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Arrested gay men describe horrible experience in Dominica
By the TDN Wire Staff
March 23, 2012 8:30 P.M.
Mayer and Hart were detained for about 19 hours in Dominica on indecent exposure charges. |
Roseau, Dominica (TDN) -- The two gay men who were arrested by Dominica police on board the Celebrity X Cruise Liner and fined for indecent exposure have broken their silence in interviews with KTLA TV in California and the Associated Press. Retired police officer Dennis Jay Mayer, 53, and his partner, John Robert Hart, 41 both of Palm Springs, described what they called a “horrible experience” at the hands of the Police.
The two claimed that they were confronted with protestors on the streets of Roseau and that there were forced to stay in “a small cement cell” that they described as “inhumane.” "No light, no water, no toilet," he said, describing the conditions.
It stunk of feces and urine. It was infested with cockroaches, ants and bugs."
"We were taunted all night long. They paraded us around like we were some oddity."
"They paraded many people by to look in on us as if we were some type of animal, which was quite humiliating," he said. "People got great joy in the pleasure of taunting us."
The men reported to the news outlet that after they were fined almost US $1 500 they went to the bank to withdraw the money and when they returned to the court the judge called them “rogues and vagabonds.”
The men said they encountered angry crowds on the way to the bank, "they were chanting and banging on the police vehicle. They were screaming things," he said. "I've never seen anything like this in my life, other than in movies. Both my partner and I really feared for our safety."
They refused to confirm or deny whether they involved in open sex saying only that they could not implicate themselves, “ but we were charged with being naked on the balcony," he said.
"Me and my partner have been together for 17 years," Mayer said. "We weren't trying to put on a show for people. It was frightening to us, and we didn't know how to respond to them because we don't come from a world or country that prosecutes people for being gay."
The men’s description of their experience is in stark contrast to the report given by Keith Campbell president of f Atlantis Event INC the group responsible for organizing the gay cruise tour to Dominica. Campbell noted that “Please understand that the complaint and subsequent arrests had nothing to do with the guests’ sexual orientation, nor was any “anti-gay” law invoked.
“These guests were engaged in behavior that is inappropriate in any port of call, or major city for that matter. The guests were never left on their own.
“We had both representatives from Atlantis and Celebrity cruises with them at all times during their ordeal and had our local representatives look after them last night.
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