Want to learn Italian in a gay-friendly environment and in the heart of a town with a lively gay community? Well, today it’s not so difficult.
The Viareggio summer school of the Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo is only a few kilometres from Torre del Lago, one of the best-known and most-visited Italian resort for gay tourism, so much so that it has become the Italian Sitges, where it is possible to come into contact with people from the whole of Italy as well as from abroad.
The “Italian Miami Beach”, as the daily newspaper La Repubblica has defined it, is full of night clubs, free beaches and real bathing establishments, where each week, from April to September, a network of gay-owned and other completely gay-friendly facilities welcome thousands of gay and lesbian travellers from Italy and increasingly also from across Europe.
For example Le Dune Beach in Torre del Lago is a well-known LGBT summer destination in Tuscany.
The peak of arrivals is in August, when artists of international standing like Gloria Gaynor or Jimmy Somerville perform at the “Friendly Versilia Mardi Gras” festival, a sort of summer gay pride. For detailed information on the numerous “gay-friendly” bars and clubs and on the many events organized by them, we invite you to consult the partner site: http://www.friendlyversilia.it/
Since 1981 the Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo has offered students from all over the world the opportunity to meet and study Italian in one of the most beautiful areas of Tuscany, where the relaxed, family environment, the contact with the sea, the artistic beauty and the natural hospitality of the local people, make for pleasent study opportunity and an unforgettable holiday experience.
Our school has always operated within the intercultural sector and has had to face and solve problems linked to integration and tolerance. We feel ready and keen to continue in this direction and to promote our school as a space where discrimination is not accepted and where our students will find, with the help of qualified teachers, a pleasant mode of being together and communicating.
The Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo, by adhering to the “Friendly Versilia” association, wishes to emphasize its absolute willingness to welcome unhesitatingly anyone wishing to learn Italian.
We do not accept intolerance towards anyone, our lessons are private spaces where everyone can exercise the right to learn and communicate with others. We strive to show repect to all cultures, religions and people from every walk of life. In such a context we affirm that all are welcome.
