{"id":18004,"date":"2026-07-13T12:07:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=18004"},"modified":"2026-07-13T12:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:07:31","slug":"turkey-egypt-block-lgbtq-cruise-entry-over-moral-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/turkey-egypt-block-lgbtq-cruise-entry-over-moral-values\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey, Egypt Block LGBTQ Cruise Entry Over \u2018Moral Values\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I side with Turkey and Egypt. It seems to me that Jamaica has laws against buggery, with some gay men going all pervert pride event on the balcony and getting arrested. Looks like Trinidad and Tobego is the same as well. I’d be supportive of banning any cruises with a sexual theme from entering your ports. Why let a ship of openly debauched individuals into your country? You sexual preference and behavior is your business as long as you keep it private, though you’ll have to address it with God at some point, but there is no reason to make it your public identity and force the rest of the world to endure it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/gcaptain.com\/turkey-egypt-block-lgbtq-cruise-entry-over-moral-values\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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By Patrick Sykes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scarlet Lady cruise ship. Photo credit: Virgin Voyages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jul 12, 2026 (Bloomberg) \u2013Turkey and Egypt have blocked a cruise ship carrying more than 1,900 LGBTQ tourists from entering their ports, with the former citing a supposed threat to Turkish society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egyptian port authorities ordered the Scarlet Lady to turn back as it was approaching the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Thursday, tour organizer Atlantis Events Inc\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Rich Campbell told Bloomberg by phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atlantis had added Alexandria to its itinerary after Turkey canceled scheduled stops in Istanbul and the Aegean beach town of Kusadasi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a general travel perspective, I find this to be highly disturbing,\u201d said Campbell. \u201cThe idea that a country can pick and choose who their travelers are based on any criteria \u2013 based on sexual orientation, religious beliefs or color of their skin or anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campbell said Atlantis has organized multiple past tours to Turkey and Egypt without issue and had been given clearance to dock in Turkey in advance. Both countries are heavily dependent on tourism revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The provincial government encompassing Kusadasi said in a statement that the visitors would be \u201cat odds with the fabric of our society and moral values\u201d and that the ship\u2019s planned arrival \u201chad caused significant distress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campbell said Egyptian authorities did not offer the ship any reasoning. The Turkish and Egyptian tourism ministries didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atlantis\u2019s 11-day tour, organized with Virgin Voyages, is marketed to gay men. It touts onboard drag shows and opportunities to visit gay clubs in cities like Istanbul and Athens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ship set off from the Greek capital on July 5, and after turning back from Egypt moored on the island of Crete, according to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It will add an unplanned stop in Montenegro before returning to the original itinerary<\/a> in Croatia and Venice, Campbell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkish officials have put increasing pressure on LGBTQ communities in recent years, banning pride events and shutting down advocacy groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Egypt, authorities \u201cuse vague, abusive penal code provisions\u201d to imprison LGBTQ people, Human Rights Watch said in its latest annual report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campbell warned that the incident could have repercussions for Turkey\u2019s tourism industry. \u201cLarge groups will avoid it \u2014 we will avoid it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic destination and it should be friendly to all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I side with Turkey and Egypt. It seems to me that Jamaica has laws against buggery, with some gay men going all pervert pride event on the balcony and getting arrested. Looks like Trinidad and Tobego is the same as well. I’d be supportive of banning any cruises with a sexual theme from entering your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18006,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18004\/revisions\/18006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}