[Pantyholic]

A group of foreigners who recently visited Dubai have discovered that there are limits to local tolerance after being detained for cross-dressing at a city shopping mall.

On Wednesday of this past week, police detained 40 foreign, “cross-dressing tourists,” according to a Gulf News report – which quoted the local police chief as saying that transvestites were being spotted with increasing frequency.

“This is against the UAE’s traditions and social values,” commented Dubai General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim. A man or woman who impersonates the opposite gender in a public place will be questioned and action will be taken, he said.

Dubai has become a magnet for foreign investors and tourists, and is known for a lifestyle that is quite liberal for its location and Arab culture. More than half of Dubai’s population is expatriate, and hundreds if not thousands can be seen sporting skimpy swimwear at public beaches and drinking alcohol – which is readily available in the city’s bars and restaurants.

In 2006 alone, the UAE saw more than one million UK visitors – and at least 100,000 British nationals have taken up residence.

Openly gay behaviour, as well as cross-dressing, is banned. Regardless of its western appearance and cosmopolitan outlook, Dubai is still a conservative Muslim enclave, and as is true with most of the Arab world, is intolerant of homosexuality.

Sensitivity is mounting regarding public displays of what locals see as indecency, according to sociologist Dr Rima Sabban. She said that Emiratis are becoming frustrated with the lack of respect of local customs by foreign visitors. “With the inflow of so many people, things are getting out of hand,” she commented to the Gulf News.

www.gulfnews.com