Egypt denied a cruise ship carrying LGBTQ+ tourists entry to its port
The cruise ship The Scarlet Lady, chartered by the travel company Atlantis Events for a trip involving members of the LGBTQ+ community, was denied permission to dock at an Egyptian port.
Just a few days after Turkey’s refusal, Egypt also denied the ship permission to dock at its ports.
About two thousand passengers learned of the cancellation of the stop in Alexandria that morning when they received official notices on their cabin doors. The Egyptian authorities did not explain the reasons for this decision.
Rich Campbell, President and CEO of Atlantis Events, stated that this came as a surprise to both the company and the tourists. According to him, operators were informed that The Scarlet Lady would not be granted permission to enter Egyptian territorial waters, so the planned stop in Alexandria had to be canceled.
Campbell noted that many passengers had been looking forward to this particular stop. He also pointed out that a similar cruise took place without incident last year, so the current refusal came as a surprise. According to him, Atlantis Events and Virgin Voyages made every effort to ensure that the stop in Alexandria would still take place.
The itinerary had previously had to be changed after Turkey refused to allow the ship to dock during the “Athens–Venice” cruise, which was organized for LGBTQ+ tourists.
The ship set sail on July 5 and was scheduled to visit Kusadasi and Istanbul. Turkish authorities stated that the cruise ship had been chartered by groups whose behavior, in their view, “does not correspond to the structure of society and the moral values of the country.”
It was also noted that the planned visit had caused a significant public outcry, which is why local authorities did not allow the event to take place.
This was reported by the Daily Mail.
As a reminder, Japan’s southwestern islands have been placed on high alert due to the approach of the powerful Typhoon Bavi. Authorities are warning the public about hurricane-force winds, heavy rains, and the threat of flooding and landslides, while airlines have already begun canceling flights en masse.
As a reminder, at least 66 people have died as a result of one of the most powerful typhoons of the year, which swept through the central Philippines.
