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

Contents:

• GAY EXPAT REVEALS WHAT ’S LIKE TO LIVE DUBAI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS PUNISHABLE BY 10 YEARS PRISON
• PERIL AND PRIVILEGE: GAY EXPAT NIGHTLIFE DUBAI
• THE UAE'S POSN ON GAY RIGHTS IS ACTUALLY SURPRISGLY PROGRSIVE – AND I SHOULD KNOW
• CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?
• WHAT HAPPENED WHEN FOUR GAY GUYS FROM TEL AVIV TOOK A VATN TO DUBAI
• HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY
• DUBAI: GAY TRAVEL ADVICE (OM A LOL)
• GAY DUBAI - DUBAI FOM
• GAY DUBAI DUBAI CY GUI
• GAY DUBAI

GAY EXPAT REVEALS WHAT ’S LIKE TO LIVE DUBAI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS PUNISHABLE BY 10 YEARS PRISON

Ined, should you be unlucky enough to be ught engagg homosexual activy the regn, reports claim that punishment n range om 10 years prison, f, portatn and even the ath penalty. Dpe this, Dubai is host to a thrivg unrground gay scene, wh men flockg to unofficial LGBT clubs wh ltle fear of the nsequenc, acrdg to Detaed Dubai.

It’s 2am and the club is packed wh a sea of sweaty, gay men gettg their groove on to a Madonna classic — and I’m one of them.

4 Pl claims clubs are packed wh a sea of sweaty, gay men gettg their groove on to Madonna classicsCred: Pl Ewart.

PERIL AND PRIVILEGE: GAY EXPAT NIGHTLIFE DUBAI

Dpe beg nservative by Wtern standards, this is where alhol and sex-starved Arabs flock to drov to get their fix — and that clus the gays. At my publishg pany, I’m told no uncerta terms to avoid g gay referenc wh stori which — when wrg celebry, pop culture and fashn — was particularly difficult. On the surface ndns for gay Dubaiians might seem bleak, but thanks to some quickly acquired gay iends I learn quickly that, spe the legali, a vibrant gay scene flourish.

Enterg via an unrground r park on a Saturday eveng, my male iend and I enunter the uneven door polici that are rife throughout gay venu (a vague attempt to curb gay activy).

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

4 Pl says a vibrant gay scene flourish the Arab untry, spe homosexualy beg agast the lawCred: Pl Ewart. Passg on that offer, I quickly meet an equally forward New Zealanr workg as crew for Emirat Airl (where a large portn of the cy’s gay ntgent work). Though I had a boyiend (an English expat) for the bulk of my time the cy, my gay iends played the field extensively and I know om their rpective tal that there was no shortage of actn.

Ined, wh a meltg pot of party-lovg Asi and Brs, lubrited wh large quanti of booze, no matter if you’re gay OR straight, bedhoppg is a cert.

While Dubai has bee somethg of a gay Mec for Arabs om surroundg untri where there are even harsher views on homosexualy (you n’t get much harsher than the ath penalty, after all) gays the cy n’t afford to rt on their lrels. Acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn, nsensual gay sex Dubai is punishable by up to 10 years prison. Bee the mentaly here is that gay men need to be terred om homosexual activy, police raids of clubs and private parti are mon.

CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?

For a time, the thori even patrolled the plethora of Dubai malls, searchg for “obv” signs of homosexualy. When unspectg gay men are entrapped, the nsequenc of their sexualy are pennt on their natnaly. The hard le taken by Dubai officials has led to var reports of jtice makg ternatnal headl, but unfortunately, there are untls s of gay persecutn that undoubtedly still rema undocumented.

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. “As two queer rearchers, we were able to enter the worlds of relatively privileged Wtern gay expatriat.

Not a sgle venue’s webpage the word ‘gay’ or related phemisms, nor do they ht at targetg a gay crowd. They also nducted terviews, relyg on personal ntacts, to fd 26 gay men, aged 24-48 and reprentg 15 natnali.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN FOUR GAY GUYS FROM TEL AVIV TOOK A VATN TO DUBAI

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 ’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 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.

HOMOSEXUALY: THE UNTRI WHERE IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY

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 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.

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.

DUBAI: GAY TRAVEL ADVICE (OM A LOL)

Sign up for the View om Wtmster email for expert analysis straight to your boxGet our ee View om Wtmster emailRecently, I was asked to fend my support of the UAE and expla why I am so enthiastic about a natn that is perceived to enforce torture, lengthy prison terms and even the ath penalty agast gay people. And spe what some might thk, the ath penalty has never been voked or rried out as a punishment for homosexualy or sodomy the whole history of the there are thgs that are not nuanced at all. The Gay Beards picturShow all 23People often pot to “sharia law” as beg another “ma source” of ducg the illegaly of homosexual nduct.

The book, revealed the 7th century CE, do not mentn “homosexualy” which is a 19th century Brish medil term. " But we have over 200 words for love, and we have genr ntral terms reason I don’t intify myself as “gay” is bee that is a ridiculoly limed statement. As every untry, there are plenty of gay people Dubai, is more a qutn of how openly you n be gay Dubai.

GAY DUBAI - DUBAI FOM

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. Back 2013 they discsed troducg some form of ttg to prevent gay foreigners om enterg any of those untri. They only dropped the proposal bee they feared a ntroversy that might rail the 2022 FIFA World Cup , no: not a gay-iendly regn.

GAY DUBAI DUBAI CY GUI

There are no gay bars Dubai, but you n rt assured that there is a high gay-quotient every trendy bar.

Can four openly gay guys om Tel Aviv who never hi their sexual orientatn enjoy a vatn Dubai? As I was relaxg on a direct flight I took wh three of my iends to Dubai Internatnal Airport, I uldn't help but wonr: Would we be able to meet gay men the seasi Emirati cy whout gog unrground?

GAY DUBAI

Jt Then, Flights From Israel to Dubai Began' A Mlim Woman and a Gay Jewish Man Are the Perfect Couple This Show Visg Dubai Is Like Standg on the Sil of a Gang Rape We found a real drag kgdom at a rooftop bar on top of a central hotel which has a gay lp every Friday night.

After the wa, which provid time to observe numero gay men too-tight jeans who do too many squats, we go . At first I thought this was my first enunter wh explic homophobia, but turns out that the ronavis rtrictns the cy ban dancg. Another g and tonic, some starg at a gay uple smokg a water pipe on the balny, and we head home.

Durg the nversatn, enhanced wh genero quanti of alhol, the picture beme clear: Immigrants to Dubai, particularly the gays among them, are often fleeg Arab or Eastern European untri where they had a much harr time. We fd a real drag kgdom at a rooftop bar which has a gay lp every Friday nightSamir, tall and rather shy, told me how he left his parents Moroc and hasn’t seen them for almost two years.