Everyone in attendance at a same-sex wedding last week was reportedly arrested in Saudi Arabia after a video clip of the ceremony began making the rounds online.
The clip — which went viral throughout the region last week and inspired scores of antigay messages on social media — features two men dressed in traditional Saudi attire and participating in what looks like a wedding ceremony.
Mecca Police are allegedly claiming they’ve arrested every person you see in the video, claiming they’ve tracked down “the cross-dresser and other people involved in the incident.”
They’re also saying the case has been referred to prosecutors, but haven’t actually named anyone in attendance at the wedding (nor have they stated what charges the attendees might face.)
Related: A botched photo of this gay couple at a wedding has delighted the Internet masses
In Saudi Arabia, men found guilty of homosexual encounters or proclivities can be heavily fined, beaten, imprisoned, whipped, deported, or murdered.
Mecca Police released this statement to Twitter:
“The man said people attending the event were surprised when a few young men entered the place and tried to perform a ‘gay wedding scene.’
After the crossdresser and other people involved in the incident were identified, they were all arrested and their case will now be referred to the prosecution.”
According to The New Arab, the wedding took place somewhere near Mecca and people who participated have been detained following raids.
Saudis were warned they must uphold the “morals and virtuous values ??of this blessed country”.
Various sources report the region is currently in the midst of a witch hunt, with authorities actively hunting down the men in the video.
The footage led many people to blame foreigners for the event, saying they spread “corruption”.
Meanwhile, many people suspect the clip is some sort of parody, since no reports of the wedding have been confirmed yet.
You can watch the footage here:
??? #????_?????? ?? ????????? ??????? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ???? #?????? ! pic.twitter.com/7FDnmp5NGi
— alhothly (@MARAMSAAD3322) January 3, 2018
Ummmm Yeah
Well what did all you dumbass bloggers think was going to happen when you posted the video?
Ari Gold
Hey idiot. Clearly the video wasn’t posted until AFTER they were arrested. That’s when it became news.
Hussain-TheCanadian
I’ve been following this story for a bit over a week now, it all over the Arab blogosphere; the couple were arrested after the video was posted, I don’t know who posted the video but it was a big mistake unfortunately.
Mandrake
Hey Ari Gold, perhaps you didn’t’ read carefully. The party was arrested AFTER the video was posted online. WHY would anybody in Saudi Arabia with half a brain post a gay wedding online unless the poster was jealous or had an axe to grind??
Juanjo
Well, folks, you claim it was posting the video that resulted in people being arrested but all the reports I have seen indicate the police raided the event and arrested people present. So who do I believe, the Guardian, Al Jazeera or some anonymous know-it-all in line, Hmmmmmm.
draven
Hot guys. Dumb country.
Vince
I’m just glad we have such a good friend and important ally against terrorism with Saudi Arabia.
gymmuscleboy
Hooray for Islam!
AllenSF
FYI the Christians in the Middle East are just as hardcore and anti-Gay just so you know. It is more of a cultural thing similar to the machismo thing in Latin countries.
gymmuscleboy
@AllenSF. Homosexuals do themselves a great disservice defending Islam. There are no Muslim countries where homosexuality is accepted, and 11 where you will be killed for being gay. Contrast that with so many western countries that have gay marriage. It doesn’t matter how bad Middle Eastern Christians are – that doesn’t make Islam our friend.
It is also wrong to say that it is just a cultural thing. Over half of all British muslims think homosexuality should be illegal. Giving Islam a voice in our democracies is the LAST thing homosexuals should want, yet we tragically defend it in the name of liberty.
Gay people have long said “Fxxx Christianity!” but on the subject of Islam we make excuses for fear of being seen as racist or illiberal. We must apply the same religious criticism we always have, and stop turning a blind eye to an ideology that seeks to destroy us.
sydboy007
@AllenSF. The difference is the Christians generally tutt tutt, while the islamists murder.
Vince
@AllenSF. Funny Allen that I’ve not heard of any Christian Atrocities from the Middle East then.
Vince
@AllenSF. Funny Allen that I’ve not heard of any Christian Atrocities from the Middle East then. Ok maybe the crusades.
AllenSF
My family is from the Middle East there are a lot of Gay people but it is all underground and most people meet in private homes until things change that is how it will be there.
tnguy222
This is absolutely true.
I used to work for one of the most prominent law firms in the Middle East. Due to the harsh gender segregation, there is tons of gay sex but any emotional or outward expression (like marriage) is met with severe state-sanctioned punishment.
Grindr is a comprised of legitimately straight men who just wanna get it in because otherwise they have to wait until marriage.
I am a masculine guy so the extremely macho society was tolerable and a little fun. I rarely saw women, and most young men that I encountered were receptive to being receptive :)
I’m at the point in my life now we’re NSA alone isn’t enough to keep my soul satisfied, but the Gulf is a place we’re NSA is the rule.
gymmuscleboy
@tnguy222 If you were in the Middle East, wouldn’t you be terrified of using Grindr for fear of being tracked down by the authorities and thrown off a building?
tnguy222
@gym
Obviously, I never showed my face on the app and only hooked up on it once.
It’s very easy in the streets. There are lots of opportunities to be sexually suggestive with men on the street. Most of the time, someone will approach you for a hook up.
tnguy222
Most local recognize that foreigners are less hostile to LGBT, so that likely contribute to the feeling that they can approach foreigners and ask for sex. Further, the governments have taught the local in school that LGBT is a disease of the west, so most of the time, the lgbt locals assume that you are dtf or at least not hostile to gay sex.
It’s amazing how many LGBT people from western countries come to live in the Middle East. I’m. It sure why they do it, but it would be an interesting sociological study
alanballs
Saudi Arabia: a despicable government, a society stuck in the Middle Ages, a country once rich in oil, now depleted. I’m grateful i’m not Saudi, hoping all our LGBTQ+ bro’s and sis’s can soon get out alive and intact, and into peaceful, loving, nurturing environments
sydboy007
Just imagine it they’d been in Trump’s America. How much worse it would have been for them?
Yet many gay people are activists for the importation of the ideology that justifies arresting gay people.
SiamSam
The thing I absolutely do not get is these activists will castigate Christians in the USA who have exactly the same backward homophobic beliefs, but Muslims get a pass. These same activists are mostly secular and oppose “organized religion”, yet welcome organized political Islam. This can’t be stupidity or ignorance. It’s something far more insidious.
gymmuscleboy
@SiamSam Islam gets a pass by leftists seeking to signal their virtue, and by everyone else desperate to avoid being labelled racist and bigoted.
sydboy007
Very true. I wonder what they’ll be thinking when they’re about to be tossed from the tallest building.
For all the faults of the West, I doubt anyone living there would want to move to an Islamist controlled country.
Clay83
Another beautiful example of the brainwashed masses being tolerant and peaceful. Go back to marrying your 6 year old prisoner
irbaboon
I hate muslims