A man and his partner are speaking out after they say they suffered homophobic abuse while staying at a luxury resort in Turkey last year.
David and his partner tell PinkNews that they were booked at TUI Sensatori Resort Barut Fethiye, Turkey last October when they had an altercation with the straight couple staying in the room next to theirs.
The incident happened on October 15, 2019. David says the couple next door kept having “very loud sex” night after night. When his partner finally asked them to keep it down, they lashed out at him. To make matters worse, hotel staff did nothing to intervene.
David initially complained to hotel staff about his noisy neighbors a few days into the trip. They assured him the couple would be asked to quiet down. But the next day it happened again.
“This time woman screaming so loud it was echoing down the hotel corridor,” David says. “Again the couple wouldn’t answer door to security or TUI rep.”
So when David and his partner saw the couple in the hallway later that day, they decided to say something themselves.
“My partner caught them as they left their room and said: ‘Would you mind keeping noise down.’”
That’s when the man lashed out at them.
Recalls David: “Bloke told us to mind our own business and girl started mouthing off and told us to shut up – my partner told her she was the one that needed to shut up and shut door.”
“Bloke tried to physically kick door down saying: ‘F*cking come out here you p*ssy boy f*ggot, you don’t speak to my wife like that.’”
“I called reception immediately and they already had a room ready to move us into due to the previous complaints.”
The next morning, David and his partner ran into the couple at breakfast.
“Bloke walked up to my partner as we were eating breakfast in the restaurant, shoved table into him, then spat in my partner’s face and said: ‘You two are an abomination against the Bible.’”
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When David complained to a staff member about this, the person told him “guests were allowed ‘one strike’ before action is taken.” When he called the police to see about filing a report against the man, he was told law enforcement didn’t “count spitting in someone’s face as assault.”
That’s when David and his partner packed their things and checked into a different hotel.
TUI says it has reviewed the reports as well as surveillance footage of the spitting incident and that the “correct procedures had taken place in resort with our guidelines for situations like this.”
“The guests in question were given a warning and should anything have escalated any further, then the staff would have taken the next step,” a representative tells Pink News, adding that the company is “very sorry” that David and his partner didn’t have an enjoyable time on their vacation.
But this isn’t the first time TUI has been accused of not taking the needs of their LGBTQ guests seriously.
Last month, a young gay couple tweeted that they were on a TUI cruise in South East Asia for their Honeymoon when they suffered homophobic abuse from TUI staff members, including being ignored by waitstaff and laughed at when they danced together.
Related: Newlyweds stuck on cruise ship desperate to escape homophobic staff, say their honeymoon is “ruined”
TamaraChing
After couple received no results or support from resort management, they should have asked for another room immediately without any interaction with the nosy couple. If no resolution was made, me and my partner would have left for another resort – preferably LGBT recommended or LGBT friendly. Enough said and hoped a lesson was learned by this unfortunate incident.
stanhope
They should be glad they got away as easily as they did…thry could have been beaten or worse.
Chrisk
I used to live next to noisy neighbors like that. She’d light the neighborhood up with her moans. You could be a mile away and hear it. I don’t get it.
Yeah, I agree though. Should’ve never confronted them in the first place. Just ask to be moved.
RIGay
Why… why would you vacation there? Not my “Go To” destination.
stanhope
Because they are idiots….
stanhope
OK here is the common sense truth. With acceptance in many places in parts of the world, some gays have been lulled into this mistaken notion that not only are we welcome everywhere but that we have rights. WAKE UP CALL: you are NOT welcome everywhere and you do NOT have rights everywhere. Don’t be entitled dumb asses. Do some homework. Investigate where you plan to vacation. Why in hell not spend your money where you are not only supported but welcomed. It is hard for me to feel empathy for what happened to you. Spend your dollars with gay business and those who outreach to you. Otherwise you get what you get and if that woman was getting what you wished you were….well spit back next time.
masterwill7
First of all, Turkey is a muslim country, they don’t want gays there! Second, it’s a country full of muslims, they don’t want us there, third, it’s an islamic country, they don’t want gays!! Also TUI can stick it where the sun don’t shine, I’ll never book at TUI again(and yes I did in the past) if this is how you treat people who spit on other guests!?! And finally, they where really stupid to try and correct other guests, it’s not your place.. Gays, don’t spend your money at muslim countries, NO not even in Dubai or Turkey, they don’t want us or support us, they just want our money! Go to Spain of Greece, these people are the best and nicest!!
iminheatlikeacat
Where do you suggest gay Muslims holiday? Spain and Greece are hostile to Muslims, well, generally racist to anyone that is non-white, really.
Bob LaBlah
The shame here is the hotel didn’t have their uppity asses thrown in jail. If they were that loud then simply change rooms. Turkey is not a gay friendly country and they should consider themselves lucky.
iminheatlikeacat
Why is it a shame exactly that they didn’t get thrown in jail? ‘Lucky’ they didn’t get thrown in jail I can understand. ‘Surprised’ they didn’t get thrown in jail I could understand. But ‘shame’ they didn’t get thrown in jail? Why?
Bruno070
There are certain places that as a gay man I would never visit. Please do some research.
Aires the Ram
A gay couple deciding to go to a muslim country? Have they no education or knowledge of world events of the past, say, 50 years? I call them out as idiots. They don’t want us, they don’t like us, and they could just as well have had much worse happen to them. Happens to homosexuals frequently in muslim dominated/controlled countries. Wake up people.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
If you stick your hand into a fire don’t blame the fire for being a dumbarse…..