Gay Travel Book in Translation Trouble

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  07.15.09 | 4:04 PM ET

Long-time Frommers writer Michael Luongo’s “Gay Travels in the Muslim World” has become the first gay-focused English language book to be translated into Arabic. The only catch? Every instance of the word “gay” has been translated to read “pervert.” Luongo had planned a Middle Eastern promotional tour, but, as he told Page Six, “this has thrown a wrench into the plans. Imagine standing in front of a crowd declaring yourself a pervert. So far I have avoided real fatwas, though I’ve been told the Taliban produced a Web site condemning the book. But with this new title, who knows?” (Via The Book Bench)

Tags: Islam, Languages, Travel Books, Literary Travel

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for Gay Travel Book in Translation Trouble

Grizzly Bear Mom 07.17.09 | 4:46 PM ET

A few months ago we read about a women who arrested for drinking coffee with men that aren’t their husbands.  Doesn’t this book serve as a guidebook for the morals police to arrest Gays?

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