Two men arrested for groping each other in a car near the beach in Dubai last month have been sentenced to three months in prison, reports The National.
The unnamed men, a 32-year-old from Oman and a 27-year-old Filipino, were originally picked up by police after a nosy neighbor reported “suspicious” behavior near her house in Jumirah, Dubai.
“When the driver saw me he moved his car next to our neighbour’s boat,” she said. She then sneaked up on the car to get a closer look, using nearby trees as cover, but the driver spotted her again and moved the vehicle once more. “I felt suspicious and called the police,” said the woman.
The Filipino, called RS in court papers, says his friend initiated sexual contact, but admitted he would’ve had sex with him in a heartbeat if they were in private. ‘He tried to kiss me on the cheek but I stopped him because we were in a public place.”
Both men will face deportation after their sentence is completed.
Members of gay groups in the United Arab Emirates point to the incident as a warning: ‘This does serve as a cautionary tale, I can’t stress the importance—given the current climate and the string of arrests—to the LGBT community that what ought to be done in a safe, private setting, behind closed doors,” says Abdallah, the chair of UAE LGBT, tells Pink News. “[But] I think that people becoming over-vigilant in order to catch people in the act should be discouraged.”
Ironically, activists say it’s precisely because supposedly private areas like homes and hotels are monitored that gays and lesbians are forced to resort to such behavior.
Source: The National via Pink News. Photo: Titoni Thomas
lancer
This is exactly what the right wing nutjobs in America want. They must be secretly arabs.
Cam
WElcome to America under Romney.
Spike
Why would anyone want to go to Dubai? Regardless, sounds like life in the US during the second Willard Romeny Administration, and with full support of the Roberts Supreme Court.
Peter Fitz
Don’t have sex in public, it offends people, what’s so hard to understand
If your in a country, have some respect for their laws, if you don’t want to follow their laws, stay home
matt
@Peter Fitz: Laws don’t deserve respect just because they exi exist. If you lived in a place like UAE where gay sex is illegal are you honestly saying that you would remain celibate to respect that misguided law?
matt
@Peter Fitz: Also way to completely ignore the last sentence
“Ironically, activists say it’s precisely because supposedly private areas like homes and hotels are monitored that gays and lesbians are forced to resort to such behavior.”
Bipolar Bear
@Spike: Exactly, why would anyone want to go, and what’s more, why do gay men continue to fly on Emirates Airlines, which is wholly owned by the Dubai government, sucked in by its marketing as a “luxury” airline. They’ll take your money, but watch out if you try and express yourself on their soil:
http://bipolarbear.co.nz/2012/03/22/emirates-airlines-gay-homophobia/
Ron
That woman was clearly a Mossad agent, part of the Israeli worldwide campaign aimed at pinkwashing the country by bringing to light the supposed antigay behavior of Arab countries in the area.
R.A.
@Ron: LOL
Cam
@Ron: LOL!!!
You totally beat me to it! I was going to post that I was surprised that all of the Isreal haters were going to come in and say that this story was part of the evil “Pinkwashing” plot. LOL
These countries don’t even want us to exist.
Dave
You could watch the bad “Sex in the city 2” movie and know not to even go to Dubai if you are gay or well, Samantha!
Mykey
@matt: The main issue here is having sex in public regardless of sexual orientation, duh!!! Don’t assume that all cultures are the same, where kissing, hugging, fondling, whatever, are done in public everywhere!
Demon David
I am gay and do fondle children. Please this is wrong.