Been asked to work on a project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Anyone has experience working there? Is it safe for gay men? It is a 2 week on and 2 week off project for 6 months.

Certainly lots of gay men live and work in Saudi. Homosexuality is illegal though and the law is enforced (don’t count on white/foreign privilege) so the only way to ensure ‘safety’ is to not to do anything that could be considered ‘homosexual’. That said you can use a VPN for Grindr and you won’t be the only one in your hotel... All depends on your appetite for risk

It’s safe if you do nothing but work in the 2 weeks there. Most consultants (even straight ones) then let off steam in Dubai at the weekend. If you have a bf, he obviously doesn’t come to visit you in Riyadh. And you just avoid personal discussions with locals - they’re smart (and plenty of them have same sex fun since premarital sex is also dangerous). So it works ok, but 6 months is a long time. If the work is interesting and you can accept being back in the closet for periods of time, should be ok

Agree with the above. I lived out in ME for two years and had regular weeks in Saudi. Just don’t talk about you personal life in SA or do n’t take any actions to incriminate yourself.

It is one of the worlds less desirable assignments, particularly for a gay man. I’m not sure I would take this.

Get out to Bahrain at the weekend! With the US and U.K. naval bases there, it becomes a rowdy party on Thursday and Friday nights! All the Saudis let off steam there too. It’s an eclectic mix. Watch out for drunk driving on the bridge on the way home though - it’s better to fly.

I appreciate all the comments. I decided not to take the assignment, my husband was totally freaking out about it.

Very interesting post as considered role in Dubai and leary of being out in the ME

I was going to say, being gay is punishable by death in majority of ME countries. And SA is about as bad as it gets for any minority

^ being gay isn’t, having homosexual sex is. So if you keep head down and work it’s perfectly safe. You just have to be okay being closeted, which is pretty rough

Personally, I would avoid. There are so many places in the world that don’t murder gay people

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.economist.com/open-future/2018/06/06/how-homosexuality-became-a-crime-in-the-middle-east#ampf=undefined It's illegal. You think if those "courts" over there find out you're gay, then are gonna say that's cool you're you claim you aren't having sex? Nooo. Especially SA where they are under Wahhabism, the strictest form of Islam. The only middle eastern country where I would feel safe living as a lesbian (woman AND gay, in screwed) would be Israel. Glad you turned it down OP.