Travelling to Dubai as a queer person

p_anotherguy

My brother lives there and he would like me to visit him. However, being a queer person I'm afraid of my security. Do you have experiences in travelling to Dubai and did you feel safe?

Thanks!

MyRealNameToo

p_anotherguy said:

My brother lives there and he would like me to visit him. However, being a queer person I'm afraid of my security. Do you have experiences in travelling to Dubai and did you feel safe?

Dubai is a very mixed place, it has a strong islamic history but presents as a modern cosmopolitan city. Importantly its laws are still based on Shira so homosexuality and transgender is still illegal. Generally what happens in private however is tolerated. 

Generally its still relatively conservative outside of the hotels, any public display of affection doesnt go down too well nor excessive showing of flesh. Add to that any other considerations and your compounding the problem. 

Its conflicted though, remember being in the hotel lobby and a group of women in niqab (full face veils) turned up then a tray of champagne with straws was served to them and were quickly drank under the veil. 

We have friends who live in Dubai working for Emirates. They are a gay couple and they love it there but when in public you'd assume they were friends not a couple 

Plenty of specialist media opine on these matters though https://www.outofoffice.com/en-gb/blog/gay-travel-dubai-law-vs-reality/

MattMattMattUK

p_anotherguy said:

My brother lives there and he would like me to visit him. However, being a queer person I'm afraid of my security. Do you have experiences in travelling to Dubai and did you feel safe?

Thanks!

Personally I would not go to Dubai as I object to it's government on moral grounds, but unless you are planning in engaging in homosexual behaviour whilst out there you are unlikely to have any issues, the only other issue might be that if your devices were accessed for other reasons and you had pornographic homosexual material on your devices.

born_again

Work colleague & his partner often travel to Dubai to see likewise friends living there. 
Like many countries, respect their local culture. 

ButterCheese

As above - cover up, don't be openly gay.  Personally I would not go there because I detest anywhere that treats women and minorities lke they do.  But that's up to you

DeathByFluffy

ButterCheese said:

As above - cover up, don't be openly gay.  Personally I would not go there because I detest anywhere that treats women and minorities lke they do.  But that's up to you

Same - this is why when I eventually save up enough to visit Australia I'll be transiting through Singapore rather than the UAE. 

silvercar

If you feel uncomfortable being there or don’t want to give them your money on principle, could you both meet up somewhere more neutral? 

p_anotherguy

MattMattMattUK said:

p_anotherguy said:

My brother lives there and he would like me to visit him. However, being a queer person I'm afraid of my security. Do you have experiences in travelling to Dubai and did you feel safe?

Thanks!

Personally I would not go to Dubai as I object to it's government on moral grounds, but unless you are planning in engaging in homosexual behaviour whilst out there you are unlikely to have any issues, the only other issue might be that if your devices were accessed for other reasons and you had pornographic homosexual material on your devices.

Pornographic not for sure, but I am openly LGBT+ on social media and I have pictures with my boyfriend...

twopenny

If you're worried buy a cheap phone and get a second SIM with your number would be easy enough.
You probably only need essential numbers that you can input or get the lot transferred quite cheaply.

Do you need to post on social media while you are away? Could you just take notes, photos and do it when you get back?

gracelet88

We are a same sex couple with a child. We will not even transit through Dubai airport. It is not safe for us and ultimately it's illegal for us to be who we are and in the country. Any assistance from our own government is likely to be limited if things go wrong. Just not worth it.

Travel safe.