GUEST PRIVILEGES

An American expat relocates to the Middle East and finds himself immersed in the region’s stealth queer subculture.

“On a fraught, decade-long journey of dislocation,” Adams researched how queer people, mostly emigrants, survived and managed to thrive in the Persian Gulf States, where homosexuality is illegal and often punishable with hefty fines, a potential 10-year prison sentence, deportation, torture, and even death. In 2010, with a degree in Middle Eastern history from New York University, Adams relocated to the United Arab Emirates and began working as an academic researcher on cultural traditions. As a gay man, what he soon uncovered and focused more closely on was archiving life stories of queer people living in the UAE. Among the first interviews the author conducted was one with a Dubai-based, Pakistani Muslim competitive wrestler named Mohammed and his dedicated, demanding coach, Prashant, an Indian Hindu. Through hushed inquiry, Adams discovered that both men were lovers, having cast aside their national and religious differences to embrace love for each other. Through a mesmerizing succession of intimate disclosures and vivid conversations, the author profiled members of a flourishing clandestine community. Despite the perils of living as their authentic selves “in a place that persecutes them,” Adams met many vibrant people, including a figure skater from Iran; Sri Lankan and Turkish girlfriends; Filipino aestheticians who threw furtive “ladyboy” parties; and parkour athletes who remained in the UAE despite having exhausted attempts at Middle Eastern citizenship. Throughout his travels, Adams became intimately familiar with the rigidly structured and carefully calibrated intercourse taking place among the Gulf’s queer subcommunities. In doing so, he internalized that group’s struggle to find community, identity, love, and a place to call home and became a better man for it.

A striking cross section of an imperiled queer community that calls the Persian Gulf home.