As a gay traveler who has been through several Gulf untri dozens of tim, here's what I am and am not ncerned about when visg the untri.
Contents:
- 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
- SDI ARABIA GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023
- TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
- SDI GAY SCENE: 'FORBIDN, BUT I N'T HELP IT'
- LAWS AGAST GAY TRAVELERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
Sodomy is punishable by ath Sdi Arabia, but gay life flourish there. Why is “easier to be gay than straight” a society where everyone, homosexual and otherwise, liv the closet * visiting saudi arabia as a gay man *
LGBTQ+ travelers are a lucrative market, acrdg to Darren Burn, CEO of Out Of Office, a luxury travel planng service for the muny, and of Travel Gay, the world’s largt LGBTQ+ travel platform. Burn said that statns such as the Maldiv and Dubai, where homosexualy is a crimal offense, are popular, but whout more assuranc om the thori, Sdi Arabia uld be a tougher sell. One gay traveler who vised Sdi Arabia on a work trip October 2022 – before the webse was updated – told CNN that he felt “ the closet” durg his stay.
SDI ARABIA GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN AUGT 2023
The kgdom’s ultranservative laws neverthels crimalize sodomy and other same-sex relatns, makg them punishable by imprisonment, floggg or ath. Dpe the dangers of gay Sdis, Sdi Arabia still boasts a large yet secretive LGBTQ muny. * visiting saudi arabia as a gay man *
“If you were to go there and be overtly gay I’d be que ncerned – I wouldn’t feel fortable gog there wh a partner – but ’s a untry that’s changg very quickly. “In Dubai there are a lot of gay fluencers, and as long as you unrstand the ntext of the area you’re and rpect the tradnal culture and not show your queerns any way, you’re OK, ” she said. In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers.
The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more.
“In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom.
TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
The LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Inx ranks the world’s most dangero untri for gay travelers 2021. * visiting saudi arabia as a gay man *
“Long story short, this pots to the fact that was likely the Brish fluence that largely led to Indian homophobia the first place, ” she says. “We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson. Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal is hopg to host the 2022 Europri, the world's biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe.
Wh an overall natnal attu that is relaxed and acceptg towards homosexualy, Belgium is known for havg a vibrant gay and lbian scene, particularly Bssels, ” says Fergson.
It was ranked so highly 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, ” says Fergson. “Sdi Arabia is another of the untri on our list which implements the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson.
SDI GAY SCENE: 'FORBIDN, BUT I N'T HELP IT'
Samir, like many gay men the Arab world, guards his sexual orientatn wh a paranoid secrecy. To feel ee he tak long vatns to Thailand, where he has a boyiend, and spends weekends Lebanon, which he regards as havg a more gay-tolerant society. But at home Sdi Arabia, he is vigilant. Samir's parents don't know of his liftyle. He says his mom would kill herself if she found out. They nstantly set him up wh women they nsir potential wiv. At work, Samir watch his words, reful not to aroe the spicn of lleagu. * visiting saudi arabia as a gay man *
“Iran ma #6 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for homosexual terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson. “Publicly, homosexualy is a taboo topic, so LGBTQ+ travelers choosg to vis Sudan should proceed wh utn and rema discreet wh regards to their sexualy.
“Historilly, Barbados and some other Caribbean islands have had poor anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn and practic, largely left over om the Brish occupatn which put the laws place and rerced anti-gay attus.
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. That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg homosexual, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan ernment has recently lled to retroduce an anti-homosexualy bill, which would clu the ath penalty for same-sex acts, the midst of the recent murr of a gay Ugandan activist.
LAWS AGAST GAY TRAVELERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
“In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to 10 years prison, ” says Fergson.