Just had the best trip EVER in SD!!!!! The Good, Bad, Ugly and Ridiculous

[mountainannie]

I believe the reason is that there is no way you could sponsor an adult of the same sex.

A man who is a US citizen can sponsor a woman or a woman as a US citizen can sponsor a man as a fianc?, but I do not think same sex relationships can be sponsored in that manner. And since there is no gay marriage allowed in the DR, you could not sponsor them as a spouse.

That is simply incorrect. An American can sponser them as a fiancee on a fiancee visa-- not easy to get but possible.

Also should the OP fall for a gay guy who HAS a US Visa, they can marry ANYWHERE in the US now. The husband would have to return to the DR and await a visa petition.

http://www.visajourney.com/portals/index.php?country=Dominican+Republic&tpage=1&ppage=5&forum=80

It will cost somewhere near $1000 to just file the application. There must be a ton of supporting evidence that the couple is really a couple. And the OP must have an income over 125% of the poverty level - which is about 20k http://www.immihelp.com/affidavit-of-support/i-864p-poverty-guidelines.html

Anyway - since the OP was just here on a brief vacation and fell for two different guys - I think that a marriage which will pass Embassy standards is a long way off.

 

[Criss Colon]

You are not in love, you are in lust!
Common ocurance here!

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[windeguy]

Hey MA, that is good to know. I stand corrected if that is really true. It makes perfect sense that it can happen because of recent US court rulings. Has such a sponsorship ever happened? Google would have been my friend on this one, at least regarding a foreign spouse:


http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/question-green-card-sponsor-partner-28055.html
Question:

I am a gay male U.S. citizen. My partner is a male citizen of Pakistan, here on a student visa. He is smart, and people have said they would hire him if only he had a green card. If we get married, can he get a green card?
Answer:

The answer to this question was once a categorical "no," as historically, the U.S. Congress, as well as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) insisted that heterosexual marriages were the only ones that counted for immigration purposes.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor to overturn a provision in the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") means that the same-sex foreign spouses of U.S. citizens and permanent residents are now eligible to apply for green cards.

Because immigration law is federal and DOMA defined marriage as between a man and a woman, this law said that only heterosexual partners could petition for a green card for their foreign spouses. As a result, even if you were married in one of the U.S. states or countries that then recognized same-sex marriage, you could not sponsor your foreign spouse for a green card or bring your foreign fianc? to the U.S. for purposes of getting married.

That has all changed, thanks largely to the Windsor ruling and to the Supreme Court's subsequent (2015) ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which additionally required all U.S. states to license marriages between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed in another state.

Any same-sex marriage that was officially, legally recognized in the U.S. or the country where it took place now counts for U.S. immigration purposes. You may want to read Nolo's article, "Sponsoring a Fianc? or Spouse for a Visa or Green Card," for the basics of the application process.

 

[mountainannie]

yup -- but I think that the INCOME of the petitioner has a great deal to do with it.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-i-k-1-visa-same-sex-fiance.html

 

[mountainannie]

this island - the DR and Haiti - had one of the highest rates of HIV/Aids in the hemisphere

thanks to some fantastic work by various NGOs.. the rate has dropped.

Still,,prostitutes and gay males are much more at risk - and more likely to be infected.


http://eldia.com.do/prostitutas-y-homosexuales-los-mas-azotados-por-el-sida-en-america-latina-2/

Por ejemplo, en Rep?blica Dominicana la prevalencia del VIH entre los profesionales del sexo alcanza al 4,7% en comparaci?n con la prevalencia nacional, que se sit?a en el 0,7%, dice el informe.

(When I did volunteer work at Population Services - which provides the PANTE condoms here , they used the number of 14% of the sex workers as infected) http://www.psi.org/program/condoms-and-lubricant-intervention/

En el caso de los colectivos homosexuales, Jamaica, Chile y Panam? son los m?s afectados.

La incidencia en ese colectivo es del 38%, 20% y 23%, respectivamente, ?muy superior a la cifra registrada en la poblaci?n en general de estos pa?ses?, advierte. Asimismo, Hait?, Argentina y M?xico registraron una prevalencia de m?s del 15%.

