The Spartacus International Gay Guide is an international gay travel application and formerly an annually-published guide. It was founded by John D. Stamford in 1970 as a printed guide, before being bought by Bruno Gmünder in 1987 following investigations into Stamford's tax violations and promotion of paedophilia. It was sold to current owners GayGuide UG in 2017, whereupon the guide became digital only, with the printed version ceasing publication. Content App The app lists numerous gay bars, clubs, hotels, saunas, beaches and cruising spots which are indicated on the city map via GPS, with photos and additional information on venues also available. The app provides travellers with the biggest gay event calendar worldwide – offering more than 20,000 gay events. Additionally, there is a pride calendar – featuring more than 800 pride dates all over the world. The sauna- & hotel guides are also featured on both the app and the website, and the travel blog offers gay travellers an insight in gay life worldwide. Next to the worldwide version with free selected content, there are four versions available on Android and iOS: "Europe", "North America", "Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania" and "Worldwide". (Former) printed guide In the printed guide the content was arranged alphabetically by country, and then alphabetically by city, offering short texts in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. Countries and cities that are major gay travel destinations were described in greater depth. Each country section included a brief summary of the current laws about homosexuality that are applicable to that country and general social attitudes towards gay people. The majority of the contents were listings for businesses that either specifically catered to gay tourists or that were of interest to gay travellers, such as gay bars, gay-friendly hotels, gay saunas, gay-friendly beaches, support groups, and HIV/AIDS hotlines. Later editions of the guide counted more than 1,200 pages with information for approximately 22,000 businesses in 160 countries. The criteria that determined which businesses were included in the listings differed from country to country. In countries or cities with a large number of businesses catering to gay customers, only businesses that were specifically gay – and possibly even only the most noteworthy amongst these – were included; in countries where such businesses are uncommon, those that cater to a general clientele but are "gay friendly" were also included. History Stamford years (1970–1986) The first Spartacus International Gay