Photo by Kelsey Borza

2 US men arrested on gay cruise in Caribbean

Reading this has made me go apoplectic, I mean, this is so wrong on so many levels, where does one begin?

First of all, the two men were arrested on suspicion of “buggery?” OK, what century is this, people? Are we back in the 1800s, just in time for the Oscar Wilde trial?

I really have no opinion on the appropriateness or lack of it as regards sex in public – only the consequences. Yes, it can be in bad taste (especially if perpetrators are unattractive, but I digress), but can you honestly imagine a male/female couple being arrested on a cruise ship and put into a tropical hell hole jail?

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So this entire episode brings up more questions. The big one is, of course, why are gay cruises going to island countries which have backward, bigoted laws such as this? Surely there are enough islands in the stream to visit which have our back, so to speak.

According to the story:

(Atlantis Cruises) President Rich Campbell, who is aboard the cruise, said in a phone interview earlier that he thought the two men would be released. He later said in an email that the company has organized many trips to Dominica and would “happily return.”

“Many countries and municipalities that gay men visit and live in have antiquated laws on their books,” he said. “These statutes don’t pose a concern to us in planning a tourist visit.”

OK, Rich, you’d happily return after your paying customers were hustled off your ship and put in jail, and they you and your fucking Atlantis Cruises boat just left them there? And then you go on to say that you have no problem visiting these types of countries with their antiquated laws? I wonder, Rich, if your paying gay cruise customers are aware of this cavalier attitude you have – which also assumes that they wouldn’t care if their gay dollars are being spent on said islands thereby helping support these corrupt regimes.

I think it would be a good idea for all gay cruises and their customers to take a good, long look at the places they’re visiting – and find out just how gay-positive these countries are. It might not be a simple task to change these laws or even the hearts and minds of such people – but we can certainly stop supporting their economies though tourism. Boycott? Hell, yes, if that helps.

While we are on the subject, I did a very rudimentary search to find out what kind of support our government gives to Dominica and found this:

From State Department site:

U.S.-DOMINICAN RELATIONS
The United States and Dominica have friendly bilateral relations. The United States supports the Dominican Government’s efforts to expand its economic base and to provide a higher standard of living for its citizens. U.S. assistance is primarily channeled through multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), as well as through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Bridgetown, Barbados. The Peace Corps also provides technical assistance to Dominica, and has volunteers on the island working primarily in education, youth development, and health.

So, we have Peace Corps there and give money though it doesn’t sound like it’s direct. A bigger question remains, why are we doing this for corrupt regimes? I know this has been a big question for a long time with countries such as Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, and the list goes on. Still, for these countries in our own backyard, it’s good to know whose side they’re on. I don’t think it’s ours.