Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dubai Olympic Bid: Sexual Orientation

I have had a very hard time looking for scholarly articles that talk about the view of Dubai and sexual orientation, let alone anything with that country and the specific topic. It has mostly been newspaper articles from other countries about the hate crimes that go on when situations of sexual orientation arise. When I read that the United Arab Emirates government stones those that were involved in a gay marriage, it is hard to find the good in the country for accepting others. I did find that there are few in the country that are somewhat proud of who they are and participate in the Gay Games, which is an Olympic event for those who may be LBGT. It was refreshing to read that there were a few participants from the UAE, however, the articles did state that some of the participants from other countries took on an alias name during the event as to not be persecuted once they returned home. I would assume that those who participated from the UAE had an alias name, but none of the articles stated the exact countries.

When looking at the marriage rules, Dubai is very strict with who you can marry. First off, the Dubai Government Website clearly states that marriage is between a woman and a man. Second, the site gives different scenarios of a marriage arrangement such as a Muslim man marrying a Christian woman are very much different than a Muslim woman marrying a Christian man.

I hope to find more encouraging articles than these for the country I am trying to win an Olympic bid for…
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2 comments:

  1. Scott HochenbergMarch 30, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    Kallie very interesting post!

    When your group first decided to pick Dubai as a potential host for the Olympics, I was wondering how your group was going to justify the decision. Sure Dubai has amazing buildings and world class amenities, but there are many things about the UAE that I find incredibly alarming.

    According to Wikipedia, "Article 354 of the Federal Penal Code states, 'Whoever commits rape on a female or sodomy with a male shall be punished by death' While English translations of the Arabic text are in some dispute, it is generally felt that this is a prohibition against rape, and possibly consensual sodomy."

    UAE is clearly in the dark ages when it comes to its sexual laws. Furthermore, Dubai was built on the backs of Indian slaves and well known for its involvement in the sex trade (http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html) and (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/03/united-arab-e-1.html).

    Furthermore, UAE still does not allow Israeli athletes to compete in a normal environment. In 2009, star woman tennis player, Shahar Peer was banned from the Dubai Championships and in 2010-2011 she had to live in quarantine while playing in Dubai.

    I will be interested in seeing how your group address these issues in your presentation.

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  2. The Tennis Prof ChroniclesApril 6, 2011 at 9:22 AM

    Scott brings up some great points about issues that are going to be difficult for Dubai to address, barring dramatic changes. Of course you could also take the approach that your groups is going to make suggestions that they change some of their ways of doing things--see how well that goes over.

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