Turkey and Egypt Deny Entry to American LGBTQ+ Cruise, Cite ‘Moral Standards’
“It’s very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not.”
An American LGBTQ+ cruise ship was barred from docking in both Turkey and Egypt after officials in the two countries objected to the voyage on moral and cultural grounds. The move left passengers scrambling as port calls were canceled and offered a stark reminder that the Western celebration of LGBTQ+ activism is far from universally embraced.
The 10-day “Athens to Venice” cruise aboard “The Scarlet Lady,” a vessel owned by Richard Branson’s cruise line Virgin Voyages, departed Athens on July 5 as planned, but was forced to revise its itinerary after Turkey refused to allow the ship to dock.
Rich Campbell, president and CEO of Atlantis Events, told CNN on Thursday that Turkish authorities denied entry to the cruise ship, which had been scheduled to visit the port of Kusadasi on July 7 and Istanbul the following day, citing “moral standards” and “family values.”
CNN reported:
Authorities in Turkey’s Aydin province, where the port of Kuşadası is located, said there is ‘absolutely no possibility of the group in question visiting our province for an event of this nature.’
…
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has adopted increasingly harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community over the past decade, sparking condemnation from rights groups. Authorities have banned Pride marches in Istanbul since 2015, citing public safety and security concerns.
“It’s pretty stunning, to be honest. I mean, and the reasoning behind it is that it’s a gay group,” Campbell said. “It’s very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not.”
Actually, countries should be free to “pick and choose” which tourists may enter and which may not. That’s called sovereignty. But I digress.
He noted it was “the first time in 36 years that the company has been ‘actively told we may not berth here because of who we are.’”
Campbell estimated that roughly 1,100 of the ship’s 1,900 male passengers were American, while the remainder came from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other countries.
After being rebuffed by Turkish authorities, the cruise line revised its itinerary, informing passengers they would instead visit Cairo, Egypt, and the Greek island of Crete.
Unfortunately, the ship was denied entry into Egypt as well.
The Gay cruise that got rejected from Turkey is now being denied entry into… Egypt…
Are people this oblivious about the Middle East and gay rights there?
Funny thing the only country they would prob have fun in is Israel… if only they could their biases aside and go. pic.twitter.com/VXRfgttRbk
— Ben 🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@BennnnnBennnnnn) July 10, 2026
Content Warning: Some readers may find the images included in the following video to be offensive.
🇹🇷🇪🇬 A cruise packed with nearly 2,000 LGBTQ passengers just got turned away by two countries in one week.
Turkey said no first, refusing to let the Scarlet Lady dock in Kuşadası or Istanbul over “moral values.”
So it rerouted to Egypt, which took one look and said no thanks…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 10, 2026
CNN interviewed Randy Slovacek, a passenger on the ship as well as a journalist who often writes about LGBTQ+ issues, on Sunday. He said he had visited Turkey before on an Atlantis cruise. “There’s never been a problem, none at all, but suddenly they have a problem.”
Slovacek explained that, in June, a Turkish nightclub “apparently posted a social media invite” which read, “Hey Atlantis Virgin cruisers: If you would like to come by our place, we’d love to have you.”
That caught the attention of local officials who felt that suddenly, they’re now noticing that Atlantis Cruises was coming. Now, I should note that, in its 36-year history, Atlantis has been to Turkey 13 times. I was actually there with Atlantis two years ago. There [has] never been a problem.
None at all, but suddenly, they have a problem. … The local authorities shut down the local nightclub and then that shutdown escalated things even further. Then it got more attention. And higher up officials decided, well, maybe this ship shouldn’t be stopping here because you mentioned something about moral values or family values.
We are just a group of people who are just touring the world and trying to see everything we can.
Hot Air’s David Strom raised an interesting point: “The one country in the Middle East they would actually be welcome and enjoy visiting is Israel, and probably 90% of the people on that cruise think that the Jews there are the bad guys.”
At any rate, many Americans will undoubtedly find the decisions by Turkey and Egypt surprising, if not offensive. But sovereign nations have the right to determine who may — and who may not — enter their borders and under what conditions. If countries are free to deny entry based on their own moral, cultural, or security standards, how much more are they entitled to refuse admission to individuals they believe pose a threat to public safety or national security?
