LGBTQIA+ Travel
You will immediately feel welcome in Santa Fe. The City Different opens its arms to travelers with diverse interests and different backgrounds in search of discovery, wonder, and adventure.
In the early 20th century, Santa Fe became an artist's haven, welcoming writers, painters, socialites and photographers eager for new subject matter and a different life. Their arrival further transformed the city, setting it on a path of valuing that which is different, fresh, and new. That same all-embracing spirit exists today. You will find a wide spectrum of activities and destinations to engage and enchant.
While there are no longer any exclusively queer bars in Santa Fe, there's something arguably better: an inclusive community interested in and motivated by welcoming all people into every space.
Resources & Activities
The Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance "is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+, Black, Brown, indigenous, Asian et al. communities in Santa Fe and Santa Fe County" and as such is a robust resource for monthly events and happenings, as well as a network for services and programs, and the producer of the Annual PRIDE celebration, which, in 2023, amassed a record 9,000+ in attendance en route to and at the Plaza.
Learn about events and read blog musings in Gay Santa Fe, managed by local realtor Mark Banham, where you will also find Friends of Dorothy affairs.
Through the New Mexico Out Business Alliance, you can find a non-exhaustive list of members on the OUT Marketplace who identify as LGBTQ+ and allied/supportive businesses and professionals.
The LGBTQ+ Santa Fe Walking Tour explore Santa Fe’s extensive LGBTQ+ history, covering prominent activists, artists, the Catholic Church, gay bars, and government. Bookended by lesbian activist and educator Nina Otero-Warrena and gay poet Witter Bynner, the tour begins at the historic Santa Fe Plaza, home to Santa Fe Pride since 1988, and ends at the Inn of the Turquoise Bear. Also consider Willa Cather's Santa Fe, exploring the lesbian's visits to Santa Fe in 1925 and 1926. Reach out to local historian and tour guide Garrett Peck to schedule your tour.
The Human Rights Campaign ranks New Mexico highly as "working toward innovative equality," with "a broad range of protections to ensure equality for LGBTQ+ people, including comprehensive non-discrimination laws, safer school policies, and healthcare access for transgender people. Advocates focus on the implementation of laws and advance innovative legislation that addresses the needs of vulnerable populations."
Latest media coverage
U.S. News & World Report ranked Santa Fe as a city that offfers one of the op 21 Pride Parades and Celebrations in the U.S. in 2023, saying, "With a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, Santa Fe remains a popular LGBTQ destination."
The Points Guy identifies Santa Fe as a city to visit in 2023, saying, "This idyllic high-desert city, with a population close to 90,000, nestles beneath the snowcapped 12,000-foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. It remains a favorite LGBTQIA+ getaway, with many visitors combining their adventure with scenic road trips to similarly gay-welcoming Albuquerque and Taos."
A gay traveler writes in The Advocate of unexpected treasures found in Santa Fe. And references The Advocate's 2011 ranking of Santa Fe as the second gayest city in America, which declared, "This is where seasoned gays come to center themselves, but not in a boring way."
