According to reports, border force agents refused to let a gay man enter Australia because they discovered Truvada and sex toys in his luggage.
The man — whose name is being withheld — was reportedly forced to get on a flight to Japan after agents accused him of trying to enter Australia to find sex work.
In actuality, the anonymous man had lived in Australia for more than two years and had been vacationing for a week in Japan.
He was trying to return to Australia to apply for a partner visa with his boyfriend.
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According to Attitude, Australian Border Force (ABF) agents asked to search his suitcase before he could pass through immigration.
When they found PrEp pills and scattered sex toys, they detained him (despite the fact that it’s perfectly legal to bring both into the country.)
The agents even went through his phone and claim they found messages that suggested he wanted to perform sex work in Australia.
Apparently he wasn’t allowed to contact a lawyer.
The man’s boyfriend tells the Star Observer, “ABF has not provided us any official statements.”
“Any time we’ve made an enquiry they’ve shut us down in the name of the Privacy Act. My understanding is he was intercepted at Cairns. We suspect that there may have been some level of profiling about him being visibly gay.”
“We believe they discovered his PrEP and sex toys in his luggage, and that exacerbated the profile they’d formed.”
The man had hoped to live in Sydney. Sex work was decriminalized in 1995, although participating in paid sex work would’ve violated his visa.
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Josh447
Duh! A portion of Australia is livid with the new gay marriage ruling. Here we bust gay escort services, their they boot gay dildos and their owners.
Danny595
Good. Australians don’t want to import promiscuous people of whatever sexual orientation. Who can blame them?
OzJosh
Where’s your evidence that this guy was promiscuous? He had a boyfriend and was planning to marry. That would count as evidence he was possibly not promiscuous. Or do you apply difference standards to gay men? If so, how is this supportable legally?
Danny595
The immigration folks saw Truvada and sex toys and they made a reasonable inference of promiscuity. Even if they were wrong, their motives were in a good place. Also, the fact that he says that they were “considering” getting married is not conclusive as to promiscuity. Sadly, there are people out there, gay and straight, who don’t respect the marital vow of exclusivity or who redefine or warp it to suit their sexual desires.
And no I do not hold gay people to a different standard. I specifically said that promiscuity is unwelcome, regardless of sexual orientation. Read.
JAWIWA
No. Since committed couples of any orientation use sex toys and in many committed sero-discordant couples the HIV- partner uses Truvada to prevent seroconversion. The conclusion was not reasonable; it was biased.
charlieeod74
I wish that we could deport our evangelical Christians, along with you
cjh007
If sex work was decriminalized in 1995 there then they were really reaching to deny entry based on what would just be a visa violation but otherwise not even a criminal act! That sounds like someone who knew the couple/him was gunning for them which could be angry unwanted females stalking them or even other gays! I’d call customs on my ex’s new boyfriend to tie it’s ass up and/or send it away! Hahahaha!
seki
“participating in paid sex work would’ve violated his visa”
And there it is.
gravityyaoi
Who travels with sex toys? Like seriously, you couldn’t spend that week in Japan without sex toys? Japan has plenty of sex toy shops if you needed something that badly. And he wonders why he was searched when traveling with things made of dense plastics and batteries.
PinkoOfTheGange
Maybe it was a souvenir from Japan?
PinkoOfTheGange
There is a little more to this story in that it appears that he was on a:
tourist visa;
leaving Oz when it expired;
staying out of the country just long enough to go back on a new tourist visa.
This is counter to most nations immigration laws.
Take-a-way: If you are trying to game a system learn your rights within said system.
JJinAus
Complete beat up. Australians aren’t Americans. What will get you booted out of here is working without a visa. ANY work.
Clay83
So it had nothing to do sex toys and more to do with him wanting to be a sex worker on a tourist visa. He essentially wanted to break Australian law, no wonder he was deported. Don’t try and mislead us Queerty