Gay arabs
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For their privacy and safety, we’re keeping things low-key here on the blog.
If you’d like an intro, just slide into our inbox or drop a discreet comment below. In a strange twist, one gay marriage became legally recognised in Tunisia and though that doesn’t say much for society as a whole, it’s a small win for gay Tunisia.
Tunisia | Photo: Bedis Elacheche
5.
Bahrain
Home of the Dilmun empire and once the centre of the Gulf pearl trade, Bahrain has quite the iridescent history. It's an actual thing for them, deep-rooted in their mentality, to make all guests feel welcome. I’m into that. I will not hate English people because they are not from the European Union anymore and going right.
Roman legions, Crusaders, Islamic armies and Nabataean merchants have all passed through the land, leaving behind many rich artefacts in their wake. But I would have just one cause to fight, over my sexual and personal identity. But for me, it’s super-important for me to say I’m Muslim because I want to show the world, the sheiks, the Muslim fanatics, that we have LGBTs and gays inside our community, to understand that we are here and we are not afraid.
A lot of the film takes place in Jaffa, one of my favorite places.
Traveling here as a gay man requires caution, discretion, and a healthy respect for local laws. I can change the world if I changed this situation.
Saudi Arabia might not be the first place you’d peg for a gaycation, but it surprised me in all the best ways. Petra, in particular, is the crowning glory of Jordan, protected within sandstone cliffs and offering an unrivalled collection of monuments, including the defining Siq to the Treasury on an ethereal desert site of red rock and dunes known as Wadi Rum.
While the southeast is firmly Laurence of Arabia meets The Martian territory, journey across the nation to glimpse other points of interest, like the lowest point on earth – the salt sea – as well as various seasonal canyons and oases quenching arid land.
It's slightly cheaper and more commonly used. Here are some must-try dishes and drinks that’ll give your taste buds a proper Arabian adventure:
- Kabsa: Saudi Arabia’s national dish – spiced rice with lamb or chicken.
- Mutabbaq: crispy stuffed pancake often filled with spiced meat and veggies.
- Jareesh: cracked wheat slow-cooked with meat or chicken.
- Dates and Qahwa (Arabic coffee): sweet, sticky dates paired with lightly spiced green coffee.
- Margoog: rich stew made with meat, vegetables, and thin dumpling-like dough slices.
- Laban: a cold, salty yoghurt drink that’s refreshing and hydrating.
- Camel meat: served grilled, stewed, or in kabsa (an Arabian mixed rice dish like in this next photo).
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Saudi Arabia…WTAF?!
Honestly, if you'd told us a few years ago we’d be writing a gay travel guide about the Kingdom, we’d have assumed you’d been baking in the desert sun a bit too long.
These include Balad Beast in Jeddah every January, Soundstorm in Riyadh every December, and A Thousand and One in Riyadh every April.
Then there’s Sociale Café in Riyadh—low-key, but super popular with the city’s more progressive crowd. Gay people are normal," he said.
In 2014, Taia channeled his energy into movies, writing and directing his own autobiography: Salvation Army, which is based on his "difficult upbringing" as a gay Moroccan man, as he once told The Guardian.
Carla Massoud fled Egypt as an assigned-at-birth male.
You can even snorkel over shipwrecks or take a boat trip to remote islands that feel completely untouched. I don’t need politics when I’m having sex.
Can you describe what the area is like?
It’s our little island three to five minutes from Tel Aviv, super quiet, super beautiful, with an amazing, historical past. A clear winner for its LGBTQ freedoms, Lebanon is also hard to beat for its lively gay scene and diversity of spirit. Every Saudi (gay and straight) I spoke to told me this with great pride.
While discretion is still essential, there are signs of a growing underground queer scene.
Just check your eligibility on the Visit Saudi website.
Best time to visit
Avoid the summer unless you enjoy feeling like a roast chicken.