Why are there so many gay men in dubai
Years of living dangerously: Being gay, Indian, in Dubai
The labour camp in Sonapur, Dubai. Photo by Raksha Kumar
Nadeem sat in front of an imam, lowering his head and not daring to make eye contact. “I have sinned,” he said with a heavy voice, “how do I atone for it?”
Despite repeated polite quizzing by the imam, Nadeem couldn’t receive himself to inform the religious guy what he was guilty of.
“How could I have told him? Homosexuality is a crime in Islam! I could have been killed,” said Nadeem, who left India to seek work as a construction labourer in central Dubai.
He says there are several of his friends have been living under a shadow of apprehension for several decades now. “For those who are well-off, it is easier to have their secret sex lives irrespective of their sexual preferences and not be intimidated by others. But for us with little money, we are always scared,” says Pasha who came to Dubai 25 years ago.
While Dubai appears current and advanced in terms of technology and architecture, it is still a young, developing capital. According to Article 354 of the Federal Penal Code of the Joined Arab Emirates consensual sodomy is punishable by death.
For both Nadeem and Pasha the thr
How can a sense of belonging be forged in a setting where one’s existence is forbidden? That is the question that LSE’s Dr Centner and his co-author Harvard’s Manoel Pereira Neto explore in their groundbreaking research into Dubai’s expatriate gay men’s nightlife.
But it was not an easy topic to research. Dr Centner explains: “It's an illegal, or criminalised, identity and place of behaviours and practices, so in a very general sense, it's a taboo. And taboo subjects are very often under-researched, sometimes because people hold a hard time gaining access, gaining that confidence, but also because, even if people gain that access, there could be significant repercussions for themselves as researchers, or for the people who are the research participants.
“As two queer researchers, we were able to enter the worlds of relatively privileged Western gay expatriates. Secrecy is often the norm, but the field was familiar to us, through previous visits and explore projects.”
These were indeed ‘parties’ ...[but] not bars identified as gay. Not a single venue’s webpage uses the word ‘gay’ or related euphemisms, nor carry out they hint at targeting
Read our interview with our local comrade Zayed from Dubai about what same-sex attracted life is love in Dubai and what it's appreciate growing up homosexual in the UAE.
“How dare you promote travel to countries where being male lover is illegal, Nomadic Boys, you should be ASHAMED!”
…is the typical comment we receive on social media each day one of our posts about gay Dubai, gay Abu Dhabi, gay Iran, or even gay Saudi Arabia gets shared. But before you judge, recall that whilst a country has anti-gay laws, that matching country still has an LGBTQ collective who you chance turning your endorse on, right when they need you the most.
We possess always been adamant that just because a country has spurious LGBTQ laws, this should not prevent us from visiting. We instead believe that it is far more productive to receive out there and be a apparent and positive voice of our group to show to that society that we are not some freak perversion that needs to be persecuted. Doing this is going to do so much more for the local LGBTQ community's struggle for visibility against an oppressive government, than boycotting them is going to accomplish.
But look, we get it! We also used to feel thi
Saudi Gay Scene: 'Forbidden, but I can't Help It'
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 25, 2009 — -- For Samir*, a 34-year-old gay man living in Saudi Arabia, each morning is a denial. He lives in Mecca, the holiest city according to Islam, and is acutely aware of the stigma that surrounds his lgbtq+ lifestyle.
"I'm a Muslim. I know it's forbidden, but I can't help it," he tells ABC News, clearly conflicted.
"I pray to God to help me be straight, just to avoid hell. But I know that I'm same-sex attracted and I'm living as one, so I can't see a clear vision for the future."
Samir, appreciate many gay men in the Arab world, guards his sexual orientation with a paranoid secrecy. To feel free he takes long vacations to Thailand, where he has a boyfriend, and spends weekends in Lebanon, which he regards as having a more gay-tolerant society.
But at home in Saudi Arabia, he is vigilant. Samir's parents don't know of his lifestyle. He says his mom would destroy herself if she set up out. They constantly place him up with women they consider potential wives. At work, Samir watches his words, careful not to arouse the suspicion of colleagues.
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Last updated: 17 December 2024
Types of criminalisation
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
- Criminalises the gender expression of trans people
- Imposes the death penalty
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Codes of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, which criminalises ‘unnatural sex with another person’, and Dubai, which criminalises acts of ‘sodomy’. The Federal Penal Code criminalises ‘voluntary debasement’, but it is not clear what acts this covers. These provisions transport a maximum penalty of fourteen years’ imprisonment. Both men and women are criminalised under the statute. Same-sex sexual activity may also be penalised under Sharia law, under which the death penalty is possible, though there is no evidence that this has been used against LGBT people.
In addition to potentially being captured by laws that criminalise gay activity, trans people may also face prosec