Puerto Vallarta, one of the world’s top LGBTQ+ resort destinations, made international headlines last week when it became host to widespread destruction that took place after notorious cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” was killed during a raid by Mexico’s military on February 22.
The cartel-driven unrest struck several regions of Mexico including Puerto Vallarta, where the gay-friendly district of Zona Romántica saw vehicles, convenience stores and small businesses lit ablaze the day of El Mencho’s death. At least 73 people died in the chaos, including security forces, cartel members and one bystander. But most of the undamaged businesses were open again within a couple of days.
As photos and videos poured out of the area, queer travellers worldwide recalculated whether to cancel or delay plans to visit Puerto Vallarta. But what of the gays in PV? What were they doing during the days of and following the cartel’s disruptions?
“It was pretty traumatizing,” says Nate from Ottawa, Canada, who did not want his last name used for this story. He was nearing the end of a 10-day trip to PV when the fires broke out. “Saturday night was pretty normal, and then Sunday I awoke to the sound of a car exploding right beside my Airbnb.”
Nate and his friends’ rental was on the ground floor in the Zona Romántica. After receiving notifications that their flights back to Canada were cancelled, they moved a few floors up, to stay with American tourists they had met during the trip. “We wanted to be with more people, we were pretty scared.”
Nate and his group spent the next 48 hours dedicated to practical tasks: trying to rebook flights, informing employers of their situation and, critically, finding food and water. Many businesses like supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants were destroyed, and those that were not attacked were too scared to open.
Many gay tourists found themselves in a similar situation, having to search for food, as few had stocked their vacation accommodations with supplies. Matthew Casselman, who is from Toronto, Canada, had initially planned to leave on Monday, February 23. He woke up to an empty fridge. “We didn’t have any food, or anything to drink.”
Despite the shelter-in-place order, Casselman and his group tried to quickly search for any store that might be open. At one point, he needed to hide behind a car, because the Mexican military was moving in on a cartel group farther up the street. Eventually, he came across a convenience store that had been fire bombed. “There was a section of the store that wasn’t totally destroyed—some merchandise was salvageable.” Casselman’s group took some of what they found scattered there, including water and crackers. They tried to take some snacks as well, but the fire had melted and distorted much of the plastic wrapping.
Casselman wasn’t the only one scouring for food. Reddit, for instance, was swarmed with a reported 2.3 million visitors, many of whom were trying to find food and water. Queer visitors turned to gay hookup apps like Grindr and Sniffies to trade tips and suggestions according to screenshots shared online. “Heard some people have been able to order pizza—anyone know where that could have been from?” posted one member of a hookup site under an “I’m hosting” post. Some visitors were looking for ways to distract themselves from their situation. “Any hotels/parties going on today amidst all the unrest-hit me up. I wanna be social or…fuck the social and get to the depraved play time,” posted another user.
Casselman’s group was able to use hookup apps to sort out some of their practical problems. “My friend was able to get a ride to the airport on Monday thanks to Grindr, and I found out about a convenience store that was open because of it as well,” he says. “It was through the help of others that we got to a place where we could be pretty comfortable.”
Yet online gay community members watching from afar were less impressed with this camaraderie. While shelter-in-place orders were still in effect, some online posters blamed gay PV visitors for participating in the drug use and “sexual tourism” that helps cartels thrive. When gay visitors posted about social outings in the days following the unrest, people in the comments were quick to criticize. “I smell stale cigarette smoke and armpits. Glad to see the alcohol is doing its job and making him not give a fuck about danger,” declared one comment on a post on X of two friends in a gay bar the day after the fires were set. “Oh good I was worried the Canadian gays wouldn’t get to hook up again. After seeing your ilk attempt at looting destroyed businesses carrying Canadian tote bags full of stolen goods,” posted another.
“I did start posting the next day, and being cheeky, like we’re just having fun,” says Jeffrey James of Toronto, who was in PV as part of a large birthday trip. After a 24-hour period of careful keeping track of what was happening, James saw businesses reopening and decided to continue his vacation adventures. This earned him both support and ire online.
“I have gotten feedback that it was insensitive for me to be twerking the day after the unrest,” he says. “But every single Mexican and local I know, their biggest concern is that tourism is going to be affected with what the mass media is showing—and I feel like that is what I was leaning in to more than everything else.”
Although critics were quick to make jokes about the gays partying it up as black smoke hung over PV, so many of the city’s gay fans, like James, were concerned about this event’s impact on PV’s local economy and were doing what they could to show that it was not as dangerous as it might have looked on TV.
“It’s easy in these kinds of situations to want to find someone to blame,” says Thomas Speta, a Canadian who intended to be in PV for only 24 hours and ended up stuck there for days. “I don’t want to be angry or frustrated at this moment, I want to support local businesses as much as possible.”
Septa also resumed posting photos of himself drinking at restaurants and enjoying the beach. “I’m not going to spend the rest of my vacation obsessing about what happened. We’re staying aware of what’s going on, but still enjoying what Puerto Vallarta is, which is a beautiful place to come and enjoy.” Drag queens and other queer performers who rely on gay visitors to come to their PV shows have been doing the same, encouraging gay visitors not to give up on PV as a destination.
Still, not all of us can move on so easily, says Nate. “I think it would be a disservice to everyone’s trauma to present it as though it was not a big deal, that it was a Sunday morning blip in an otherwise perfect vacation.”
Regardless of when or how fast Puerto Vallarta reclaims its spot as a crown jewel of gay travel, these recent weeks have demonstrated both gays’ eagerness to tear each other down online and also that we have each other’s back in an emergency. All of the PV visitors I spoke to recounted stories of sharing supplies and accommodations with queer strangers across age and social class.
Septa remembers talking about this sense of community with a pair of older gay men who were willing to share their meagre meal with him. “We talked a lot about how throughout history, no matter what the tragedy looks like, queer people really do come together and help each other out.”
