Turkey blocks cruise ship carrying 2,000 LGBTQ+ passengers and a ‘furious’ Patti LuPone, citing ‘moral values’

A cruise ship carrying 2,000 LGBTQ+ passengers and the Broadway performer Patti LuPone has been blocked from entering Turkey after local authorities said their behaviour didn’t “align with the structure of our society and our moral values”.Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady set sail from Athens, Greece, on 5 July for what was billed as “an epic all-gay voyage” over 10 days run by Atlantis, a US company that puts on cruises and vacations for LGBTQ+ people.The Scarlet Lady was expected to dock in the Turkish port town of Kuşadası on 7 July, followed by a trip to Istanbul.But authorities in Turkey’s Aydin province, where Kuşadası is, published a statement online saying the cruise was chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values”.The ship’s arrival had been “cancelled” after it “sparked significant public concern”, they added: “There is absolutely no possibility of the group in question visiting our province for an event of this nature.”Atlantis has docked gay cruises in Istanbul and Kuşadası 13 times in the last 25 years, Rich Campbell, the president and chief executive of Atlantis Events, told USA Today.LuPone, the 77-year-old Tony award winner who is performing on the ship, took to Instagram to share her shock regarding the news on Saturday.“The Atlantis cruise I am performing on next week has been banned from entering Turkey,” she wrote. “A ship – a magnificent ship – full of gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board.“I am furious, but I am sailing, as the ship will make other ports of call. I am ready to perform for all the wonderful men on this Atlantis cruise, who deserve so much better than this.”Campbell told CNN he was shocked by the decision and said it was the first time Atlantis had been “actively told we may not berth here because of who we are” in its 36-year history.“It’s pretty stunning, to be honest,” he said. “I mean, and the reasoning behind it is that it’s a gay group. It’s very concerning to me when a country decides they can pick and choose which tourists are allowed in and which are not.”He told USA Today that the company had not been able “to get the Turkish authorities to move”, despite extensive calls with the US embassy in Turkey.“When we pull into port, the ship looks like any other ship,” he said. “It’s not like we’re not a gay pride rally, we’re not a march, we’re not an organisation, we’re not a political statement in any way. The cruise was advertised a year ago, it’s not new.”The ship will now stop in Cairo and Crete instead of Turkey.Representatives of the Turkish government have yet to comment on the matter.Homosexuality is not criminalised in Turkey but homophobia is widespread. It reaches even the highest levels of government, with the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, regularly describing LGBTQ+ people as “perverts” and a threat to the traditional family.Istanbul Pride was once a lively affair with thousands of marchers but it has been banned each year since 2015 by Turkey’s ruling conservative government.In 2000 the then tourism minister apologised after police prevented more than 800 gay tourists on a cruise liner from entering Kuşadası and the nearby Roman ruins at Ephesus. “I hope they will complete their trip without any problems,” Erkan Mumcu said. “We cannot discriminate according to people’s sexual preference.”