A kiss, a hug or holding hands — acts of fondness by same sex couples in public have always been out of the question in the United Arab Emirates. Behind closed doors, it has been a different affair for members of the international LGBTQ community. “Much of the Dubaian gay nightlife takes place in venues within the city’s copious international hotels, which are technically open to all who can afford them,” Ryan Centner, a professor of urban geography at the London School of Economics, concluded after six years of field research among gay expatriates in the UAE.