The UAE's posn on gay rights is actually surprisgly progrsive – and I should know | The Inpennt | The Inpennt

Contents:

• CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?
• DUBAI: GAY TRAVEL ADVICE (OM A LOL)
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• THE UAE'S POSN ON GAY RIGHTS IS ACTUALLY SURPRISGLY PROGRSIVE – AND I SHOULD KNOW
• DUBAI GAY TRAVEL
• TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
• GAY DUBAI

CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?

This means that the more ual punishments for beg gay – beatgs, prolonged imprisonment, flogggs, torture, and chemil stratn – would be nsired to be gettg off lightly. They only dropped the proposal bee they feared a ntroversy that might rail the 2022 FIFA World Cup , no: not a gay-iendly regn. Many LGBT dividuals may chose to vis Dubai or the UAE but is extremely important to be rmed of the nsequenc of beg openly gay this regn.

Wh harsh and discrimatory laws nmng homosexualy and promotg homophobia the name of relign, one mt nsir the risks que refully. There are no official gay clubs, but lotns of unofficial gay clubs circulate on the Inter and men gather wh ltle fear of the nsequenc. Some claim that the police will simply disperse crowds if a gay club is bted, but other people are fearful that the suatn might be worse.

When the police fd out about gay iendly clubs they get shut down fast, people get ported and punishments are likely imposed. There are stori of fundamentalists chattg onle and meetg up wh gay men and subsequently threateng to report them to the police. Eleven of the men nfsed to practicg homosexualy and were sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for homosexualy, and an addnal year for obsceny.

DUBAI: GAY TRAVEL ADVICE (OM A LOL)

Kafkaque claims he was disuraged by the police om prsg charg and even faced the possibily of beg charged wh crimal homosexual activy himself.

What is apparent though, is that there have been var s over the last 5 or so years that monstrate harsher treatment for foreigners and crimalizatn of homosexualy. While is clearly a vlatn of human rights to crimalize homosexualy and promote discrimatn, there is a fe le between the right to be yourself and the importance of rpectg other people’s cultur.

While is imperative that homosexualy be accepted the UAE, is also important for foreigners to be rpectful of the culture which they impose themselv – even if they disagree wh the ctoms.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

The charg arose January and another man, MN was also charged wh prostutn, nsensual homosexual sex, pornographic material, cross-drsg and sultg relign.

There were only few reports of prosecutns and punishments but many people on the Inter censor their nversatns and inty gay chat rooms. Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (ath penalty as punishment)Gay Marriage⚭✖ UnregnizedCensorship✖ State-enforcedNon-bary genr regnnUnknownDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsDonatg Blood✖ Banned (fe ferral)Conversn Therapy✖ Not banned. To vtigate further we nnected wh Liam, a gay guy who lived Dubai for most of his life to learn more about the realy of beg gay Dubai and fd out what advice he had for gay travellers thkg about gog.

You did not see any gay reprentatn at all and was not talked about – you were put to the tegory of beg straight no matter what.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT

Is there a huge difference between beg a gay expat Dubai vs a tourist vs a gay lol Dubai (someone whose fay has lived there for many generatns).

For a lol whose fay has lived Dubai for generatns, beg gay has to be hidn and has to be secret, pecially strict Mlim fai: beg gay is totally forbidn. Liam: There are plac that are sentially ‘gay bars’ Dubai (and I e the term ‘gay bars’ very loosely), however the are not labelled as such.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

The will not e up as legally, officially or outwardly facg as gay bars, clubs or events (bee fundamentally they are not) but they are popular wh the LGBTQ+ crowd. Liam: I would avoid all public displays of behavur (this is forbidn straight, gay, lbian – UAE IS A MUSLIM COUNTRY) so ’s not a le jt for LGBTQ people. Vcent and the Grenad, where gay sex is still homelsns to ongog physil and verbal abe, the gay muny the small natn of some 100, 000 people says is unr nstant threat.

THE UAE'S POSN ON GAY RIGHTS IS ACTUALLY SURPRISGLY PROGRSIVE – AND I SHOULD KNOW

Vcent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years prison, while “gross cency” wh another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, acrdg to lonial-era laws that are mon the socially nservative Caribbean rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people. Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help. Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry.

