2 Gay men arrested for having sex on a gay cruise when the ship was docked in Domenica.

[pink-o]

Sorry if this is a dupe, but I looked to see if the subject had been posted in any forum, and couldn't find it. But this is unbelievable: These men were on a gay cruise in the Caribbean (The same ship where the passenger took the pic of Santorum sunbathing) and while the ship was in port on Domenica, someone from the dock saw 2 men having sex onboard, called the authorities, and the Domenican police arrested them on "buggery" laws. WTF is that? I think Oscar Wilde was jailed under the same laws over a century ago!!

Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure, these two guys are good friends of mine. They've been a committed couple for almost 20 years; Dennis's daughter works with me and the guys are sweet, kind and good people. I'm posting this a couple days after this happened, because John has sanctioned my making it public, so once again I apologize if anyone has beaten me to it. It bears repeating anyway...I can still hardly breathe everytime I think about it. It would anger me even if I didn't know them, but since I do it's even worse.

Link:

http://www.ktla.com/videogallery/68986903/News/VIDEO:-Gay-Men-Arrested-for-Sex-on-Cruise-Ship-Speak-Out----David-Begnaud-reports

[PoliticAverse]

1. Various versions of this story have appeared on DU...

For example: http://www.democraticunderground.com/11377796

[pink-o]

4. I figured I was late to the party, but I didn't want to go public till I got permission n/t

[virgogal]

2. Where is Domenica? This should be a warning

to all travelers to know the laws of foreign countries.

[pnwmom]

3. What I read is that they were arrested for indecent exposure. Were they in a private place?

Although it certainly seems the police had no business boarding that cruise ship. My guess is that they wanted to harass people, and they succeeded.

[BeeBee]

6. this is also what I was wondering... Where were they having sex so that someone on the dock

would see? Were they on deck or in a room? There's something about this story that doesn't make sense. Unfortunately I can't listen to the link on my work computer. Does it answer any of the questions?

[snagglepuss]

5. Having sex in public is illegal worldwide regardless of orientation.

One can only assume they are either exhibitionists and/or they wanted to shock people on land. When in Rome is a maxim every traveler should adhere to.

[pink-o]

7. I'm sorry I can't agree with that. It was a gay cruise...

...which would lead the gay passengers to feel they could be comfortable onboard and not be taken to ports where gay sex would be an arrestable offence. My friends are a couple who've been together for a long time, and they were not on deck engaged in sexual behavior. If some voyeur peeped through a port hole and saw something he didn't like, well....let's just say being held in a dark cell and charged 4000 dollars, then having to abjectly apologize for being gay to a judge in order for her to let you go is not exactly a fitting punishment.

I personally blame the cruise directors. There should have been more warnings and perhaps they should never have docked in Domenica to begin with. This cruise was supposed to be a safe haven for gays, not a place where someone in a different country actually had the authority to board a ship with a foreign registration and arrest the passengers for violating a law when they were not technically in the country. There's a whole lotta wrong in the entire situation.

[snagglepuss]

8. They weren't in their room, acording to witnesses they were on their balcony

snip

The president of Atlantis Events, which bills itself as the world's largest producer of gay and lesbian cruises, said in written statement, "Two of our guests were seen engaging in a sexual act outdoors on their balcony in full public view of the port and town. Not only did many of the residents witness the act, several of our guests saw this incident as well. "

snip


But the cruise organizer stressed in his statement, "Please understand that the complaint and subsequent arrests had nothing to do with the guests' sexual orientation, nor was any "anti-gay" law invoked. These guests were engaged in behavior that is inappropriate in any port of call, or major city for that matter."


http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8591729

[BeeBee]

9. This does seem to put a different spin on the story.... n/t

[Evasporque]

11. did they leave a little santorum?.....nt

[emilyg]

12. Gay, straight - I don't care - My

reaction is always "get a room".

[Horse with no Name]

10. I would think there would be jurisdictional issues

If they were onboard...they should have been under the jurisdiction of the port of record.