Same-sex relationships are illegal in Dubai and are, officially, not tolerated. If you know the “right” people and the right places in Dubai, there is plenty of gay life. Some of the gay spots in Dubai you can even read about in the Spartacus Directory. However, you can’t compare the gay life here in Dubai with that of Western Europe. Here, it’s almost all “underground” and there are risks involved.

However, many gay people do live in Dubai and, as long as you’re quiet and don’t draw attention to yourselves, you should be fine. Finding other gay people is, however, a big challenge. It can be a problem to find hotel allowing gay people to order one bedroom with one bad, or to rent some other Dubai property for their vacation. However there are many gay men & women there, and as long as they don’t flaunt it publicly everywhere you go, there is no problem whatsoever. The only places they can sort of “let your hair down” is in the nightclubs. Otherwise, it’s better to keep a neutral profile when going around town.

There are, obviously, officially no gay bars and those in the past that have germinated have been swiftly closed down with deportations following with equal swiftness. But anyway the gay scene is up and happening around many nightclubs in the city. It’s one of the many things in Dubai: everyone knows about it, but nobody makes it “official”.

Dubai’s first publicly advertised gay club night the Diamond Club’s gay “Fluff Night” featured a transvestite DJ from Birmingham, England, and a “best-dressed transvestite” contest showed example of importance being “not official”. Alerted to the gay event by the thousands of publicity flyers distributed by the party’s organizers, local authorities closed the club for “violating Islamic laws and indulging in immoral activities”.

The order to close the club, issued by Dubai’s Crown Prince, General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was also seen by those in the region as a public demonstration of the governments disapproval of homosexuality. According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association, consensual sodomy in Dubai is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, although punishment can be more severe if defendants are charged under Islamic law, rather than under the secular penal code.

Very often police raids parties and arrests men in countries like UEA where homosexuality is illegal. Hormone treatments are used in an attempt to “cure” gay men and turn them straight. The same is in Egypt, where once famously arrested more than a dozen gay men attending a boat party, a move that led to international condemnation and criticism from the European Union. Also in Saudi Arabia arrested more than 30 men for taking part in a gay wedding party.

However UAE were warned that any attempt to administer hormone or psychological treatment to foreigners would break international law. A police spokesman in Dubai answered on this that the foreigners were likely to be deported, while the Emirati men could be given hormone therapy if they consent.

The censor in internet sites in Dubai is pretty tough. Almost all of the websites concerning gays are blocked. Gaydar is totally blocked except for their French language version (a strange phenomena that I haven’t figured out yet). Every website that has the word “gay” or “sex” is blocked. While Etisalat has blocked many gay web sites, some of the paid message boards are easily accessible. Who said Dubai doesn’t have a night…er …gay life.

At first Dubai may seem like an unlikely place for horse racing but, as the city that built a snow dome in the desert, perhaps it should come as no great surprise that this Middle Eastern shopping paradise also hosts the world’s richest horse race.

The race was founded in 1996 by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the owner of Darley Stud and Godolphin Racing, one of the world’s leading thoroughbred breeding and racing operations.

Held annually at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, the 2000m track is a left handed dirt course. The race is most notable for being the world’s richest race, with some US$6 million at stake, and the race is recognised as the centrepiece of international racing and hailed as the thoroughbred “World Championship”.

The fact that the race takes place in the Middle East is especially significant, as every thoroughbred horse in the world is descended from three Arabian stallions which were originally exported from the Middle East: the Darley Arabian, the Byerley Turk and the Godolphin Arabian. These stallions were bred with English mares and all modern thoroughbreds carry the genetics of these Arabian horses.

The image of Arabian horsemen charging across the desert is still a strong part of Arab mythology, and there has long been a strong association between the Middle East and horses that has been recognised worldwide for many centuries.

Historically, horses were used as a symbol of power, wealth and status within Middle Eastern society, and horses where selectively bred generation upon generation to increase speed and stamina, which is now seen in many thoroughbred horses across the world.

The race draws horses, riders and racing fans from all over the world and offers a number of upmarket hospitality events for punters. The ‘Breakfast with the Stars’ event features live commentary, celebrity interviews with top guests and live entertainment, with a lavish breakfast buffet that is served on the lawns next to the paddock.

International Village is the heart of the Dubai World Cup social scene and is a great spot to soak up the exhilarating atmosphere of the races. A ticket-only event, the International Village incorporates a multitude of food and beverage outlets and also features the bubble lounge, exhibition stands, live entertainment and giant digital screens to view the live action racing.

Those wishing to visit the world’s richest horse race and looking for accommodation can take their pick from Dubai’s beach hotels, downtown hotels, or Marina hotels, which together offer a selection of upmarket, luxury places in which to base yourself during the Dubai World Cup.

Dubai was the initial emirate of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to get mixed up in the freehold real estate market at the time when the purchasing and selling of assets in Dubai was earlier limited to the GCC Nationals. The amount of expatriates residing in UAE as a whole, particularly Dubai facilitated the requirement to offer various overseas residents the chance to create Dubai a stable abode. With the first freehold property law, which came into place in 2001 and the subsequent property, developments declared all indications pointed to a flourishing future of the freehold market.

Several years on, the hit of the Dubai real estate market has now been appreciated and almost everyone desires to posses a freehold property in the exciting Emirate of UAE. All credit goes to the apparition of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, the formation of the freehold property laws, which enables expatriates to buy properties within definite developments have show the way to huge influxes of venture in the Emirate. This has propelled the financial growth rates of the whole country to tremendously sky-scraping levels, which protected Dubai itself as one of the iconic destination.

The population explosion in Dubai has resulted in umpteen numbers of real estate investors and novel residents from the all over the world over purchasing, renting, investing and selling investing in both the commercial and residential property in Dubai. With massive numbers of innovative businesses rolling in Dubai, the demand of property in Dubai has developed exponentially from the time of the introduction of freehold property law. Immediately with the numerous freehold residential expansion in Dubai, the government started making Dubai more practical as a business center. Thus, the place now provides a huge amount of freehold property office space. Nevertheless, the requirement for the residential space has also mounted up at the same fast pace as the commercial space, implicating that the demand for property outdo the supply. Whether it is offices, houses, showrooms, restaurants, warehouses or any other kind of asset, with such great demand to purchase freehold properties in Dubai, property seldom remains on the Dubai real estate market for long, thus the investors must use a dependable property service to make the job easier.

With an interesting and diverse selection of the freehold property in Dubai currently obtainable in the property market and increasingly developments facing achievement every day, the topmost freehold real estate market developers of Dubai continue to give quality properties both for the residents and the overseas investors to buy.

The purchase of the freehold property in Dubai indicates that the property or house is registered by the possessors name for entire life in majority of the developments in the market in addition to few developments, which offers 99-year leases periodically. The proprietors are issued with an agreement for their property which they purchase and as with purchasing assets in any other country, it is essential to go through and read all the particulars and any limitations that might exist in relation to maintenance and renting costs. It is feasible that all the freehold property buyers in Dubai must seek appropriate lawful advice when buying any kind of commercial or residential property, as the Dubai property law is created to guard you and purchasing freehold property is a major investment.