What Happened When Four Gay Guys From Tel Aviv Took a Vatn to Dubai - Middle East News

Contents:

• CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?
• PERIL AND PRIVILEGE: GAY EXPAT NIGHTLIFE DUBAI
• THE UAE'S POSN ON GAY RIGHTS IS ACTUALLY SURPRISGLY PROGRSIVE – AND I SHOULD KNOW
• GAY DUBAI DUBAI CY GUI
• TRAVEL SAFETY REPORT: 20 WORST PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2021
• WHAT HAPPENED WHEN FOUR GAY GUYS FROM TEL AVIV TOOK A VATN TO DUBAI
• DUBAI: GAY TRAVEL ADVICE (OM A LOL)

CAN I BE GAY DUBAI?

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.

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. 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. 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.

PERIL AND PRIVILEGE: GAY EXPAT NIGHTLIFE DUBAI

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.

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... 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.

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. ) That said, ternatnal five-star brands tend to be the most acmodatg to gay travellers—and our Dubai gay scene gui purposefully clus the most luxur hotels where you are ls likely to enunter discrimatn.

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

If upon arrival your bed preference is changed, we do not remend argug wh the assigned sleepg arrangements—this is an unfortunate circumstance of visg a lole where homosexualy remas illegal. Now, whout further ado, here are our favoure upsle, Dubai hotels for a memorable gay Rishab LamichhaneAl Maha is an oasis of luxury tucked away amidst the sweepg sand dun and lh palm grov of the Dubai Dert Conservatn Rerve. 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.

Public OpnAcrdg to recent survey data available, societal ristance to LGBTQ+ rights Uned Arab Emirat is Arab Emirat Surveys of Emiratis strongly or somewhat agree that beg LGBTI should be a crime of Emiratis strongly or somewhat disagree that beg LGBTI should be a crime of Emiratis neher agree nor disagree that beg LGBTI should be a crimeHistoryHomosexual activy 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.

GAY DUBAI DUBAI CY GUI

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.

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. 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).

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 gay, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson.

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

“In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to ten years prison, ” says Fergson. “Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society.

“Iran ma number 15 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson.

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

Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan print has recently been rampg up the anti-gay rhetoric to help w vot an upg electn. The Netherlands also ranked number one the latt Gallup Poll wh 92% of rponnts sayg that the cy or area where they live is a good place for gay and lbian people.

DUBAI: GAY TRAVEL ADVICE (OM A LOL)

“Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal me send place s bid to host the 2022 Europri which is the biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe. They relied on a “bchery” law that had been ed the early 2000s agast gay men and transgenr women and was revived wh a vengeance followg the 2013 up, when the ernment, led by Print Abl Fattah al-Sisi, appeared to embrace persecutn of gays and trans people as a polil strategy.

The majory of the terviewe intified as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer, while a few intified as heterosexual and cisgenr (see glossary) but were eply engaged activist work supportg LGBT people.

One terviewee, om Bahra, intified as gay but did not intify as an activist; he spoke wh Human Rights Watch about the relative absence of an LGBT rights movement Bahra.