On August 9, YouTube celebrity and model Gigi Lazzarato - known more commonly as Gigi Gorgeous - was detained for trying to enter Dubai on the grounds that she is transgender. After being subject to the scrutiny of Dubai police, she was allowed to leave - but not before enduring several terrifying hours facing potential jailtime.
“I knew this kind of discrimination existed…but my girlfriend and I wanted to come here,” she said. “This just kind of proves that people like me are not welcome here. It doesn’t matter what you have changed on your passport. You are not welcome if you are transgender.”
No country should bar entry to someone because of their gender identity. Transgender people, myself included, are just like everyone else - we work, we have families, and we want to go about our lives just like the rest of society does.
The global community should speak out for the free movement of transgender people - and that begins by encouraging the U.N. to pass a resolution to urge the United Arab Emirates to end discrimination and protect transgender people entering and moving within their country.
Sign my petition and tell the U.N. to pass a resolution to protect trans people in the UAE and Dubai.
