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businessprofile

CHARLIE ROUNDS

TRAVEL ENTREPRENEUR
& BUSINESS VISIONARY

by Matthew Wexler

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PASSPORT I FEBRUARY 2015

mall in stature but with a stare that could launch a thousand ships (and probably
has, as he served as president of the legendary gay and lesbian cruise company
RSVP Vacations for more than 21 years), Rounds is a force to be reckoned with.
Charlie has passion and is a smart, true business person. I admire his big ideas and
creativity, says Steve Roth, founder and president of Out Think Partners, an LGBT communications and marketing agency. Roth, a longtime friend and colleague from their RSVP days,
recruited Rounds about a year and a half ago to join the agency and bring his decades of
expertise to a rapidly evolving landscape.
We saw changes happening so fast in the US, says Roth, referring to the gay marriage
momentum, which at press time is legal in 35 states. We are far from done but headed in the
right direction. Yet we were seeing the rest of the world go from bad to worse. International
LGBT rights is the next frontier, so we started talking and asking ourselves how we could
make a difference.
Its a question Rounds has been asking himself for a long time. The apple doesnt fall far from
the tree, says Rounds, whose mother was a lifetime human rights activist and founder of the
Minneapolis chapter of Amnesty International. Rounds always knew he was gay, though he didnt

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businessprofile

Rounds on the Brand g Danube River Cruise

come out until he was 26. Those early years

presented challenges not unlike those faced by
todays youth, but back then there were no It
Gets Better campaigns, websites like
StopBullying.gov, or national support organizations for LGBT youths such as Live Out Loud.
Like many gay teens of the era, his resiliency
and fortitude came from within. At 16 years old,
Rounds was at the mercy of a handful of
harassing and bullying classmates who pegged
him as gay, but on the inside, he was on the
lookout for a place where he could fit in.
In between his junior and senior year of high
school, Rounds visited the University of
Minnesota Twin Cities campus and found solace in the most unlikely of places: a campaign
poster for student body president Jack Baker.
The year was 1971 and Bakers image portrayed the candidate wearing black stockings
and a pair of womens pumps with the slogan,
Put Yourself in Jack Bakers Shoes!
According to Rounds, Baker was to be the first
openly gay student body president of a major
university. This was all the impetus Rounds
needed to bolster through the remainder of high
school before beginning his college education.
It was during this time that Rounds gained
further exposure to human rights issues, as college campuses were a hotbed of activism as a
result of the Vietnam War. He studied French
and linguistics, earning a double major. He
wanted to be a college professor but job pickings were slim, so Rounds made a choice that
would send his career path in an entirely differ78

PASSPORT I FEBRUARY 2015

ent trajectory. He joined the Peace Corps.

Rounds still felt that he needed to keep his
sexual orientation under wraps because at
that time in Minnesota, Peace Corps volunteers had to get their entry physicals at the
same facilities as the US Army. If you smoke
or are a homosexual, dont tell them, he was
warned. He passed the physical and because
he was fluent in French, Rounds knew hed be
sent to French-speaking Africa. He was
assigned to Cameroon, long known for its
conservative views toward homosexuality,
where even today an individual can be imprisoned for up to five years for having sexual relations with a person of the same sex. Its a
struggle that still resonates with Rounds and
fuels his work.
I taught English and American culture to
these kids who were so hungry for it. I could
see their hopes and dreams, says Rounds.
Its also truly one of the most beautiful places
in the world, featuring savannas, beaches, and
mountain ranges. But as a gay person, its perhaps an even worse place to be than Uganda,
and I couldnt consider going back until they
start treating our community better.

hroughout his more than 30 years in the

LGBT travel industry, including the launch
of LGBT tour operator Brand g Vacations,
his involvement with IGLTA (International Gay &
Lesbian Travel Association) and its philanthropic foundation, and his decades of experience
with RSVP vacations, Rounds has continued to

