Turkey bars LGBTQ+ cruise ship from Kuşadası, prompting outcry

A cruise ship carrying 2,000 LGBTQ+ passengers and Broadway legend Patti LuPone has been denied permission to dock in Turkey, in a move sharply criticised by LGBTQ+ advocates and the voyage organisers.

Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady departed Athens on 5 July for a 10‑day “all‑gay voyage” organised by Atlantis Events, a US company that has specialised in LGBTQ+ cruises and holidays for more than three decades. The itinerary had included stops in Kuşadası on 7 July and Istanbul, The Guardian reports.

Authorities in Turkey’s Aydin province, where Kuşadası is located, announced online that the ship’s call had been cancelled. The statement said the vessel had been chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values”, adding that there was “absolutely no possibility of the group in question visiting our province for an event of this nature”.

Atlantis Events’ president and chief executive, Rich Campbell, told US media that the company had visited Istanbul and Kuşadası 13 times over the past 25 years without similar issues. He described the ban as unprecedented in Atlantis’s 36‑year history, saying it was the first time the company had been explicitly refused entry “because of who we are”.

Campbell noted that extensive discussions involving the US embassy in Turkey had failed to reverse the decision. He emphasised that the voyage is a holiday cruise, advertised a year in advance, and that the ship appears identical to other cruise liners calling at regional ports. The Scarlet Lady will now call at Cairo and Crete instead of Turkey.

LuPone, a 77‑year‑old three‑time Tony award winner performing on board, voiced her anger and disappointment on Instagram. She wrote that a “magnificent ship full of gay men” and herself had been denied entry “simply because of who is on board”. She added that she remained committed to performing for the passengers, whom she said “deserve so much better than this”.

The Turkish central government has yet to issue an official response.

Homosexuality is lawful in Turkey, yet LGBTQ+ people routinely face discrimination and hostile rhetoric from senior officials. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly described LGBTQ+ people as “perverts” and portrayed them as a threat to the traditional family. Istanbul Pride, once attracting thousands of marchers, has been banned every year since 2015 by the ruling conservative government.

The episode also echoes an earlier incident. In 2000, more than 800 gay tourists aboard a cruise ship were blocked from entering Kuşadası and the nearby ancient site of Ephesus. At that time, the then tourism minister, Erkan Mumcu, publicly apologised and stated that authorities “cannot discriminate according to people’s sexual preference”.

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