No man is an island, especially when there are so many willing men on the Greek island of Mykonos. It’s a gay hotspot – and not just because of the temperature. Mykonos, which is part of the Cyclades batch of 2,000 islands, is one of the “Big Four” gay summer resort destinations in Europe; which includes Gran Canaria, Sitges and Ibiza. Mykonos is surrounded by gorgeous Aegean waters as clear as Charlie Sheen’s past views on unprotected sex.

After all, a long-time, admirable advertisement for gay Greek men is the fact that a pleasurable sexual position was named after their nationality. Perhaps this is why year-round, gay tourists take advantage of what’s left of Greece’s sour economy, and men as sweet as Greek pastry and visit Mykonos. Its locals call the steady influx of gay tourists seeking to add a little penile pizazz to their lives the “Shirley Valentine syndrome”, named after the movie and play in which a “bored Liverpudlian” (talk about a redundant phrase!) goes to Greece to find adventure and a man. (Yes, finding a Greek guy in Mykonos is exhilarating, but writing the typical 30+ letter name in your cellphone contacts could tire out your fingers before bedtime.)

Mykonos also features gay nude beaches, where guys get to do their “thong”. A popular destination is the Elia, the island’s longest beach, which is located six miles out of town. Elia features a small sandy cove that is almost exclusively used by gay nude sunbathers and is where undergarments quickly fall in ecstasy faster than Ellen DeGeneres would fall for a nude Ronda Rousey on Ecstasy. In fact, Destsetters, a Greek company that focuses on niche travel markets, rated Elia third in a list of “Eight Most Stunning Gay Beaches in the World”. Then again, if you’re with a stunning gay, it doesn’t matter if you’re sunbathing at a beach of nuclear waste by Fukushima’s nuclear power plant.

But Mykonos wasn’t always a come-one, come-all (hopefully) place. It took Jackie Onassis Kennedy landing and living there in the 1970s, which in time made the island a gay go-to place. To explain, Jackie O’s celebrity cling-ons started to frequent the island. Word got out of Jackie’s whereabouts to the gay community and gays have been Mykonos bound ever since. In her honor, a great pumping dance club in a vibrant area called Little Venice is named Jackie O, a gay namesake legacy that no other First Lady has ever matched. However, rumor has it that an all-girls’ bar for closeted lesbians will open up, which will be named after a closeted First Lady and be called Eleanor R.’s.

And, unlike other regions of the world, religion doesn’t rear its ugly head over people getting head. That is, despite Mykonos being part of a country primarily dominated by the Greek Orthodox Church, the natives are long used to and tolerant of the well heeled “gay invaders”. After all, historically, Greece has been a permissible place for those of the gay persuasion; going back to 800 BC, where Homer’s Iliad gave a shout out to the emotional bond between consenting men. The country has also long been a home base for “name gays”, which include Alexander the Great (Gay) and his childhood friend/adult lover, Hephaestion. However, the most famous Greek gay is a fella who was the Madonna of his time in that he also loved men and is similarly recognizable by one name: Plato.  

Plato’s words of reason still ring true in Mykonos and in the world: “Homosexuality is regarded as shameful because it is apparently not in the interest of rulers to have powerful friendships or passionate love – all of which homosexuality is particularly apt to produce."

Photo: Marmontel, Flickr