Two California men on a gay cruise of the Caribbean were arrested Wednesday in Dominica, where sex between two men is illegal.

Police Constable John George said the men were arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and "buggery," a term equivalent to sodomy on the island. He identified the men as John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, but did not provide their hometowns.

The two were later charged with indecent exposure and are scheduled to appear before a magistrate Thursday morning. If found guilty, they could be fined $370 each and face up to six months in jail.

George said the men were seen having sex on the Celebrity Summit cruise ship by someone on the dock.

The ship carrying about 2,000 passengers departed Puerto Rico on Saturday and arrived in Dominica on Wednesday. It departed without the men and headed toward St. Barts.

The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel...

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Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
From the AP

Two California men on a gay cruise of the Caribbean were arrested Wednesday in Dominica, where sex between two men is illegal.

Police Constable John George said the men were arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and "buggery," a term equivalent to sodomy on the island. He identified the men as John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, but did not provide their hometowns.

The two were later charged with indecent exposure and are scheduled to appear before a magistrate Thursday morning. If found guilty, they could be fined $370 each and face up to six months in jail.

George said the men were seen having sex on the Celebrity Summit cruise ship by someone on the dock.

The ship carrying about 2,000 passengers departed Puerto Rico on Saturday and arrived in Dominica on Wednesday. It departed without the men and headed toward St. Barts.

The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel...

Full Article...

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Originally posted by PamM:
Seems to me it would also have been considered public indecency in the US too.

Pam

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Were they peering into the cabin window?

If a male female couple would they have been arrested?

What if the law prohibited Jews or Asians from having sex?

[ 04-01-2012: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

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Originally posted by PamM:
It merely says they were seen 'from the dock' - regardless of who what or anything, if they were in public view then they could have been arrested anywhere.

Pam

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Roseau, Dominica (TDN) -- Police in Dominica has dropped buggery charges against two California men and opted for the lesser charge of indecent exposure as the two are set to appear in court on Thursday morning.

Police Chief Cyril Carette said the decision was made to drop the buggery charges saying “they could have been charged with buggery but because it is a very long process, we decided that it was in our best interest to deal expeditiously with the issue and get the individuals out of our island as quickly as possible.”

“People coming to our island must be in conformity with our laws and if these laws are violated they must be prepared to suffer the consequences.”

The arrest of John Robert Hart age 41 and Dennis Jay Mayer 53 on Wednesday received worldwide press coverage and brought public scrutiny on the islands buggery (or sodomy) laws, which are not dissimilar to laws throughout the Caribbean.

Under the law, sodomy criminalizes the sex act between homosexual couples and persons found guilty could face up to ten years in prison.

Police boarded the Celebrity X Cruise liner at the Roseau port on Wednesday and arrested the two men after they were reportedly seen openly having sex on the boat as it docked.

When the two men appear in court today, they will likely be given a small fine and expelled from the island.

and Dominica News Online

Information reaching DNO indicates that homosexual cruise ship passengers alleged to have been involved in public sexual acts are in police custody at the CID Department.

The police were called in after the men were seen publicly engaging in sexual activity.

One individual with information on the matter told DNO that “they were informed of the laws of Dominica and they were well aware that their acts would be considered a criminal offence”.

Police Chief Cyrille Carrette has confirmed that two males from California, John Robert Hart and Dennis Jay Mayer, have been charged for indecent exposure and are expected to appear in court on Thursday morning.

The men were also initially charge with buggery but Carrette said on Wednesday evening that charge will take too long to expedite, hence the men will only be charged with indecent exposure.

The visit of the cruise ship to Dominica apparently carrying only male passengers is generating heated debate online, especially on Dominica News Online after the website posted the story earlier Wednesday.

The ship evoked mixed reaction from observers who noted that “only men” were disembarking from the “Celebrity X Cruises” ship docked at the bayfront.

Some members of the public gathered there appeared not amused with the development.

A few told Dominica News Online that they were protesting what they consider to be “immoral behavior” on that cruise ship.

One hair braider told DNO that she was “mentally disturbed, first time I am seeing that in my life”.

Some eyewitnesses claim to have seen what they described as sexual activity taking place on the ship said to be carrying only male cruise passengers.

“It’s wrong, it’s dirty, they can’t do that so publicly. They need to respect us and our land,” another angry onlooker said.

Another individual said the nation should have been informed of the development instead of it being sprung as a surprise on Dominicans.

There was an SSU and reinforced police presence on the scene.

Busloads of only male passengers have been seen taking brief tours around the capital.

Gay cruise tourism has been a talking point around the region, with some islands more flexible than others about their approach to the matter.

[ 03-22-2012: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

Whether laws, traditions or cultural expectations seem reasonable or not is really beside the point; if a potential visitor disagrees with the law of the land, they do have the option of taking their business elsewhere. People vote with their money, and if you want to hit someone where it counts, hit ‘em in the pocketbook. Which makes me wonder how many passengers actually boycotted the island and stayed on board, or how many decided sticking to their guns wasn’t as important as a day of fun in the sun.

I’m not saying I agree with the law in Dominica; in fact I really wish some people would get off their moral podiums and focus on issues that really matter….like hunger, poverty and public services. But, fact is, there are places in the world where one has to respect the law, however idiotic it might be, or they run the risk of facing the piper.

And from the Atlantis Events Facebook page;

Please accept my apology for the late post, we have been at sea for the past 18 hours with limited internet access.

We appreciate the comments on this board regarding the incident in Dominica yesterday, but would sincerely ask that most of you get the facts correct before condemning Atlantis or Dominica for what happened. Here are the facts:

Yesterday morning around 9:30 am two of our guests were seen engaging in a sexual act outdoors on their balcony in full public view of the port and town. Not only did many of the residents witness the act, several of our guests saw this incident as well. The local authorities responded to a complaint by several residents. The two gentlemen were arrested on a misdemeanor charge of public indecency and detained overnight. They appeared in front of the local magistrate this morning, paid a small fine, and were released in full.

Please understand that the complaint and subsequent arrests had nothing to do with the guests’ sexual orientation, nor was any “anti-gay” law invoked. These guests were engaged in behavior that is inappropriate in any port of call, or major city for that matter.

The guests were never left on their own. We had both representatives from Atlantis and Celebrity cruises with them at all times during their ordeal and had our local representatives look after them last night. Furthermore, we worked closely with the US Embassy in Barbados to assure that their safety was always being monitored.

Atlantis had 2000 guests in port yesterday in Dominica and most of them had an outstanding time visiting the country. Celebrity Cruises has been extremely supportive, working with Atlantis to insure these guests’ safety and security despite their detention in Dominica. We commend them for their unwavering support through this incident.

Thank you.

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Originally posted by Atlcruiser:

The two gentlemen were arrested on a misdemeanor charge of public indecency and detained overnight.
Thank you.

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Originally posted by Atlcruiser:
They deserved the punishment.

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Yep. This is not really a 'gay rights' issue, it's a 'very stupid behaviour' issue.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
For additional research, I think I will need to see the picture.

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Here it is the /link