Whether one agrees with Turkey’s and Egypt’s reasoning or not, the episode is a reminder that every sovereign nation has the right to control its own borders. It should also serve as a wake-up call to groups such as Queers for Palestine that not every country shares the American Left’s enthusiasm for celebrating and protecting the LGBTQ community.
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Comments
Serves them right. They’re just lucky they weren’t invited in only to be thrown off buildings.
It’s very concerning to that tour guy that countries can decide who enter and who doesn’t. Maybe you should have checked first but that’s just me. Another clueless American that thinks the entire planet needs to condone or support what they get away with here. I wonder if this will wake up some of the gay cruisers to the incompatibility of muslims to the western countries but I doubt it.
They did check first. The Turks changed their minds when it got publicity. Which is their right, but the cruise organizers did as much due diligence as they could.
This is just another illustration of the monumental cognitive delusion of those American Jews who believe they can be political allies of Muslims.
“Actually, countries should be free to “pick and choose” which tourists may enter and which may not. That’s called sovereignty. But I digress.”
Exactly this.
Failing that, enact a Bronx Tale provision:
“Now youse CAN’T leave…”
The best part I liked was the mention that they apparently never considered visiting instead the one country in the Middle East which doesn’t favor defenestrating gays from rooftops.
It might arguably be for security / safety reasons, but I’m willing to bet a sizable portion (if not a majority) of this particular tourist demographic would have had fainting spells if the cruise ship had not boycotted Israeli ports.
I can see why the Turks don’t want them there, when you have a man out in public dancing around in his skivvies I wouldn’t want him walking the streets either.
I would think he were either homeless or insane.
Another point, I learned at a young an age that I try to stay away from people who don’t want me around.
One question, did those other cruise ships advertise as a homo-flotilla?
Rump tourists should be denied entry.
Perhaps these jolly fellows should sail to Minneapolis. I hear that town just legalized public bath houses for men who like to float their boat in anyone’s moat.
Ha. Take that, Egypt.
Queers for Palestine just got hit with the reality stick !
You’ve got to tread very lightly in certain areas when your only reason for existing and your only identity is displaying your sexual perversions and deviancy for all to see.
Today I learned that I do not, in fact, have a heart of stone.
Israel’s tourist board should extend an invitation, if only for the LOLs.
Even better: the authorities first allow the ship to enter the harbour and even put the pilots on board, only to prohibit it from docking when it is just a few kilometres from its destination. It doesn’t get any better than that…
We should suggest the two countries open their borders and citizenship to all? What could possibly go wrong.
“It’s very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not.”
That is PRECISELY what countries are allowed to do. Tattoos are heavily frowned upon in Japan. Don’t like it…don’t go.
Culture Marxism has them blind to the Muslim world
Awaiting a ruling from Judge Boasberg that Egypt and Turkey must admit the cruise ship passengers “as fast as the customs paperwork can be processed.”
Yep … (checks clock) … any minute now …
He noted it was “the first time in 36 years that the company has been ‘actively told we may not berth here because of who we are.’”
Campbell, you lying moron. It’s not a matter of “who you are”. It’s a matter of what you do.
Knowing that someone is gay gives you very little information on what they do.
Just another case of Americans who have never been anywhere getting smacked in the head by the board of reality. They finally realize large parts of the world are not going to put up with whatever they do in States.
You regulars know I play for the other team so I’ll offer my view on this: Turkey and Egypt are nations that can set whatever policies they wish. I support them in this.
I say well done! If only the US had the same balls.
Well, well, well. Even a broken clock (Islam) is right twice every 24 hours.
We have a pride month. Will we also have months to celebrate envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed? This gives over half of the year to celebration of the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Pride” as in “gay pride” is not the opposite of “humility”, it’s the opposite of “shame”.
Doesn’t literally every country in the world do that?
Campbell said. “It’s very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not.”
Many of the passengers come from a country where they despise sovereignty and want open borders, and are surprised when countries invoke their sovereignty and enforce their borders.
Looks like their civil rights and liberties aren’t interchangeable from country to country.
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