Turkey blocks cruise ship carrying 2,000 LGBTQ+ passengers and a 'furious' Patti LuPone, citing 'moral values' [View all]

Source: The Guardian

A cruise ship carrying 2,000 LGBTQ+ passengers and the Broadway performer Patti LuPone has been blocked from entering Turkey after local authorities said their behaviour didn’t “align with the structure of our society and our moral values”.

Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady set sail from Athens, Greece, on 5 July for what was billed as “an epic all-gay voyage” over 10 days run by Atlantis, a US company that puts on cruises and vacations for LGBTQ+ people.

The Scarlet Lady was expected to dock in the Turkish port town of Kuşadası on 7 July, followed by a trip to Istanbul.

But authorities in Turkey’s Aydin province, where Kuşadası is, published a statement online saying the cruise was chartered “by groups known for behaviours that do not align with the structure of our society and our moral values”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/06/turkey-blocks-lgbtq-cruise-ship-citing-moral-values-ntwnfb