Since the OP did not have sex, all this information will be useful for him on his next trip.

 

[HUG]

HUG as usual you are taking a position which flies in the face of the conventional wisdom about a topic. Anyhow, here is the DR1 article on the topic http://dr1.com/articles/homosexuality.shtml which corresponds largely with what I have just said. It states that gays are largely ostracized by the society, etc. Perhaps you need to write an article about the new tolerance. Here is a quote from the older article:

"These men, though they never reveal their identities, are known as a “bugarron.” In the Dominican Republic these dichotomies in the end don’t mean much, as both men who partake in any form of homosexual activities, or even have the appearance of an effeminate male, are ostracized or considered gay by the society at large. Men who behave in an effeminate manner, or who are suspected of playing the passive role in same-sex intercourse, bear the brunt of social stigma because in doing so they ceded their claims to manly status."

You are making a massive mistake of living your life according to DR1 guidebook, which is only opinion, and who's to say not from living as sheletered a life disconnected to the mass of society that you appear to be. There are a number of DR1 articles that are so far from the reality (albeit I have not found it rekevant to reading all after finding this out) you have to wonder if someone is writing them from the comfort of google. DR1 is the best source of info on DR1, as a mass, that is for sure, and there really is not much competition is there. And remember the majority of expats in DR are rather disconnected from Dominican society.

You can carry on living your life in DR under the rule of the search button, but I am giving you my first hand experience, and as you are not listing occassions when you have seen examples of this rampant homopbobia, nor can I remember homophobia ever being an issue at any other time (quite the opposite infact) I put rather more value on what is glaringly obvious, and that is that there is no issue, and there is a large gay community in DR.

I'd advise you to put your conventional guidebook down and put your head out the window and see for yourself.

Maybe pay a visit to the Gay Pride parade next year and pay attention to how they are really trying to blend in, and how intimidated they feel as rocks are thrown, not! :bunny:

 

[Eleutheria]

A,"straight man"?????????????????????????????? who has sex with other men for money, yeah right!!!!

He knows he isn't gay, because every time another guy "packs his fudge" he doesn't really enjoy it!!!!!

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I believe there is a distinction between being a "top"or a "bottom". A "straight" man can be a "top" for money and still consider himself straight. This same man would not consider being a "bottom" as that would be "gay".

Lots of "quotes" for "you" CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC and yeah isn't it crazy? Same view in Cuba. Only the "receiver" is gay.

Definitely a different take on things.

 

[chic]

what nights were you there....because i was out lookin i had on some fab ralph l's tight to the bottom soft cottom form fitting pegs.....it was romantic just getting stared at...if you know what i mean... i was there on the malecon and maybe it was me

 

[Tamborista]

Where is Ay Zee Bee when you need him?

 

[jruane44]

I believe there is a distinction between being a "top"or a "bottom". A "straight" man can be a "top" for money and still consider himself straight. This same man would not consider being a "bottom" as that would be "gay".

Lots of "quotes" for "you" CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC and yeah isn't it crazy? Same view in Cuba. Only the "receiver" is gay.

Definitely a different take on things.

Okay.....you have got to b r kidding me.

 

[HUG]

Hug, again you are making false assumptions and wrongly attributing my position. I will clarify this for you once again. What is written on the DR1 article coincides with what I have personally observed. I live in a Dominican neighborhood, and interact with Dominicans (not expats) on a daily basis. I actually do not see gays often here in Santiago apart from the carnival season. As in America they appear to be popular at the salon with the women. I think the OP's original post speaks for itself about how gays are treated here.

The fact you state you don't see gays does kind of put value to your points of observation, you can't observe what you do not see. And in which way does the OP's post speak for itself. If you mean about the police turning him over then I guess the DR is highly hetrophobic, as without doubt 5000/1, or higher the police turn over more hetrosexual men. I'll bet you have never witnessed homophobia in DR of any relevance or you would have put forward these experiences by now. And so I'll stay confident that this is an opinion you derived from the search option, that only makes sense under your own personal experiences.
My assumptions aren't false, they are taken from what you tell me. You never see them, but you read something about it on DR1.

