Saudi Arabia shows signs of reassuring LGBTQ visitors before 2034 World Cup

Saudi Arabia is showing tentative signs of trying to reassure LGBTQ visitors before it hosts the 2034 World Cup, including a planned LGBTQ-focused cruise from Jeddah next year, while homosexuality remains criminalised in the kingdom.

The US travel company VACAYA has announced an "Arabian Nights" cruise for spring 2027 from the Red Sea city of Jeddah to Ain Sokhna in Egypt. The company says cabins on the Emerald Kaia luxury super yacht range from $9,900 to $57,000. On its website, VACAYA said that LGBTQ+ visitors had long been unlikely to imagine visiting Saudi Arabia, but that a quiet shift had emerged as the kingdom sought to reshape its international image before the World Cup.

Saudi authorities did not respond to AFP's request for comment on the cruise. Officials have said everyone would be welcome for the football tournament. The official Visit Saudi website includes a question asking whether LGBT visitors are welcome, and answers: "Everyone is welcome." It adds that visitors should respect Saudi culture, traditions and laws, and says visitors are not required to disclose personal information and that their privacy will be respected.

Saudi Arabia has sought in recent years to soften its image through social reforms, including allowing women to drive, reopening cinemas and welcoming non-Muslim tourists. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, the influence of clerics has diminished and the morality police have been constrained.

Saudi Arabia faced criticism over its LGBTQ policies after it was selected at the end of 2024 to host the 2034 World Cup. Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, also faced scrutiny, and some supporters and a journalist were prevented from entering stadiums there because they wore rainbow-coloured clothing.

Homosexuality is a potential capital offence in Saudi Arabia, where Islamic sharia law forms the basis of the judicial system. The country does not have a comprehensive written penal code for all crimes, and the source says enforcement can be vague. Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia has ranked third-highest in the world for executions over the past three years, but the organisation has not recorded any recent LGBTQ-related executions.

Saudi activist and lawyer Tariq Aziz told AFP the planned cruise showed double standards. He said one Saudi Arabia was more tolerant and open for foreigners, while another remained much more conservative for citizens, with freedoms and rights restricted in the name of religious norms and traditions.

AFP reported that some privileged Saudis have been able to test social boundaries in a rapidly changing society where 60 percent of the population is under 35. At last year's MDLBEAST Soundstorm electronic music festival, men wearing makeup or crop tops mixed with others in traditional white thobes. AFP also said that, according to testimonies it gathered, a few well-off homosexual couples discreetly share homes in upscale Riyadh neighbourhoods, though none were willing to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Homosexuality remains largely taboo in Saudi society. Observers cited by AFP believe authorities generally look the other way if same-sex relationships remain strictly private. Dana Ahmed, Amnesty's Middle East researcher, told AFP that supporting LGBT rights and speaking publicly about them is criminalised in Saudi Arabia and could lead to prison. She said the most recent cases documented by Amnesty date to 2022 and that she would categorise them as freedom of expression cases rather than a crackdown on the LGBT community.

Aziz said he was detained from 2021 to 2022 for "promoting homosexuality" and for Twitter posts deemed harmful to public order, religious values and public morals. He has since received refugee status in the United States. Aziz said LGBT Saudis need laws protecting them from discrimination, hatred and persecution. Under one of his social media posts about the cruise, someone claiming to be Saudi wrote: "Let them all drown."