cross borders and push boundariesnot only

in terms of destinations, but also widening the
lens for gay travelers to step outside of their
comfort zones.
Rounds speaks of a 1995 RSVP cruise to
Barcelona, where the ship pulled into port with
more than 400 gay men and allies. According
to Rounds, one of the bus drivers who was to
transport the group to the city center said in
astonishment, I didnt know there were this
many gay men in the world! It was a defining
moment for Rounds, who has witnessed
Spains evolution into one of the most desired
gay destinations in the world and recently had
his own revelation about the country. The last
time Rounds had visited Madrid was 1975
when the nation was still under Francisco
Francos dictatorship. His return to the nations
capital in 2014 for the IGLTA convention
revealed a reinvented city, bristling with vibrant
culture, including the coveted neighborhood of
Chueca, a gay district overflowing with retail
shops, cafs, lounges, and nightclubs.
Another port of call that caught Rounds by
surprise was Kusadasi. Nestled on the eastern
bank of the Aegean Sea, it is a gateway to
Ephesus, one of the most spectacular Greek
archeological sites and home to the Temple of
Artemis, considered one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. We showed up on the
ship and the number of rainbow flags in the
shops and restaurants was astounding, he
recounts. They knew we were coming and
they wanted our business. Rounds speaks to
a global trend that is slowly catching on, even
among countries previously wary of gay travelers. According to a recent report co-published
by the World Tourism Organization and IGLTA,
the annual worldwide economic impact of
LGBT travel is more than $140 billion. But his
lifetime of work transcends the dollar.
In 2002, Rounds was scheduled to shepherd a ship full of gay travelers to Puerto
Corts, Honduras. Though same-sex activity is
legal in the country, its not exactly the hotbed
of central American gay culture. Yet Rounds
was determined to facilitate a cultural
exchange and met with the tour operator to
detail his expectations. Im bringing 2,000
mostly gay men, he stated. Your guides and
drivers need to be out front. They will shake
their handsthey will touch them. It was a
demand implying that the gay traveler is more
than his pocketbook, but the cultural sensitivity goes both ways. When prepping his guests
for the shore excursion, Rounds said, Youre
going to get off this ship and its going to look
really poor, but look past that. Discover the natural beauty and warmth of this country. Upon
their return, guides were hugging passengers

businessprofile

Brand g Mekong River Cruise Excursion

farewell and barriers had been broken.

Beyond breaking barriers, building
bridges is a key responsibility in Rounds
current role as managing director at Out
Think Partners. His vast experience in LGBT
travel is intersecting with his passion for
human rights through a number of initiatives
in collaboration with the Kevin J. Mossier
Foundation, which was established to further
advance rights and opportunities for the
LGBT community. Rounds has been instrumental in organizing two symposia that have
brought together LGBT advocacy groups
and executives from major tourism companies. The first was held in Minneapolis and
focused on African nations, while the second, held in Fort Lauderdale, targeted
Caribbean countries. The goal of both meetings was to begin a dialogue as to how the
tourism industry can help improve the lives
of LGBT people living in these regions. The
Washington Blade reported attendees from
Marriott, Club Med, Cruise Planners,
Silversea Cruises, and Celebrity Cruises.

ffering a sneak peek at 2015, Rounds is

continuing to leverage his relationships
to help launch a digital platform that will
act as a portal for those interested in international LGBT issues. There are tons of small
grassroots organizations on the ground, so we
want to connect the dots. Its going to feature

US-based foundations that already have relationships with those on the ground. Charlies
energy and passion is unmatched to make
that happen, says Roth, who believes he hit
the bulls-eye when bringing Rounds on
board. The portal will also enable visitors to
donate to nonprofits equipped to facilitate
funding and resources, as well as offer news
about the latest international issues pertaining
to the LGBT community.
One of those hot-button issues is transgender travel, which echoes the plight of gay
travelers from RSVPs early days. Rounds
said that the company founder, Kevin
Moisser (who also founded the aforementioned nonprofit bearing his name), thought:
Screw it. If were not welcome Ill just take a
ship into the middle of the ocean. But with
the transgender communitys momentum
making headlines with celebrity advocates
like Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black),
a more aggressive and focused response is
taking shape, thanks in part to longtime colleagues like Richard Gray, managing director
of the LGBT market for the Greater Fort
Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau
(GFLCVB). Gray recently helped facilitate the
largest transgender travel survey in history.
Gray is quick to point out his inspiration.
Charlie Rounds has been a personal mentor
and role model for me. His leadership and
vision are extraordinary. He continues to make

a difference in educating Americans about

global LGBT rights and how challenging it is to
be LGBT in continents like Africa and in Arab
countries and Asia, for example. He guided us
at the GFLCVB when we were positioning
ourselves to address the transgender market.
[He] is one of the most respected and revered
leaders in the LGBT travel industry.
Looking to the future, Rounds has his
eyes on up-and-coming LGBT destinations
that are attracting travelers not only
because of their geographic appeal, but
also because of the burgeoning infrastructure for gay rights on a local level. He
describes Prague as a beacon of hope
and China as a fascinating place where if
you want to meet the gay community you
can. He also notes Colombias vibrant
gay scene, pointing out that its an easy
three-hour flight from Miami.
While Rounds says its great to book
travel to destinations that are interesting,
fun, and cool, gay travelers might want to
consider rewarding those places that have
stepped up to make their countries and
cities better places for their own LGBT residents. In this regard, he encourages travelers to contact the tourist board to share
their experiences, which for him has been a
lifelong journey: The power of travel is to
see the evolution of a country, and where
that country can go with time.
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