On Gay Cruise Gay Men Arrested For Having Gay Sex
ROSEAU, Dominica — Two California men found out what it means to visit a country where gay sex is forbidden by law. John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, were arrested on the island of Dominca.
Police Constable John George said police boarded the cruise ship and arrested the two men on suspicion of indecent exposure and “buggery,” a term equivalent to sodomy on the island. The two were supposedly sighted having sex on the ship from someone on the dark.
Both men were charged with indecent exposure. If convicted, each one could go to jail for 6 months.
The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel.
A spokesman defending the trip to Dominica saying,
“Many countries and municipalities that gay men visit and live in have antiquated laws on their books. These statutes don’t pose a concern to us in planning a tourist visit. The guests actions were unfortunate but minor in this case and have no bearing on our overall guest experience,”
The presence of gay cruises in the Caribbean has riled several conservative islands including Jamaica and Grenada, where anti-sodomy laws are enforced with strong backing from religious groups.
It has been a long time since anyone was actually arrested on one of these cruises. The last known case was when US Customs officers took Steven Barry Krumholz into custody on suspicion of selling Ketamine, Ecstasy and Methamphetamine to other passengers on the ship.
Do you think the US State Department should get involved with this case?
