Greg Morley has spent decades traveling around the world on LGBTQ+ cruises with his husband, visiting far-flung destinations in America, Asia and Europe – all on a safe ship where, as he says, “everyone belongs.”
So when the 59-year-old Philadelphian, who now lives in Paris, embarked on his latest “Athens to Venice” trip under the supervision of LGBT travel company Atlantis Events, he said he couldn’t wait to see the “amazing and iconic” attractions on offer.
But those plans were derailed on Thursday when Egyptian authorities blocked the Scarlet Lady from entering their waters at the last minute, days after the ship was denied entry into Turkey.
“We got full approval, but they denied us permission at the 11th hour,” Rich Campbell, president and CEO of Atlantis Events, told CNN.
In a memo to passengers on Thursday morning, seen by CNN, Campbell said: “I know how much this visit meant to many of you. We successfully completed a similar route last year without issue, so we were surprised by this unfortunate decision.”
For Morley, the last-minute change caused a huge sense of disappointment, but he said passengers had turned their disappointment into a feeling of “renewed commitment to community,” including those living in Turkey and Egypt, where human rights groups have warned of a crackdown on LGBTQ rights.
CNN has reached out to Turkish and Egyptian authorities for comment.
Last week, Turkish authorities blocked the Scarlet Lady cruise ship, which carries more than 1,000 passengers from the United States, from entering two of the country’s ports. Officials said the ship was chartered by groups “known for behavior inconsistent with the fabric of our society and our moral values.”
The Atlantis quickly diverted the ship to Cairo, but Egypt followed Turkey’s lead and took steps to ban the cruise ship from its waters, according to Campbell, who called the decision “outrageous.” Instead, the cruise ship headed to the Greek island of Crete on Friday.
“I was thinking about the LGBT communities in Egypt and Turkey, where the LGBT community doesn’t have the option to just sail away,” Morley, a passenger, told CNN. “The discrimination and lack of opportunity that results from the short-sighted marginalization of LGBTQ people and other minorities causes harm that goes far beyond relocating a cruise ship.”
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has used increasingly harsh rhetoric against the LGBT community over the past decade, drawing condemnation from human rights groups. Authorities have banned pride events in Istanbul since 2015, citing public safety concerns.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, morality laws are often used to persecute the LGBT community, and the UK-based Human Dignity Trust reports that members of the community are subject to frequent arrests, harassment and forced bribes.
For some cruise passengers, such as British actor Rob Houchen, the bans were a “real wake-up call” about the plight of LGBTQ rights around the world.
“Things are not improving and we need to recognize that,” he said on social media Thursday. “Take care of everyone around you, all these strange people, and take care of them.”
Morley said it was time for the LGBT community to “reaffirm how we spend our significant travel dollars.”
About 1,100 of the flight’s 1,900 guests were from the United States, Campbell said. The remaining travelers are from the UK, Canada and Australia, among other countries.
Passenger Randy Slovachek, interviewed by CNN last week about Turkey’s decision, said many people on the ship went to bed early Wednesday evening in preparation for the morning departure to the pyramids in Cairo – excursions that had to be cancelled.
As a result of these cancellations, local tour operators, restaurants, taxi drivers and store owners will likely lose paying customers and “the opportunity for cultural exchange that changes the hearts and minds of our community,” according to Meg Ten Eyck, chair of the board of directors of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association.
“A cruise ship being turned away from two ports in one week is one of the most visible versions of what LGBTQ+ travelers experience all the time, in small ways, around the world,” she told CNN.
Echoing the sentiment, Kyle Olsen, owner of LGBT travel company Hermes Holidays, said the cruise bans reflected a “broader global trend” and were a “sad reflection of what is happening around the world.”
“We’ve seen the rise of right-wing governments and increasingly conservative political movements, and as a result, LGBTQI+ rights are in retreat in many places,” Olsen told CNN. “Turkey and Egypt solutions do not exist in isolation.”
Despite these challenges, Morley concluded with a message of LGBTQ resilience.
“Redirecting this ship has created an even greater sense of community on board,” he said. “It’s a wonderful thing to experience.”