”González wh Human Rights Watch noted that 2019, the ernment held a workshop for public employe on the importance of rpectg gay rights, a rare move for a nservative Caribbean natn. Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (ath penalty as punishment)Censorship✖ State-enforcedNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsDonatg Blood✖ Banned (fe ferral)Conversn Therapy✖ Not banned. By The Numbers45% of Emiratis strongly or somewhat agree that beg LGBTI should be a crime32% of Emiratis strongly or somewhat disagree that beg LGBTI should be a crime23% of Emiratis neher agree nor disagree that beg LGBTI should be a crimeHistoryHomosexual activy Uned Arab Emirat?

Blood donatns by MSMs Uned Arab Emirat is banned (fe ferral) (fe ferral) It is illegal to be gay the UAEConversn therapy Uned Arab Emirat? Vcent to overturn anti-gay laws om the lonial era that have led to a recent wave of vlence and genr discrimatn on the small Caribbean island. Homosexualy ntu to be crimalized the former Brish lony after many hundreds of years, leavg LGBTQ dividuals wh ltle if any legal protectns while vlent crim were beg mted wh impuny, the report said.

DUBAI GAY TRAVEL

Standg crimal s on the island put nsensual gay sex the same tegory as crim like rape, ct, and sexual asslt, although there have been no recent nvictns unr the law. Gay people have been targeted by fay members, neighbors, -workers, classmat and teachers -- as well as police officers, the report said.

Many of the terviewe said job hirgs and firgs were beg largely termed by sexual orientatn, while other gay people lucky to have jobs faced sexual harassment the workplace. "The crimalizatn of gay sex giv tac state sanctn to the discrimatn and vlence that LGBT people experience their daily liv and pels many to look abroad to live eely and fulfill their dreams, " said Cristian González Cabrera, gay rights rearcher at Human Rights Watch.

Six other Wtern natns -- cludg Domi, Grenada, Guyana, Jamai, and Sat Lucia -- ntue to crimalize gay sex, wh penalti as weighty as a prison for "gross cency wh another person of the same sex. That is the qutn that LSE’s Dr Centner and his -thor Harvard’s Manoel Pereira Neto explore their groundbreakg rearch to Dubai’s expatriate gay men’s nightlife.

TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021

Secrecy is often the norm, but the field was faiar to , through prev viss and rearch projects.”The were ed ‘parti’ ...[but] not bars intified as gay. Their forthg paper explas: “Much of the Dubayyan gay nightlife tak place venu wh the cy’s p ternatnal hotels, which are technilly open to all who n afford them.

The rearchers wonred, at first, how so many men knew that the are events attend by many other gay men: “The were ed ‘parti’ – on a specific night of the week for different s – equented by gays, not bars intified as gay. Gay datg apps are also shunned for fear of entrapment by police.There’s this nstant sense of your hair standg on end and havg to be ut about who's listeng, who's at the door, who's ved, or what might be said and passed along, that uld get trouble.Insi most such venu, the rearchers note that the mic played is rarely the kd of remixed, beat-heavy tracks or classilly “gay” songs that domate self-proclaimed LGBTQ bars across many global ci.

Only those wh the most cumulative privilege among a generally imperilled populatn of heterogeneo Dubai-based homosexuals would attempt to ploy this repertoire openly.”. As you might image, is private hom where Wtern gay men experience the most eedom to build a “more robt sense of belongg, tablishg supportive works that rerce their intifitn as both gay and Wtern, dividually and as a group.”. Most terviewe talked about needg to fd their “gay fay” Dubai as soon as they arrived, so they might make a “home away om home.”.

GAY DUBAI

Sce most pani arrange randomly assigned hog shared flats, is up to gay men to ask heterosexual flatmat to swch wh a gay ntact, so two or more gay men n habate and anise private and very selective social events.In seekg some sense of home away om home... The men are, advertently, unwillgly, or some s, que explicly, keepg out other typ of gay or queer people who are not ‘siar’ to them.Solidary amongst expats rults excln of others. Reflectg on the signifince of the rearch, Dr Centner says: “In addn to brgg some attentn to this kd of existence, is also important to note how this is very much an expatriate, relatively privileged, experience of gay life Dubai.

So, part of what we try to do is to pot out how, seekg some sense of home away om home, that the men are, advertently, unwillgly, or some s, que explicly, keepg out other typ of gay or queer people who are not ‘siar’ to them. “However, we felt that, ntrast to plac where even if homosexualy is not illegal, but there's plenty of vlent homophobia, everythg felt more on edge Dubai. Image source, Getty ImagIn the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ muny.

Gee Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab". "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni May.