Dubai Detains Lesbian Couple for "Indecent Acts"

A lesbian couple vacationing in Dubai face imprisonment and subsequent deportation for "indecent acts in public," according to Menassat.com. The sentencing of a Lebanese lesbian and her Bulgarian companion to one month in jail for kissing and fondling each other on a public beach is stirring debate in the Arab media. Dubai’s court of appeal has upheld the jail sentences, reports Dubai newspaper 7Days.

The women, ages 30 and 36, were, according to police reports, spotted being "intimate" with each other at Al Mamzar public beach in April. "The Lebanese woman was lying on top of the Bulgarian, and the two were cuddling and kissing each other in front of us," a shocked witness told 7Days.

Both women pleaded not guilty.

The "lesbian indecency" case is the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven states, including Dubai.

While Dubai is a popular destination for tourists, with a majority of its 5.6 million residents being foreigners, Islamic law is still the rule. So homosexuality is considered a crime, punishable by jail, deportation, or execution, according to Pinknews.com.

Forty men were arrested in July for not respecting “social values” and behaving “like the opposite sex,” Dubai police lieutenant general Dahi Khalfan Tanim said in a statement. He said they were dressed as women. (The Advocate)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Name: Ryan Rollinson
Date posted: 2008-10-18 8:35 AM
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Comment:

Of course. The Lebanese woman and her Bulgarian companion should have stayed home and spent their money in America. Having been to Lebanon and lived in Dubai, I can say that the latter is certainly more tolerant of homosexuality and women's freedoms than the former (in certain contexts, at least). Don't open your online mouth to comment unless you know what you're commenting about. Yes, the women should probably not have been so brazen with their PDA. However, at least they're just getting deported. And Dubai's women's prison--at least for expatriates, these days--isn't exactly a hellhole. If you're going to get arrested for being gay somewhere in the Middle East, you could do a LOT worse than Dubai.

Name: xxxx
Date posted: 2008-09-11 1:19 PM
Hometown: england

Comment:

i dont understand about dubai,how they are saying that it is a islamic country and there is islamic laws. i know dubai very will and i am muslim.but i dont think so what they doing with people is right.they said that kiss on beach is against the law so why they open beach for public.they said that alchohal is against the law so then why they allow license to them.arab do jihad in afghanistan and they kill woman because they dont do hijab, so why they dont come to dubai.dubai is the place for call girls.r u can say is a sex industry. why they r saying that dubai is a human freedom country.this is bull shit what they doing with people.i can understand one thing do it r dont do it.there is no mid way in islam.and the whole law in dubai r bull shit.every one have freedom of living his life.yes but in muslim country there are some restrictions but in mulim country dubai is not a muslim country.i dont understand the religion of dubai.

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