To boycott Turkey and Egypt after homophobic action against cruise ship?

[Holdonforsummer]

Now Egypt has turned away a cruise ship full of LGBT passengers, following in the footsteps of Turkey who had already barred them from docking. Egyptian authorities haven’t stated an official reason but Turkey clearly stated it was because the passengers on the ship didn’t confirm to their society’s ‘moral’ standards. I find this disgusting and outrageous that any country thinks they can start to pick and choose which categories of tourists they will and won’t accept. I for one will now boycott Turkey and Egypt and will not book holidays there in the future. I refuse to support homophobic regimes and feel that the only thing that might change their mind is if many other UK citizens do the same.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/09/lgbtq-cruise-ship-refused-entry-egypt-turkey?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Of course she knows. Everyone knows. It was Hamas in case you didn't know. It wasn't the children being targeted by the Israeli government. How much longer are you going to use that excuse to kill and abuse innocent people?

We in the west arrogantly assume that democracy is the only fair system of government. It promotes individuality as opposed to conformity. However not all countries agree with this and some are strongly patriarchal. Im thinking of middle eastern countries I have visited such as UEA, Egypt and Turkey. Who are we to say that their system is any better or worse than ours? If the culture of the country is against gay relationships then its very foolish of people in these groups to visit and openly reveal their sexuality.

But they don't and they face no consequences for their despicable actions.

Israel allows gay rights, therefore they should be allowed kill as many children as they want.

Seems to be the argument.

Hamas targeted Israeli babies, deliberately, but they don't count because they were Jewish?
There is a really sad trope about Jews killing babies, and I am not saying babies have not been killed, on both sides, in this horrible war, but Hamas are very happy to use their own people as humans shields as well as taking Yazidi children as sex slaves, though they kill the boys.

promotes individuality as opposed to conformity. However not all countries agree with this and some are strongly patriarchal. Im thinking of middle eastern countries I have visited such as UEA, Egypt and Turkey. Who are we to say that their system is any better or worse than ours?

• how is it arrogant to assume democracy is better than this?

Do you really think this system is just as good as democracy?

I see what you mean. Gay men do often have a very hard time but you have a good point that within marriage at least they would have more agency

I do think there are other reasons why there is often more focus on gay men though. Some ME countries (similar to the pattern in 19th century Europe & other places) criminalise male gay sex but ignore female homosexuality. There's also the fact that in a lot of these countries, men are more likely to get caught & punished for homosexuality: maybe because women's sexuality is dismissed and seen as less threatening or because men may be able to avoid marriage and try to form relationships/have sex & thus are more likely to be caught. Part of the reason why men were punished for homosexuality until 1967 but not women was because they were more likely to meet together in public or semi public spaces, so it might be similar to some extent in those places.
So I agree there should be more focus on women but at the same time, I don't think greater focus on men is only due to misogyny.

I think that's unfair, OP probably disapproves of Egyptian misogyny too.

I agree the cruise people were stupid but it should be remembered Egyptian homophobia most of all affects gay people there, not tourists, including plenty who aren't powerful.

Wow. 😮

You are arguing against straw men but I'm sure you know that. It's a very handy tactic when you can't actually justify a point that you want to justify and how can you justify the atrocities that have been inflicted on gaza? Not a single person on this thread has said anything in support of Hamas or condoned their actions but Hamas is the only reason you can come up with to justify a genocide. I am not going to reply to you anymore. You are morally bankrupt.

Honestly OP you can boycott whoever you like for whatever reason you like, but I can assure you it will make no difference and they - and most of us - won't care.

The same itinerary has been used before so I wonder if it is the behaviour from passengers on a previous cruise.

They won’t care OP. It’s hardly like they’re going to notice.

Their countries , their rules. No one cares what you do.

It’s a party cruise. To meet other single (or not) gay men. (A very specific charter of a virgin cruise ship)

I imagine quite a few places may reject a mixed sex swingers cruise too.

Oh bless! Thank you for not engaging with me, you seem quite happy with atrocious behaviour towards Israel and it's people so I really don't want to engage with you either.

Hamas targeted Israeli babies, deliberately, but they don't count because they were Jewish?

What do you mean by they don't count because they are Jewish? 20000 Palestinian children have been killed, many more injured, orphaned, starved and displaced because of the Hamas attack where 37 Israeli children including 2 babies were killed. What else would you like to see happen to show that these 2 Israeli babies 'count'?

37? Where did you get your figures from?

Women are murdered behind doors, their families, or rather the men in the family, carry these out. The charities in these countries say that the numbers are as great, they are just invisible. As are many women's and girl's murders. Men do go more public, because they can. They then face violence, but then get to claim it's a mistake and marry a woman, who will then be the victim. The whole situation can't be judged without talking about misogyny. Women didn't have the freedom to be openly gay.

Stop making things up and gaslighting. First you said no one cared because they were Jewish children, which is an outright lie. I recall an outpouring of sympathy and grief from around the world on October 7th and the months after, unfortunately due the brutal retaliation it dwarfed the horrific acts of October the 7th.
There is no justification in the brutal murder of 1000’s of children.
Now the threat is on Lebanon, for every IDF soldier, 100 Lebanon sons must die.
You can throw out the “Hamas started it” until you are blue in the face. It took decades for people to forgive the German people. I definitely won’t see anyone forgiving Israel in my lifetime or my children s. There are rules in warfare for good reason.
All those journalists dead too and peaceful volunteers.

Back to the topic. Something must have happened with the last cruise as they have been doing the route for a while.

Do you think there was ever a time when these countries weren’t homophobic?

You're going to lose your mind when you find out what they do to LGBT people in Gaza.

It's a massive faff just to get a visa from sone countries. Not just countries with a security/terrorist issue. Paying for the visa application is 100s of pounds (you don't get the money back if turned down) and the in person appointments are outsourced to a private company so sometimes you have to travel to a country that that company operates from just for the interview. It costs loads and people can get turned down for no reason.
All of which the UK has a "right" to do. But it absolutely isn't just people on watchlists who struggle to get into the country at times.

I suggest that it's not so much homosexuality in the Middle East but the public display thereof that is the issue.

As a teenage boy in the UAE with a taste for alcohol, I was very lucky I didn't run into any local men with bad intentions or I could have found myself in a very perilous situation - I rebuffed all advances and this was always accepted with good grace. 40 years later and I can see that if I was that way inclined, I would have had a much nicer car than my father! I would have walked like a giraffe though,

Places like Dubai would be paradise for a discreet homosexual man - behind the palace walls and so on.