A Reminder For Travelers After Gay Couple Arrested in Dominica

Dennis Jay Mayer and his partner John Robert Hart say it’s a vacation experience they want to forget.

Last week, authorities in Dominica accused them of having sex on a cruise ship balcony in view of people on shore.

Arrested and put in jail, the men paid $4,000 in fines and pleaded guilty to indecent exposure, before they were released and allowed to return to Palm Springs.

“Actually this is the first time I’ve heard about something like this in particular,” said Palm Desert travel agent Kay Everly while talking about the case.

Everly says the lesson to be learned is a simple one.

She says travelers are bound to the laws rules and customs of whatever country they are visiting, even if they’re on board a cruise ship.

“As Americans, when we are guests in foreign countries, we are bound by rules, laws and guidelines of foreign countries,” said Everly.

On Monday, Mayer and Hart turned down a request for an on camera interview, but Mayer said over the phone that the couple does not plan to take legal action against anyone, though they say the treatment they received while in jail in Dominica was “humiliating” and “inhumane”.

Mayer says the couple “did not have sex on the cruise ship balcony”, but admits they were naked on the balcony.

The story is generating a lot of conversation, especially online.

At the site Dominica News Online, the number of comments on the story now totals nearly 500

On the streets of the desert, people are also talking about the story.

“Do you best not to get arrested in another country is all I can say about that,” said Larry Bean of Palm Desert.

“While you are out of the country go by their rules. You want to relax and be free, but do it in your own country, when you’re not disrupting others rules and sensibilities,” said desert visitor Janine Chausow.

“Keep your pants up in a foreign country I suppose,” said Vancouver Canada resident Trent Stemper.

The company that operates the cruise is Atlantis Events based in West Hollywood.

The president of the company did not take our phone call, but Rich Campbell told the Los Angeles Times his company has taken 50,000 gay men on cruises to the Caribbean for 15 years “without incident”.

Campbell describes the situation with Mayer and Hart as “minor and unfortunate”.