Gay Cruise, starring Patti LuPone, Denied Entry into Turkey — Page 2

If you have a cruise ship full of LGBTQ+ passengers, why would you send them to a country (Turkey) that probably would not be overly welcoming? Are these issues/possibilities not worked out in advance?

Instead, put a friendly port of call on the agenda. Valencia, Spain, comes to mind. Currently hosting the World Gay Games. Can't get much more LGBTQ+ friendly than that.

Updated On: 7/3/26 at 05:59 PM

Highland Guy said: "If you have a cruise ship full of LGBTQ+ passengers, why would you send them to a country (Turkey) that probably would not be overly welcoming? Are these issues/possibilities not worked out in advance?

Instead, put a friendly port of call on the agenda. Valencia, Spain, comes to mind. Currently hosting the World Gay Games. Can't get much friendlier than that."


This particular cruise has apparently docked in Istanbul 13 times since 2000. So it has docked there before without issue and presumably had information they could this time as well.

But events have been changing. This article about 50 people being arrested at a recent Pride event notes:

"Separately, Turkish authorities on Saturday ordered an Istanbul gay bar to close over unspecified violations following protests by Islamist groups against its owner.

The closure came after Islamist groups launched a campaign on social media against a planned cruise ship tour aimed at LGBT+ travellers. They claimed the Turkish leg of the programme was being organised by Mustafa Dogan Yilmaz, the bar's owner.

The ship had been scheduled to dock in Istanbul on July 8."



So yes, the cruise was intended to stop here, an event was planned at a bar in conjunction with the cruise being there, people started protesting the bar because of it, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the government cracked down on the bar, and now the cruise. This has been building for a while.

Updated On: 7/3/26 at 06:06 PM

MemorableUserName said: "Highland Guy said: "If you have a cruise ship full of LGBTQ+ passengers, why would you send them to a country (Turkey) that probably would not be overly welcoming? Are these issues/possibilities not worked out in advance?

Instead, put a friendly port of call on the agenda. Valencia, Spain, comes to mind. Currently hosting the World Gay Games. Can't get much friendlier than that."


This particular cruise has apparently docked in Istanbul 13 times since 2000. So it has docked there before without issue and presumably had information they could this time as well.

But events have been changing. This articleabout 50 people being arrested at a recent Pride event notes:

"Separately, Turkish authorities on Saturday ordered an Istanbul gay bar to close over unspecified violations following protests by Islamist groups against its owner.

The closure came after Islamist groups launched a campaign on social media against a planned cruise ship tour aimed at LGBT+ travellers. They claimed the Turkish leg of the programme was being organised by Mustafa Dogan Yilmaz, the bar's owner.

The ship had been scheduled to dock in Istanbul on July 8."



So yes, the cruise was intended to stop here, an event was planned at a bar in conjunction with the cruise being there, people started protesting the bar because of it, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the government cracked down on the bar, and now the cruise. This has been building for a while."



I read that the Pride Parade was "dispersed" in 2015 and looks like they have been banned ever since. Curious as to the last time the ship docked there.

gibsons2 said: "European gays travel to Turkey quite a bit."

I don't doubt that, but I can acknowledge that traveling singularly, or as a family allows for much more anonymity re: sexual orientation - whether intentionally, or not - than traveling as (literally) a boatload of Gays.

gibsons2 also said: "It's a secular country, part of EU and NATO."

A secular country where "honor killing" is considered justifiable by some (a minority of) citizens. Ahmet Yıldız was murdered in 2008 as an honor killing by his father Yahya Yıldız (the first known case of an anti-gay honor killing in Turkey).

gibsons2 also said: "Idk what's the situation there now [...]"

It's very easy to do an internet search to find out.

I used the word, "iffy" as there are divisive standards (e.g., it is not illegal to identify as LGBTQ+ in Turkey, but there are no laws that protect the community from discrimination or physical harm, either. People outside big cities may hold negative attitudes towards members of the LGBTQ+ community, but that’s not to say the major areas are liberal havens, either).

And gibsons2 said: "[...] given far right swings everywhere in Europe and western world in general. I suppose Turkey feels emboldened too now that LGBTQ right are being dismantled everywhere."

I don't think it's reasonable to draw a conclusion that Turkey's views are resultant of "swings everywhere in Europe and western world in general" since it's pretty clear that Turkey has held their current views on LGBTQ+ citizens for well over a decade, and even earlier.

Updated On: 7/3/26 at 07:53 PM

TheatreFan4 said: "Highland Guy said: "If you have a cruise ship full of LGBTQ+ passengers, why would you send them to a country (Turkey) that probably would not be overly welcoming? Are these issues/possibilities not worked out in advance?

Instead, put a friendly port of call on the agenda. Valencia, Spain, comes to mind. Currently hosting the World Gay Games. Can't get much more LGBTQ+ friendly than that.

"

Because Gay Cruises tend to not be gay EXCLUSIVE Cruises, with some exclusions primarily Circuit Party Cruises. They're among multiple groups that have contracted to be on that given ship with their own guests, events, and rates. Its like renting a section of a hotel for your convention, but it's a cruise ship."



I don't do cruises but a lot of my friends do gay cruises. I just always thought everyone on the ship was gay for them.

With this information it sucks that if this was not a totally gay cruises, the other passengers that may have been looking forward to this port on the cruise will now not be able to go. But it also seems that if the bar was not having an event, this may not have happened. So I am still wondering the last time this ship has stopped there, if they had gay passengers and if events were planned for them.

Did some research after posting. Atlantis typically does all gay cruises.

Updated On: 7/3/26 at 09:13 PM

WorldWithoutYou said: "Please, enough with the AI slop"

Although I actually do appreciate the humor in this particular instance, I have to wholeheartedly agree.

The speed at which this was created and distributed is alarming to me. I read Kad's post 'Posted: 7/3/26 at 11:25am' and that meme was 'Posted: 7/4/26 at 3:04am'. That's far too fast for anyone to have given adequate thought about the consequences of, or reactions to its distribution.

Just because I (personally) find some humor in this one, doesn't mean I've appreciated previous examples, or that I'll be looking forward to more in the future. It's far too easy to abuse the technology without adequate thought. (see: 'Donald Trump')

Updated On: 7/4/26 at 07:00 AM

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Beyoncé selling her soul to Dubai for $24M was a deeply problematic and sh!tty thing to do.

I don't know why so many of you seem to have such trouble acknowledging that.

Oh, well, I guess it gives me an insight into MAGA nuts and how the cult of personality works."

Lying and deflecting when called out on it? Yes, you have much in common with MAGA.

This is a Broadway message board. Many of us have no interest in discussing Beyonce because we have no interest in her. She has nothing to do with Broadway (nor the cruise that was the subject of this thread). She's only ever brought up by you and your signature.

Congratulations on managing to derail another thread.

For everyone else, a reminder that the Block User function can be found in the Settings tab of your Account on the top right of the page.

Jay Lerner-Z said: "
If it was Kid Rock who had launched this resort, I don’t think I'd always get such a harsh reaction for daring to speak of it."

Nobody thinks about Kid Rock in anyway that they would give a flying **** what he does.

Is this just about Patti, or does Turkey not allow any Non-Equity Tours?

JayZ said: "I don't constantly bring up Beyoncé, I haven't mentioned her in over a year.

Has it been "over a year" since you mentioned her? Weird. Not according to time.

JayZ said: You imagined that.

Nah. MemorableUserName is thoughtful, intelligent, helpful regarding theater reviews and dead on about everything they just said about you. And yes, you were called out on it over and over again. Is being delusional your entire personality?

MemorableUserName said: Lying and deflecting when called out on it? Yes, you have much in common with MAGA.

Correct. JayZ takes no responsibility and deflects deflects deflects. Peak MAGA.

Uncageg said: You have mentioned her doing this before. She is not the only American who has performed there. Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert have performed there among others

And yet.....no threads slamming those two white artists. Ever. Dozens of threads disparaging a working Mother, creating hashtags about it when hashtags don't work on this website, putting her name in your signature (totally normal) and bringing her up in threads that have nothing to do with her in any capacity? Your obsession slamming a Black female artist is disturbing and documented hundreds of times.

Lastly, when I read post 35 I laughed for a solid 5 minutes. The mere fact that you slam women weekly on this website for making money and expressing opinions that don't align with yours, yet support.....Scott Rudin. A physical and verbal abuser who has violently assaulted assistants for decades, one of them being a friend who has C-PTSD and yet you gleefully bragged about your experience. The hypocrisy for not calling out a man who abuses people and throws heavy objects at their heads, but attacking two women every chance you get who have never put their hands on anyone?

Racist? ✔️

Sexist? ✔️

Hypocrite? ✔️✔️✔️

Absolutely despicable. You deserve every negative comment thrown your way 🤡

Now, back to the beach for me! 😘

Updated On: 7/5/26 at 12:47 PM

Incredible that any potential fun with a new Patti-ism here was almost immediately snuffed out. Incredible. No wonder the board's been bleeding activity.

Updated On: 7/5/26 at 12:56 PM