US man arrested on gay Caribbean cruise says he and partner taunted, humiliated in Dominica

US man arrested on gay Caribbean cruise says he and partner taunted, humiliated in Dominica

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When I first heard about this story I was concerned that the men might have been arrested on trumped-up charges. But I’ll admit that when I read the account from the cruise line, I assumed that the men were guilty of having sex on their balcony. I didn’t have any hostility toward them. I thought that maybe it had just been a thrill for them to have sex on the balcony. And since they were apparently safe after spending only one night in jail and paying a moderate fine, I thought the whole thing was much ado about nothing.

But after reading the statement from these men, I realized that I wasn’t there, I don’t know what happened, and their story is at least plausible. Maybe it was simply a matter of one or both of them exposing too much flesh on the balcony, and maybe that got the accusations of sex on the balcony started.

I think it’s important to keep in mind that the balcony in question was attached to their room. No, it is not private in the sense that no one can see onto the balcony while the ship is docked. But the men were invited to think of it as their own while they were onboard the ship. It was just a few feet away from their bed and bathroom, places were they undoubtedly felt free to be undressed. And a cruise ship is like a floating hotel, and part of the time the balcony would face open sea. It would be easy enough to step through that door onto the balcony in some state of undress to get a breath of fresh air or to check the weather and temperature without giving much thought you might offend someone if they saw your penis or butt. It would be easy enough to forget that merely seeing two gay men in some state of undress would be enough to start rumors of public sex.