 

[SantiagoDR]

Hug,

He said:

I actually do not see gays often here in Santiago apart from the carnival season....

Leaving out the word "OFTEN" in your response totally changes his statement.

 

[HUG]

Hug,

He said:


Leaving out the word "OFTEN" in your response totally changes his statement.

With or without, as you like, I'm not going to be anal about it. Changes nothing in terms of there is no account of actual phobic reactions to gay men. It's unfounded opinion is all I'm saying, and no surprise. Everyone has an opinion but a high number of DR1ers are utterly removed from real time modern generation DR. But it's always gunna be like that because of the huge divide.
The people really don't care what other people do, wear, work as, live in or prefer sexually, nor make those judgements we are so used in our first world where people clearly have little else to be preoccupied with. These first world petty concerns don't even exist where people in general just let each other do whatever they need to to get by.

 

[joselowe]

what nights were you there....because i was out lookin i had on some fab ralph l's tight to the bottom soft cottom form fitting pegs.....it was romantic just getting stared at...if you know what i mean... i was there on the malecon and maybe it was me

From the 4th til the 13th

 

[Tamborista]

From the 4th til the 13th

I suspect Chic is playing you, he rarely leaves the comfort zone of his white plastic chair @ the colmado, and can be spotted by his Lynard Skynard patches on his Lee cut offs and matching beer bottle cooler.

 

[Aguaita29]

As far as the DR I would hesitate to call it tolerant of gays given that it:

1. Is a Catholic country.
2. Is a machista culture.
3. Is but a generation removed from open violence on gays/transsexuals, etc.

Perhaps if you hang out in wealthy areas of SD, then you might see tolerance. But anywhere else I doubt it. I think the OP's posting shows the lack of tolerance towards him. We need to remember also that when America tried to push its gay rights agenda last year it was met with firm resistance from politicians and the populace alike.

It is more accepted than before, but actually, you're right! Foreigners tend to mistake the lack of physical violence against gays as acceptance, but that's not all accurate.
People will not just go up to you and beat you up, or grab someone, beat him up and tie him to a fence to let him die just cause they're gay, like it's happened in "civilized" countries; it's just that harming someone you've never even talked to before just cause they look, dress and talk a certain way, is not really typical Dominican behavior, but that doesn't mean that they're accepting you.
I guess someone could say that disliking gay behavior and not acting physically upon it, can be labeled as tolerance, this may be true, depending on where they're coming from, but for instance, I also know people who have refused to provide their business services to "flamboyant" gays. That is not tolerance!

 

[Kipling333]

Really I do not think that many people here know anything about AIDS/HIV . If they did they would know that a blood analysis can very easily show if the infection was from same sex people or between a man and a woman. There are numerous statistics that show that the predominant infection in the DR from a man /woman relationship. which is the exact opposite to the USA

 

[pauleast]

I believe there is a distinction between being a "top"or a "bottom". A "straight" man can be a "top" for money and still consider himself straight. This same man would not consider being a "bottom" as that would be "gay".

Lots of "quotes" for "you" CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC and yeah isn't it crazy? Same view in Cuba. Only the "receiver" is gay.

Definitely a different take on things.

Now I'm getting aroused ....could you please explain public restroom love, you seem to be knowledgeable

 

[Criss Colon]

I would imagine that the HIV rate for prostitutes is usually in the double digits. I wouldn't be surprised if it is above 50% for homosexual prostitutes.

On what valid statistics do you ''IMAGINE" your figures??????????????????
Sound's more like imagined moral agenda statistics to me.

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My two daughters are in a catholic grade school and have sex education classes every year.

You really know nothing about being gay here in the DR or anywhere else.
Your stereotypes are 30 years old!

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[Bronxboy]

I have no experience with prostitutes so I will defer to your vast knowledge on the subject.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm