Ok every once in awhile a news story comes along that I just feel like
I need to vent about…These two men really pissed me off last week not
for their actions but because they wanted to make this a case of abuse.
They claimed that they had been arrested for being gay and that they
were not having sex on their ships balcony. Shame on you guys for not
taking personal responsibility for this and trying to make it a hate
crime.
ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) — Two Southern California men pleaded guilty yesterday to indecent exposure in Dominica after they were arrested during a stop on a gay cruise of the Caribbean.
John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, of Palm Springs, apologised in court and said they regretted their actions. Police said they were seen having sex in plain sight of people on land, prompting officers to board the ship and arrest them on Wednesday.
The two initially were arrested on suspicion of the local equivalent of sodomy in the eastern Caribbean island, which prohibits sex between two men.
The men’s attorney, Bernadette Lambert, said they were remorseful.
“They were struck by the beautiful mountains, the clean and clear fresh air and were having a few cocktails, and so threw caution to the wind,” she told the court.
Chief Magistrate Evaline Baptiste ordered the men to pay a nearly US$900 fine after calling them “rogues and vagabonds.” They made no comment after the hearing and police drove the men to the airport after they were released.
The two were aboard the Celebrity Summit cruise ship that had departed Puerto Rico on Saturday with about 2,000 passengers. The ship departed for St Barts late Wednesday, leaving the men behind.
The cruise was organised by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specialises in gay travel. President Rich Campbell did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the hearing.
Dozens of islanders packed the courtroom in the capital of Roseau to attend the 30-minute hearing.
Dominica Tourism Minister Ian Douglas said that tourists should abide by local laws regardless of their religious or sexual orientation, and that cruise ship officials should make passengers aware of these laws.
“It cannot be the responsibility of Dominica to screen guests and tourists before they come into the country,” he said. “It is expected that any time people come to a country, they will respect the laws of the country.”
Gay Caribbean cruises have been popular for several years despite hostility to homosexuality on certain islands, especially in Jamaica, Barbados and the Cayman Islands.
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