{"id":24961,"date":"2015-09-05T08:05:36","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T12:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/alec-mapa-talks-cruises-comedians-and-his-french-family\/"},"modified":"2015-09-05T08:05:36","modified_gmt":"2015-09-05T12:05:36","slug":"alec-mapa-talks-cruises-comedians-and-his-french-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/alec-mapa-talks-cruises-comedians-and-his-french-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Alec Mapa Talks Cruises, Comedians And His \u201cFrench\u201d Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alec Mapa Talks Cruises, Comedians And His \u201cFrench\u201d Family<\/b><\/p>\n

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\"unnamed\"<\/a><\/strong>It was on an LGBT family friendly Carribean cruise that Alec Mapa and his husband decided to adopt.<\/div>\n
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And it’s easy to see why: R Family Vacations<\/a> goes out of it’s way to make sure everyone is having a good time, whether happily single, looking for love, or a member of the growing community of same-sex<\/a> parents raising children.<\/div>\n
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Join R Family’s next adventure, with Olivia, no less, the LGBT Family & Friends Hard Rock Vallarta Resort in Puerto Vallarta<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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In honor of the cruise, Queerty chatted via email with the funny man<\/a> about R Family, his favorite family outings, raising an African-American kid, and his all-time fave comedians…<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tell us about your first R famaily cruise ? Where did you go?<\/strong><\/div>\n
I was booked as a performer on a Carribean cruise in 2007. The Carribean is always a welcome destination but going on an LGBT cruise with families and their kids was like meeting a thousand best friends all at once. On the R Family cruise my husband and I met our tribe, and it was because of the cruise that we decided to become parents. After meeting people who looked like us and had kids, we decided that it was time for us to start a family as well.<\/div>\n
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How does your son describe his family to his friends?<\/strong>
\nWe told our son that our family was special because we all looked different from each other. We said “Papa is Cajun, which means he’s kind of French, I’m Filipino and you’re African American, but what makes us a family is that we love each other.” On his first day of Kindergarten another kid asked why he had two dads and he said “Because we’re French!” We go to a school with lots of LGBT parents , so honestly we’re not that exotic.<\/div>\n
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How do you find family friendly travel in the “gay<\/a> scene” given that a lot of it is about bars and apps?<\/strong>
\nI think the mistake a lot of people make when discussing the LGBT community is that there’s only one “scene.” We are a rainbow community comprised of as many scenes as you can imagine. On an R Family vacation all those scenes converge and everyone is welcome. I’ve seen party boys<\/a> rock out with lesbians<\/a> with kids and I’ve seen gay<\/a> dads give twinks<\/a> a run for their money on the dance floor. There’s more to us than bars and apps. At least I hope so.\"unnamed-2\"<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
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Now that marriage is legal everywhere, how do you think that will add to the options for gay<\/a>-friendly destinations?<\/strong>
\nWhat, like we’ll all be going to Alabama next? I think the gay<\/a> friendly places will become friendlier and the unfriendly places will become so undesirable they’ll either stick to their guns or grow up and join the party.<\/div>\n
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You’ve traveled often with “all gay<\/a> men<\/a>” and with a “mixed crowd with gay<\/a> and lesbians<\/a>.” How do the experiences differ?<\/strong>
\nThe all gay<\/a> men<\/a> excursions aren’t really designed to be family friendly and that’s what make them enjoyable to folks without kids. However, the R Family guest isn’t all that different from an all adult cruise. I’ve gotten just as drunk on R Family as any other cruise. The biggest difference is we’re all there to celebrate with our families and that’s a completely different kind of fun.<\/div>\n
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Do these vacations reflect your own life? (men<\/a>, women<\/a>, gay<\/a>, straight)<\/strong>
\nOur son’s favorite baby sitters are transgender show girls<\/a> and drag queens so it’s fair to say our life is pretty diverse. So yeah, the vacations look like a tamer version of our home life. But not that much tamer.<\/div>\n
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What comedians do you love?<\/strong>
\nCan’t beat old school Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Redd Foxx or Moms Mabley.What are your three favorite jokes?<\/strong><\/p>\n