Gay UAE: Thoughts on Visg as a Gay Man - OUT AND OUT

Contents:

• GAY EXPAT REVEALS WHAT ’S LIKE TO LIVE DUBAI WHERE HOMOSEXUALY IS PUNISHABLE BY 10 YEARS PRISON
• CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?
• THE UAE'S POSN ON GAY RIGHTS IS ACTUALLY SURPRISGLY PROGRSIVE – AND I SHOULD KNOW
• TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
• ANTI-GAY SENTIMENT SHOWS LIM OF GULF STAT’ LIBERAL DRIVE
• GAY DUBAI
• GAY DUBAI - DUBAI FOM
• HERE ARE THE 11 UNTRI WHERE BEG GAY IS PUNISHABLE BY ATH
• GAY DUBAI DUBAI CY GUI
• 13 UNTRI WHERE BEG GAY IS LEGALLY PUNISHABLE BY ATH
• GAY TRAVEL DUBAI

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

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.

CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?

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. Bee the mentaly the UAE is that homosexual men need to be terred om homosexual activy, hormone treatments were required.

Eleven of the men nfsed to practicg homosexualy and were sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for homosexualy, and an addnal year for obsceny.

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

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.

Homosexualy has a grave impact on a society where relig books nmn homosexual behavr for beg immoral and agast human nature. 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.

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

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. 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.

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.

ANTI-GAY SENTIMENT SHOWS LIM OF GULF STAT’ LIBERAL DRIVE

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. 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.

GAY DUBAI

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).

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.

GAY DUBAI - DUBAI FOM

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. Bee the mentaly here is that gay men need to be terred om homosexual activy, police raids of clubs and private parti are mon.

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. 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.

HERE ARE THE 11 UNTRI WHERE BEG GAY IS PUNISHABLE BY ATH

They only dropped the proposal bee they feared a ntroversy that might rail the 2022 FIFA World Cup , no: not a gay-iendly regn. 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. " 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. 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.

GAY DUBAI DUBAI CY GUI

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? "Much of the Dubaian gay nightlife tak place venu wh the cy's p ternatnal hotels, which are technilly open to all who n afford them, " Ryan Centner, a profsor of urban geography at the London School of Enomics, nclud after six years of field rearch among gay expatriat the UAE.

"Not a sgle venue's webpage the word ‘gay' or related phemisms, nor do they ht at targetg a gay crowd, " he said an terview on the school's webse.

Dubai-based lawyer Matthew, origally om the UK, found that though there were no official gay clubs, "they're ually known through social media or word of mouth, although they're never advertised [as gay clubs], " he told the webse an anonymo terview. The Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, or ILGA – reprentg more than 1, 700 anizatns om over 160 untri – reports, however, that only twenty-one people the UAE were prosecuted for such offenc between 2004 and 2021. One of the tes the new amework explicly prohibs "discsg genr inty, homosexualy or any other behavur emed unacceptable to UAE society" class.

13 UNTRI WHERE BEG GAY IS LEGALLY PUNISHABLE BY ATH

And although there have been some improvements over recent years, more than 70 untri still have homophobic laws, acrdg to Equalx. Sce the Fergsons’ study on the most dangero plac for gay travelers 2019, several laws have changed—some for the better (Sudan), and some for the worse (Hungary, Poland). “Of the ‘least safe’ untri on our list, the top 49 still have prison sentenc as punishment for beg gay, ” says Fergson.

“It was ranked so poorly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law. This Middle Eastern kgdom is another on our list which n implement the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson.

“The punishments for homosexualy Malawi have earned this Ain untry as the number four worst untry for LGBTQ+ travelers, ” says Fergson.

GAY TRAVEL DUBAI

Pro-LGBTQ+ anizatns are banned by the ernment Malawi and general public sentiment regards homosexualy as off-lims. In fact, Jamai was lled the most homophobic place on Earth by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today. Homosexual acts, which their laws refer to as ‘rnal terurse agast the orr of nature, ’ are subject to 20 years prison.