“How dare you promote travel to countries where being gay is illegal Nomadic Boys, you should be ASHAMED!”
…is the typical comment we receive on social media each time one of our posts about gay Dubai, gay Abu Dhabi or gay Iran gets shared. But before you judge, remember that whilst a country has anti-gay laws, that same country still has an LGBTQ community who you risk turning your back on, right when they need you the most.
We have always been adamant that just because a country has spurious LGBTQ laws, this should not prevent us from visiting. We instead believe that it is far more productive to get out there and be a visible and positive representation of our community to show to that society that we are not some freak perversion that needs to be persecuted. Doing this is going to do so much more for the local LGBTQ community’s struggle for visibility against an oppressive government, than boycotting them is going to achieve.
Dubai Gay Life
But look, we get it! We also used to feel this way. After all, the United Arab Emirates is no different than its Middle Eastern neighbours when it comes to LGBTQ rights. In short, there are none. Being gay here is a crime, full stop! Officially it’s punishable by imprisonment, deportation, a fine, and worse, death. Whether or not these are strictly enforced, the very existence of these laws is so insulting that it simply serves to conjure up natural feelings of intense hatred within us – “how can such a government be so loathsome of us that it wants to eradicate and kill us? How dare they?!”
Yet we disagree that boycotting them is the solution. That is what these oppressive governments want us to do: ignore and turn our backs on them so they can continue crushing any LGBTQ visibility and pretend we don’t exist! Instead, from our travels in countries with anti-gay laws, we’ve learnt that the more productive way forward is to get out there and support gay friendly businesses in that country as much as we can and use our platform to give a voice to the local LGBTQ community.
Therefore, for this article, we are super proud that our buddy, Zayed, was happy for us to interview him about what gay life is like in Dubai and what it’s like growing up gay in the UAE. Zayed has however asked that he is anonymous in this interview using ‘Zayed’ as his alias.
SPEAKERS boom in the darkly lit, smoky room. It’s 2 am and the club is packed with a sea of sweaty, gay men getting their groove on to a Madonna classic — and I’m one of them.
After an all-day drinking session, followed by a spot of impromptu karaoke, during which I made friends with a lovely lesbian couple (we bonded over our love of ‘80s power ballads) I’ve ended up at this underground hotspot. Nothing strange here you might think, I mean, there are gay clubs the world over, right? But what makes this unusual is that I’m not in the relatively liberal West; I’m in Dubai.
A province of the United Arab Emirates governed by a dictatorial royal family and a tourism hotspot attracting the gaze of the world thanks to its constant sunshine and headline-grabbing world’s “biggest” and “tallest” buildings, shopping malls and man-made islands. Like Las Vegas, Dubai was built in a desert from nothing and like Vegas, Dubai (in the Arab world anyway) is known as sin city.
These photos show Dubai in a nutshell. You’ve seen the city’s futuristic and postcard-perfect skyline many times, perhaps, but you’ve never seen a photo that speaks volumes of contradictions that aren’t really hard to see.
At Jumeirah Beach, where these photos were taken, these camels and their master go for a walk along the beach, luring sunbathers and tourists for a short ride, in exchange of few dirhams.
A friend (whom I’ve never seen in ages) and I went to Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai with one purpose – to see, try and experience what it’s like sitting in the most beautiful Starbucks in the world. Well, apparently.
It’s not just gorgeous but it’s grand and magnificent! The high ceiling dome filled with Persian-inspired art is tantalizing. The arches are resplendently monumental that you’d feel so small when you’re under them.
The thing about traveling during Ramadan in the Middle East is that most restaurants are open only after sunset. This Starbucks shop is no different. We were there around 5:30 in the afternoon but they informed us they’d start serving people at 7 in the evening. All we could do was pose and be natural in front of the camera.
The view from the top of Burj Khalifa in Dubai shows the fast-growing pace of wherever the city is heading to. Since The Burj is the tallest building in the world, the other skyscrapers you see when you’re overland look nothing but skinny matchsticks from above. It is amazing to see the vast expanse of the desert that still surrounds the city—and, piece by piece, buildings are starting to rise in the middle of it.
Best time to visit: Go in the morning. And if possible, be one of the first few people to be there when it opens. I love the serenity when there are only few mortals walking around sans selfie sticks. And the sun isn’t blinding yet, good for your camera lenses when taking photos. But, if you love sunset and night views, then, you know what time to go.
Dubai Mall won’t stop surprising you with lots of things to do. It’s a mall not just about shopping but there’s also so much work of art everywhere. There’s one installation art that impressed me most—the Dubai Mall Waterfall where silver-colored sculptures of divers complement the cascading, gentle flow of the waterfall itself.
The waterfalls gush through the entire four floors of the mall.
Burj Al Arab Dubai is not a certified seven-star hotel in the world. You read the title right.
No one ever rated it as such. In fact, its website doesn’t boast of itself as “the only seven star hotel in the world.” No, they don’t use that, too, in their advertising anywhere. Also, the hotel doesn’t rate itself as five-star hotel but a luxury hotel. Period.
And oh, if you’re really curious how much will it cost you for a night, check here. The truth is: a British journalist dubbed it as the “world’s only seven star hotel” during its press briefing. She was so impressed that she rated it herself–and the world believed her. So, now, no one can ever stop the gossip she spearheaded. LOL….
Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the world’s tallest building. Or tower. From a distance, it looks like a futuristic spire that goes or points nowhere but up. It is Dubai’s most-famous structure, eclipsing Burj Al-Arab, the world’s first 7-star hotel. It is Dubai’s centre of attraction or the city’s “apple of the eye.” It is the most dominant sight wherever you are in the city.
Visiting this wondrous structure, I’ve learned that it holds and breaks numerous records worldwide. Here’s some of them:
Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest freestanding tower (2,722 feet), a record previously held by Toronto’s CN Tower.