an expensive restaurant
as military operatives would swoop in, forcibly and
silently remove one of the restaurant’s patrons,
and disappear into the night.
The military dictatorship, which faced
ever-decreasing public support, ended with the democratic
election of Raúl Alfonsín as president
in 1983. It wasn’t until 2000, however, that President
Fernando de la Rúa finally purged the army and
state intelligence agency of the last suspected participants
in the Dirty War. Still, to this day, many of the disappeared
are unaccounted for. Aging mothers and grandmothers
still march with photos of their missing relatives.
The period remains a painful part of Argentina’s
recent history, and debate continues about how best
to commemorate the missing.
By 2001, inflation and unemployment
were wreaking havoc on the country and crowds rushed
local banks as depositors frantically attempted to access
their money. Nationwide food riots and demonstrations
led president Fernando de la Rúa to resign.
It wasn’t until 2003, when Nestor
Carlos Kirchner was elected president, that the economy
began showing some signs of stabilization. Kirchner
succeeded in gaining favorable terms from the International
Monetary Fund for refinancing Argentina’s debt.
Unemployment sank from nearly 20 percent to about 13
percent. While predictions for the future are bright,
the state of the economy remains at the forefront of
Argentina’s problems.
To find out more about Argentina’s
complex history and current political climate, check
out The Argentina Reader: History, Culture, Politics,
edited by Gabriela Nouzeilles and Graciela R. Montaldo
(Duke University Press, 2003) and Buenos Aires: A Cultural
and Literary Companion by Jason Wilson (Interlink Books,
1999).
At first I don’t notice that the
guy who is showing us to our table at La Barbería,
a sidewalk restaurant dating to 1927, has finely plucked
eyebrows and a rather feminine gait. By the time I do,
“Moira” is already mentioning that he sometimes
does drag shows at this old-fashioned restaurant in
the neighborhood called La Boca. “But I don’t
do shows right now, because I’ve gotten chubby,”
he says, so instead we watch an attractive male-female
couple ply the wooden dance floor as we enjoy gourmet
pizza under the springtime sun.
Whether or not Moira is performing,
La Boca is one of the neighborhoods that you must visit
to get a sense of the history of Buenos Aires, a sprawling
metropolis that today boasts some 12 million inhabitants.
A port area where many Italian immigrants arrived decades
ago, it is today a touristy place with vendors creating
hand-painted artwork and cotton and silk scarves in
front of brightly painted buildings.
Many of the sites in Buenos Aires can
be seen on foot or on gay-friendly guided tours. Pride
Travel, founded in 2003 by travel expert Carlos Melía,
is one of the gay-owned companies offering a variety
of packages and services to gay and lesbian travelers.
A true entrepreneur, Meliá seems to have his
finger on the pulse of just about everything in gay
Buenos Aires. “Buenos Aires has something for everyone,”
he tells me, and his business ventures make it easier
to find what you’re looking for; he also works
as an independent tour guide and publishes La Ronda,
a handy, free, pocket guide to gay life in the city.
Since I’d already visited several
times before, I decided to take my boyfriend on a self-guided
tour using inexpensive black-and-yellow taxis. Many
destinations in the city can be reached for $2 or less
(the taxi drivers here do not expect tips, although
most people will round up a bit as a sign of appreciation).
Another good transportation option is the city’s
efficient Subte (subway) system, which costs less than
70 cents.
From La Boca, it’s a short taxi
ride to San Telmo, a neighborhood with narrow cobbled
streets lined with countless antique shops. We take
a seat at an outdoor café on the plaza and enjoy
some live music before continuing our exploration. One
of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, San Telmo also
has interesting restaurants including La Farmacia, a
funky, gay-friendly place with original art hanging
on the walls. San Telmo is also home to Lugar Gay, the
creatively remodeled gay men’s B&B that sometimes
hosts gay tango classes.
From San Telmo we taxi over to Puerto
Madero, the attractively redeveloped waterfront mostly
filled with upscale restaurants, offices, and apartments.
In the very center of the city are some
of the most popular sites. The Plaza de Mayo is a city
square anchored by the Casa Rosada (Pink House), the
presidential palace from which Evita once spoke to the
people of Argentina. It houses an interesting museum
dedicated to presidential history. The Catedral Metropolitano
(Metropolitan Cathedral), which looks more like a bank
from the outside, has an ornate interior and the tomb
of General San Martín, liberator of Argentina.
After paying our respects, we walk a few blocks to Café
Tortoni, an historic and beautiful coffee shop that
dates to 1858.
Continued
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