Wow. That's tough. Makes being stopped for a DUI or expired licence or breaking a traffic light seem pretty reasonable in comparison. Did you ever have personal experience of this treatment, or is it anecdotal? Or widely known?

Widely known and reported, but unfortunately I had a personal run-in with some immigration police when I (unbeknownst to me) breached a regulation: I changed my passport so had to transfer my visa to the new one, NO ONE told me I couldn't go out of the country until I did that and I had a business trip coming up which I went ahead with. When I came back to Malaysia they sent me to immigration where the officers proceeded to harangue and threaten me with deportation for about 10-15 minutes, repeatedly asking me why I had done this and if I wanted to ruin my life and be kicked out of the country, either to put the fear of God in me, or out of pure sadism. I was bewildered. I never experienced such helplessness in the face of power before. All I could do was listen and be extra contrite in the hopes they would show mercy. I understood there how dangerous it was to have ignorant and uneducated people in positions of authority. And also how unprotected I was.

I had this awareness also when I was living in Dubai, where the slightest transgression will get you deported.

It gave me a new appreciation of countries whose civil servants, police etc, may not be perfect, but are not beyond reproach and where you know exactly what your rights are.

If you don't mind me asking... Why do you live there? You couldn't pay me enough to live in a strict Muslim country, especially you're an openly gay man.

Yeah well, I guess I'm not principled enough to say no. And the money is good. And this kind of money I can only make living and working in these kinds of countries. So.

I mean it's not Saudi Arabia. I'd say no to that. Not because I think I'd be stoned to death but because my partner couldn't get a visa and we couldn't be together. Here he can come and go on a tourist visa so that's something. And the life is good, if you ignore all the bad things. It's actually much more relaxed than Dubai.

Anyway, sometimes you have to take a little crap to get what you want. And I want to retire as soon as possible...;)

I hear that. Its not a matter of principle just.... I dunno I wouldn't feel like I could really live my life.

But I could see doing it for a couple years and racking up and then getting the **** out. Can you even date and **** without worrying about the police or is homosexuality just straight up banned?

Well actually, there is plenty of very flaming gay people around, lots of trans people also and as far as I can tell, the police generally leave you alone as long as you're not doing something outrageous like an orgy. Apart from the politically motivated ones, those are the only cases I've heard about of people being prosecuted for gay sex. There is a gay club in the center of town which is generally allowed to operate, but then every now and then (mostly before or right after the election) they make a raid and arrest a bunch of people (either trans or muslim) and then let them off with a misdemeanor or something.

I personally don't date since I have a partner and we are monogamous, but when I was in Dubai it was a little tricky since I had a paranoia that someone might use the dating apps to trap and blackmail you or that maybe even the police could use them to track down gay people (I haven't heard of that happening but it was going through my mind).

On the other hand when I was in the Middle east I saw that even in Iran and Saudi their dating (app) scenes are thriving so...gay people adapt. What can you do?

For me the biggest impact on my life is that I don't go around touching or kissing my partner in public. But I rarely do that in the west anyway, for fear of a violent homophobic attack. At least in Croatia. I'm less concerned in Spain.

And also I don't criticize the government, judicial system or police in any public way since freedom of speech is absolutely not guaranteed.

BUT ASIDE FROM THAT...:D

In my experience, the police where I live are, at best, apathetic. At worst, they're corrupt, violent, or both.

Every time I see a cop they never where a mask. Today I saw three cops all standing next to each other for like an hour. No masks. Why the **** are we lorded over by mother****ing morons?

The owner of a local coffee shop is a known KKK member who stormed the capital.

Guess which farm animal I always see in the shop when I walk by.

A chicken?