# American tourists attacked in St. Lucia



## siesta (Mar 16, 2011)

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/03/15/st.lucia.attack/index.html?hpt=Sbin


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## brother coony (Mar 16, 2011)

This was not an Attacked on tourists but an attacked ones belief, I live in NY, and when tourists comes to NY we welcome them and hope they enjoy them selfs,while respecting our laws and the laws of the country


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## siesta (Mar 16, 2011)

*for those not familiar with St. Lucia's laws*

"Homosexual relations are against the law in St. Lucia and there is widespread social discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the deeply conservative society," according to the U.S. Department of State 2009 Human Rights Report.


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## tombo (Mar 16, 2011)

They should not have been attacked for any reason including sexual orientation, but if one is gay they need to research countries, their laws, and their cultures because some countries are even more anti-gay. People have the right to be gay and I am not trying to sound otherwise, but there are some places in the world where it is not safe to travel if you are an American, and there are some places in the worl where it is not safe to travel if you are gay. 

In some middle east countries where they have strict sharia law if one is found to be gay they would be jailed , hung, or stoned to death. In some countries in the world just being accused of being gay means going to prison. Not every country is as open as the US to the gay lifestyle.

Sometimes you need to think about where you are considering vacationing. If I was gay I would not vacation in a country where it is illegal to be gay any more than I would vacation in a country where it is illegal to be Christian or straight (both of which I am). I would not vacation in any country where marijuana is a 20 or 30 year prison term if I liked to smoke weed on vacation. I would not vacation in a "dry" country where no alcohol is allowed if I wanted to have some drinks at night before bed. I would not go to a country where women can't drive, read, write, and have to cover their faces if I was a woman. As a man I would not vacation in a country looking for single women to date if the localculture is for the family to kill their own daughters if they date or are intimate outside of family arranged marriages. Common sense things to consider before travelling to a foreign country.

Just because we accept things in the US, doesn't mean everyone does, or that they should. When in another country you have to follow their laws and abide by their rules and customs or face the consequences. Sometimes as Americans we feel like we can go where we want to and act like we want because it is our right. Our American rights end when we leave the US borders.


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## pianodinosaur (Mar 16, 2011)

The unfortunate victims of his attack were robbed of about $1870 according to the article posted in CNN.  The article did not mention the name of the hotel or resort where this incident took place.  Additional articles about this event posted on MSNBC  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42077717/ns/travel-news/  and CBS  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/14/ap/world/main20043119.shtml reveal that the criminals also expressed their hatred of white people as well as of homosexuals.  The victims of this brutal robbery were staying in a vacation cottage.  I would hope that the hotels and timeshares in St. Lucia reevaluate their security. 

We went to St. Lucia on a Holland America cruise paid with HGVC points. St. Lucia is a lovely island and we had a great time.  Unfortunately, evil people may be found in any race, religion, country, or ethnic background.


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