Saturday, November 26, 2005
Dozens arrested in mass gay wedding in Dubai
Associated Press
Dubai, November 26, 2005
More than two dozen gay Arab men - arrested at what police called a mass homosexual wedding - could face government-ordered hormone treatments, five years in jail and a lashing, authorities said on Saturday.
The Interior Ministry said police raided a hotel chalet earlier this month and arrested 22 men from the Emirates as they celebrated the mass wedding ceremony - one of a string of recent group arrests of homosexuals here.
The men are likely to be tried under Muslim law on charges related to adultery and prostitution, said Interior Ministry spokesman Issam Azouri.
Outward homosexual behaviour is banned in the United Arab Emirates and the gay group wedding has alarmed leaders of this once-isolated Muslim country as it grapples with a sweeping influx of western residents and culture.
The Arabian Peninsula, nevertheless, has a long tradition of openly homosexual wedding singers and dancers.
"Lately people have been talking about (homosexuality), but it has been here for a long time," said Nadia Buhannad, a Dubai psychologist. "It becomes shocking only when it is your own son."
Police acting on a tip raided a hotel in Ghantout, a desert region on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway, and found a dozen men dressed as female brides and a dozen others in male Arab dress, apparently preparing for a ceremony that would join them as husbands and wives, Azouri said.
"It was a real party with balloons and champagne," he said.
The 26 men arrested include those from the Emirates as well as an Indian disc jockey and three men from neighbouring Arab states.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.