Rio de Janeiro

Rio has one of the most visible LGBTQI+ scenes in Latin America, spread between the Zona Sul and the Centro, with more than forty venues among bars, clubs, beach kiosks and gay-friendly restaurants. The daytime scene starts on Ipanema beach, at Posto 9, the stretch identified as the LGBTQI+ part of the beach since Fernando Gabeira swam there in 1979.

Ipanema and Rua Farme de Amoedo form the historic axis for daytime and for bars, with Galeria Café and Bofetada. Copacabana brings the founding beach of Brazilian Pride and its bars and kiosks. Lapa carries the alternative nightlife, with big clubs and queer samba and funk. And Botafogo and Leblon round it off with a more residential, younger scene. At weekends the night stretches to dawn, though midweek it is quieter than São Paulo's. At carnival, between February and March, the whole city turns into a queer event, with LGBT blocos such as Cordão da Bola Preta, Monobloco, Toca do Bacalhau and Mulheres de Chico.

Rio holds a founding place in the history of Brazilian Pride, because the country's first march was held on Copacabana beach in 1995. Later editions have run between Copacabana and Ipanema, on a notable scale though smaller than São Paulo's, which holds the Guinness record for the biggest Pride in the world.

Beyond the annual Pride, which usually falls in October or November, the city's great queer moment is carnival, between February and March, with openly LGBT blocos and drum bands, from Cordão da Bola Preta to Monobloco, Toca do Bacalhau and Mulheres de Chico, which draw mixed crowds. Reveillon, New Year's Eve on Copacabana, gathers between two and three million people every year, with an open atmosphere and fireworks over the beach. At carnival and Reveillon hotels rise 200% to 400%, so book four to six months ahead.

Rio has no single gay village in the style of Chueca or the Castro, because the carioca queer scene is spread across a triangle between the Zona Sul and the Centro.

Ipanema, with Rua Farme de Amoedo and Posto 9, is the historic core for daytime and for bars. The stretch has been identified as the LGBTQI+ part of the beach since 1979, when Fernando Gabeira swam there and made it famous across the country. Rua Farme de Amoedo, between Vinícius de Moraes and the beach, is the strip with the most visible LGBT bars.

Copacabana adds the historic weight of Pride, thanks to that first march in 1995, and the tourist crowds. Lapa is the heart of the alternative nightlife, with big clubs and queer samba and funk. And Botafogo and Leblon round it off with gay-friendly residential life.

Among health services, SUS, the Brazilian public health system, guarantees emergency care even for tourists. The Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, part of Fiocruz, is the national reference for HIV, AIDS and trans care in Rio. Post-exposure prophylaxis is available at any hour in hospital emergency departments, within a 72-hour window. And travel insurance is worth having to avoid SUS queues.

Among the local organisations are the Grupo Arco-Íris de Conscientização Homossexual, the longest-running carioca one, and ABGLT, which has its national headquarters here. There is a risk worth keeping in mind: according to the annual counts by trans organisations, Brazil tops the world list of trans homicides. The risk is higher in the outskirts and for visibly trans people outside the Ipanema, Copacabana and Leblon axis.