Washington, D.C., has a strong gay and lesbian community and clearly welcomes gay and lesbian visitors, as evidenced by the fact that the Washington, D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation includes on its website, www.washington.org, a link to information for gay and lesbian tourists: click on "Pride in D.C.," which appears on the site's home page. This special section covers the history of the gay rights movement in the capital; a calendar of noteworthy events, like the annual, weeklong Capital Pride Celebration held in June, complete with a street fair and a parade; and favorite place recommendations made by local gays and lesbians.

While in Washington, you'll want to get your hands on the Washington Blade, a comprehensive weekly newspaper distributed free at many locations in the District. Every issue provides an extensive events calendar and a list of hundreds of resources, such as crisis centers, health facilities, switchboards, political groups, religious organizations, social clubs, and student activities; it puts you in touch with everything from groups of lesbian bird-watchers to the Asian Gay Men's Network. Gay restaurants and clubs are also listed and advertised. You can subscribe to the Blade for $90 a year, check out www.washingtonblade.com, or pick up a free copy at Olsson's Books/Records, 1307 19th St. NW; Borders, 18th and L streets; and Kramerbooks, 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW, at Dupont Circle. Call the Blade at tel. 202/797-7000 for other locations.

Washington's gay bookstore, Lambda Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave. NW (tel. 202/462-6969; www.lambdarising.com), also informally serves as an information source and gathering place for the gay community, which centers on the Dupont Circle neighborhood.

The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) (tel. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626; www.iglta.org) is the trade association for the gay and lesbian travel industry, and offers an online directory of gay- and lesbian-friendly travel businesses.

The IGLTA website includes lists of gay-friendly tour operators and travel agents. The IGLTA member and Washington, D.C.-based The Travel Escape travel agency, 1506 21st St. NW, Suite. 100T (tel. 800/223-4163), plans trips for customers traveling throughout the U.S., including gay-friendly tours for both individuals and groups coming to Washington, D.C.

Available at most travel bookstores and gay and lesbian bookstores are travel guidebooks, such as the Out and About (tel. 800/929-2268 or 415-834-6411; www.outandabout.com) series, whose guides are packed with solid information on the global gay and lesbian scene, including the Washington, D.C., area; Spartacus International Gay Guide (Bruno Gmunder Verlag; www.spartacusworld.com/gayguide), a good, annual English-language guidebook focused on gay men; and the Damron guides (tel. 800/462-6654; www.damron.com), with separate, annual books for gay men and lesbians and an online database of 15,000 gay-friendly establishments.