On a recent trip to Bali, Jessie Lewthwaite found herself questioning whether she should even be there.
When my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to go to Bali with her and her friends, I was hesitant – and not just because I wanted to avoid being just another Australian in Bali. My first thought was, Are we allowed to be gay there?
After a hyperfixation deep dive into the laws and human rights in Indonesia, the internet reassured me that Bali specifically was so used to Western tourists that, although Indonesia didn’t have great laws, my girlfriend and I would be safe.
Unfortunately, in my exhausting quest to be New Zealand’s most woke lesbo (I’m coming for your crown, Chlöe – watch out), I then immediately started wondering if it was ethical to give my tourist dollars to a country that was only OK with me being gay because I’m a tourist.
In the end I went, of course, had an amazing time, drank my weight in cocktails, and met several other lesbian couples over there who laughed openly when I told them about my ethical dilemma.
The Things You Learn in Human Rights Work
One of the issues with working in the human rights space is you learn things you’d rather not know. Like the fact it is currently illegal to be LGBTQIA+ in sixty-four countries – and twelve of those countries have the death penalty as punishment for “same-sex acts”.
This very unfun fact has meant that, in my career, I have helped many rainbow people apply for refugee status so they can stay in New Zealand. Returning to their countries could result in prison, public flogging, stoning, or death.
And because capitalism is yet to be defeated, the governments and regimes that run these countries are partially funded by tourist dollars. As much as I love to complain about the New Zealand government – and I really do – it isn’t difficult to see why New Zealand is one of the rainbow pathways for refugees.
So, How Do We Travel Ethically as Queer People?
Now that we are all depressed together, what can we actually do to travel ethically as queer people?
First – vote with your dollars. If you are blessed enough in this economy to have the disposable income to travel, then give that money to a government that supports us. And by “us” I mean the whole alphabet family. Some countries might be OK to ignore lesbians, or pretend we don’t exist, but will imprison gay men or trans people. Leave no letter in the acronym behind.
Second – make sure you educate yourself. There are so many good resources online that will give you information on laws, human rights, and the social expectations of countries. You can’t form an opinion unless it is an informed opinion – so get that info.
Third – when you do travel, use your time and money to support local, queer-owned, and queer-friendly businesses. Remember, we are a marginalised group that literally exists in every country, through every time period, under every government. No matter where you go, there will be queer people there – find where they thrive.
Travel with a Conscience
If anyone else has ever binged reels of those “extreme travel bloggers” that go to places that are intentionally dangerous, you’ll notice one thing in common with all of them: they are all cis, white, straight men. They are fuelled by unacknowledged privilege and the absolute audacity.
Intentionally going to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan for views and clicks is not our game, fam.
