Authorities in Turkey
recently banned an Atlantis Events cruise ship, the Scarlet Lady, from docking in one of its towns.
Why? Because its passengers were LGBTQ+. This amounts to picking and choosing which tourists are allowed to enter the country, based on love and sexuality. As the president of Atlantis Events, Rich Cambell, explains:
"It's very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not."This is also, sadly, part of a much larger overall trend of increased homophobia around the world. We must urge Turkey to set an example by rejecting homophobia and discrimination, and apologizing to the 2,000 passengers it turned away. Sign the petition!The ship was not only carrying 2,000 queer passengers - it also included Patti LuPone, a famous Broadway performer. She wrote online that she was "furious" about this discrimination. She described the situation: A ship - a magnificent ship - full of gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board. ... I am ready to perform for all the wonderful men on this Atlantis cruise, who deserve so much better than this."
Patti LuPone is showing us how the situation should be handled - with love, celebration of humanity's diversity, and grace.
The cruise is not even political; it is simply a collection of humans going on vacation. As Campbell says: "When we pull into port, the ship looks like any other ship. It's not like we're not a gay pride rally."
Turkish authorities had known about the incoming cruise for a year, and in fact,
had previously allowed 13 different Atlantic cruises with queer tourists to dock. But now, Campbell says that Turkish officials have been unwilling "to move," even with the involvement of the US embassy there.
Being gay isn't even illegal in Turkey, so this makes no sense. This is blatant discrimination, and it's not okay!This must not be allowed to set
a chilling new precedent. It's not okay for countries to flatly ban queer people from entering. And with the move towards right-wing extremism around the world,
this could start off a whole new level of discrimination in many different countries. Sign the petition to demand that the authorities in Turkey apologize and pledge to counteract homophobia!