Gay bars dubai 2015

But it was not an easy topic to research. And taboo subjects are very often under-researched, sometimes because people have a hard time gaining access, gaining that trust, but also because, even if people gain that access, there could be significant repercussions for themselves as researchers, or for the people who are the research participants.

Secrecy is often the norm, but the field was familiar to us, through previous visits and research projects. The researchers carried out fieldwork in Dubai, in stints, over a span of six years. They began with participant-observation in eight bars and clubs. They also conducted interviews, relying on personal contacts, to find 26 gay men, aged and representing 15 nationalities.

Most were single and had attended university in North America or Europe. They came from a wide range of salaries and occupations, including airline cabin crew and bankers. These palatial, shimmering structures are havens from the extreme heat, even hours after sundown. It transpires that all information about the parties is by word of mouth or WhatsApp group chats with other expatriates.

Peril and privilege: gay expat nightlife in Dubai

As soon as a party appears on a TripAdvisor review or blog, it will either change name or venue, or both, to divert potential intervention by Emirati authorities. Gay dating apps are also shunned for fear of entrapment by police. And typically they did not observe same-sex physical contact, not even friendly gestures.

However, there are occasional events where the most privileged enjoy an extraordinary amount of freedom. The researchers attended a more exclusive, much less inhibited, party at a hotel rooftop bar where men were openly kissing and cuddling, and the bar was a Lady Gaga-inspired drag performance. Only the highest-earning and most extravagantly wealthy of men, both Western and Arab, are self-assured enough to take part in these types of activity.

Only those with the most cumulative privilege among a generally imperilled population of heterogeneous Dubai-based homosexuals would attempt to deploy this repertoire openly. Since most companies arrange randomly assigned housing in shared flats, it is up to gay men to ask heterosexual flatmates to switch with a gay contact, so two or more gay men can cohabitate and organise private and very selective social events.

In seeking some sense of home away from home But it does push away or create suspicions about other dubai of people, who potentially are in similar situations, but are not as Western culturally, maybe not as wealthy, or as socially and economically privileged. Dr Centner emphasises that Dubai is keen to project an image of being more socially liberal than the rest of UAE, as well as the rest of the Gulf:.

What is fuelling the fear are anecdotal cases that are highlighted occasionally in the media and end up being circulated among expatriates. I've never come across anything in the media that shows a large-scale action by gay authorities. People seem more vigilant and self-regulating, in a constant way. Sign up to receive our newsletter: a bi-monthly digest of the latest social science research articles, podcasts and videos from LSE.

His diverse research portfolio revolves around a core interest in urban transformation at the nexus of 2015, spatial, and economic change. Ryan also investigates the geographies of theory, and related urban practice, across developmental contexts in the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.

Research Research for the World Society.