The Arab World is not a monolith; it is a vibrant continuously evolving place. It may be behind the West in terms of LGBTQ liberation. But there are ongoing conversations and efforts in the public sphere in the Arab World about this issue. It just needs time. Not all countries will be on board and not at the same time. The UAE has impressively broken many political and social taboos that no one thought could be challenged in the last ten years: from peace with Israel to allowing unmarried cohabitation and open restaurants during the month of fasting, Ramadan.

Emirati culture values a separation between public and private lives in a way that’s different from some Western nations. In Abu Dhabi, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, public displays of affection are generally frowned upon, especially prolonged intimate actions. There is no dress code but general modesty for both men and women is the expected norm. Beyond that, privacy is highly respected: what one does in their own home is their business. In in-between public-private spaces, such as hotels, the expectation for all unmarried couples (gay or straight) is to have separate beds. These can be two double beds. But no one will check what happens in the room.

The UAE is very diverse in terms of the countries of origin of its residents – with close to 90% non-Emiratis and 30% non-Muslims. The diverse backgrounds have created a regional norm around different cultures coexisting. The UAE’s attitude about the diversity of its residents is that of “Mutual Tolerance,” the Arabic concept of تسامح tasāmuh, which comes from the root smh associated with concepts like forgiveness, permission, tolerance, magnanimity, and the pattern ta-ā-u- of mutuality. In other words — live and let live. The UAE even has a dedicated Ministry of Tolerance.

To date, this concept has not been explicitly expanded to include sexual orientation or gender identity. However, in practice, accepting cultural diversity indirectly includes accepting some sexual and gender diversity since mutual tolerance covers opinions held by people from different cultural backgrounds. Also, perhaps more subtly, the cultural diversity in the UAE leads to more tolerance of diversity of gender expression; what some in the West would consider gay or queer may be a straight or unmarked behavior in other cultures. This goes beyond gender being a social construct, to it being constructed differently in different culture

There are no federal LGBTQ+-specific laws in the UAE. However, some prohibitions intended to protect women can be interpreted as restricting gender expression. For example, UAE Penal Code Article 412 part 2 states that “any male who disguises as a woman, or enters a place allocated for women only, or to which entry of men is forbidden,” the penalties can include a fine of no more than AED10,000 or imprisonment of one year or both” (More details here). Several emirates, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai, have additional prohibitions on behaviors, but these laws are almost never invoked because of the country’s general respect of privacy for its residents. See Human Rights Watch for more details. Of course, this situation is not different from many places around the world that still have archaic laws.

Gender dysphoria is recognized as a medical condition in the UAE, and gender affirming surgery is legal in the UAE. The main challenge for transgender individuals is legal paper work (passport, id) that is not updated from their birth sex to match their current gender expression. In such cases, the individual may be denied entry if they present themselves in a way that mismatches their paperwork upon entry to the country.

The UAE, like many other countries, uses visual inspection of documents as the primary means of identification of travelers. This is unlike countries such as the United States, where biometrics (e.g., your fingerprints) are used. Visitors should make sure that pictures on any of their travel documents match their current appearance; if not, the visitor might be subject to additional scrutiny when going through passport control. The worst of it will be wasted time at the airport, and denial of entry. Examples of famous cases where this happened include the case of transgender models Gigi Gorgeous and Rachaya Noppakaroon.

Some countries now issue non-binary gender classification (e.g. M/F/X). This is not an issue as UAE immigration follows international agreements between the UAE government and these countries’ governments to respect their documents. However, many countries still do not allow updating the sex on the passport.

Unfortunately, for transgender individuals who do not have updated legal documents, our advice is to avoid the hassle and only participate virtually in the conference. This is grossly unfair of course. We hope these regulations will be changed in the future.

The pieces of content of this pagewere gathered from LGBTQ+ residents of the UAE, intended to provide insights and advice for LGBTQ+ visitors.

The Original article can be referenced here, for even more information