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Don’t Do It in Dubai
From the Sydney Morning Herald today:
Six months’ jail for cross-dressing in Dubai
February 2, 2009 – 6:15AM
A Dubai court has fined an Indian man who said he was rehearsing for a role in a Bollywood movie for cross-dressing after he was seen applying mascara at a shopping mall, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
The court found the 45-year-old property development firm manager identified only as PK guilty of cross-dressing in public, the English-language Gulf News said.
“I’m not guilty … I was cross-dressed because I was training to perform a woman’s role in Indian cinema,” the newspaper reported the defendant as telling the public prosecutor.
The court fined him 10,000 dirhams ($4,000) and gave him a six-month jail sentence, suspended for three years during which the man must not repeat the act.
However, the prosecution has appealed to seek stiffer punishment, the paper said, adding that the appeal would be heard next month.
Police who apprehended the man said his outfit was glittering like “a woman’s clothes,” and that “he wore a bra, mascara, women’s perfume and a wig” at the Mall of the Emirates, the paper added.
Property and finance hub Dubai is part of the seven-member United Arab Emirates, but has a diverse culture as expatriates comprise an estimated 80 per cent of the population.
i think that we often forget how lucky we are …
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7 Replies
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I thought Dubai would be the easiest place to cross dress in public.
With a black burqua covering you from head to toe you need not worry about poor makeup technique! Doesn’t sound much fun I know – but being a woman in a Muslim country is not such a good deal either. -
Hi V
Thanks for posting this, I saw this as well.
We are SOOOOO lucky !!! -
It’s not just Dubai whee we have problems, girls. I was sent this link a while ago. I posted it on my L.J. but I think I should add it to this thread.
http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=66&id=17946
I titled the entry ‘Reasons not 2 visit Q8’
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Probably lucky this happened after a mate of mine (American) a couple of years back, bored off his skull from living in Qatar (far dodgier than Dubai) decided to have some fun by going out in public in a burqua, shoes and gloves in a shopping centre, with a mate filming him from a distance. His act was to walk straight into a glass wall, then, whenever a concerned woman approached him “her” to ask if “she” was OK, to respond in a deep male voice (in English) “Fine thanks!” as his mate filmed the scandalised and shocked woman scurrying off as quickly as possible! Hilarious on youtube, probably lucky not to be doing 10-15 in a very dodgy Middle Eastern jail!
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“Honestly officer I was cross dressed cos I was in rehearsing for a movie”. Yeah right, I never thought of that excuse. Must try it sometime! **LOL**
HelenQuote:From the Sydney Morning Herald today:Six months’ jail for cross-dressing in Dubai
“I’m not guilty … I was cross-dressed because I was training to perform a woman’s role in Indian cinema,” the newspaper reported the defendant as telling the public prosecutor -
On a similar topic:
From: Pink news (http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-11144.html)
“Cross-dressing” man is latest victim of Bahrain’s morality purgeBy Tony Grew • February 13, 2009 – 13:12
A driving instructor has been jailed for one month in Bahrain for wearing women’s clothing in public.
A court was told the 39-year-old was wearing a abaya, a long black robe that covers the whole body, and scarf.
He was reportedly also carrying a purse as he walked through Al Haddad Market.
He was arrested after police stopped him.
A press report alleges he was engaged in prostitution, which the man denied.
Gulf Daily News reports that the man told police after his arrest:
“I don’t have a particular reason for dressing like a woman and walking on the streets, but after I dropped my wife at her father’s house, I purchased the clothes and wore them.”
Bahrain is known as one of the more tolerant Muslim nations in the Middle East, and has recently undergone a period of political liberalisation.
However, homosexuality remains a crime, and the government has periodically deported expatriates because of their sexual orientation.
As part of a recent panic about homosexuality, gay sites such as gaydar.com were blocked by the government.
A session of Parliament in the Gulf state began last October with calls for a crackdown on gays.
Al Menbar MP Shaikh Mohammed Khalid Mohammed said:
“We have homosexual rates on the rise, with such people working in flower shops, massage parlours or barber’s salons.
“Sluts walk around residential neighbourhoods untouched.”
In April Parliament demanded that the Interior Ministry stop granting any residence permits to foreign homosexuals.
Bahrain only held its first elections in 2002, and since then politicians have mainly addressed themselves to “moral” issues such as banning female mannequins from shop windows and tackling the widespread problem of “sorcery.”
In 2002 the government deported 2,000 gay Filipino workers for homosexual activity and prostitution.
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We are so lucky to be here, maybe that’s why Australia is called “The Lucky Country”.
In the first posting of this thread, a six months jail term was imposed. In the previous post, a one month jail term was imposed. I should be put away for life judging by the standards over there, how lucky am I? Stories like this do make you realise how good your life is after all.
Peta A.
