Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Amazon blocks searches for LGBTQ+ products in the United Arab Emirates amid regional anti-homosexuality push

Amazon blocks searches for LGBTQ+ products in the United Arab Emirates amid regional anti-homosexuality push

Amazon described its decision as one made to abide by local laws.  

E-commerce giant Amazon is blocking search results for LGBTQ-related products on its United Arab Emirates website, following a series of pushbacks against same-sex themes in the Gulf region.

Amazon made the decision after coming under pressure from UAE authorities, who reportedly threatened it with penalties and gave it until Friday to comply with its demand to restrict search results for LGBTQ-themed materials. This is according to documents viewed by the New York Times, who first reported the story.

“After hearing from the Emirates, Amazon had its Restricted Products team take steps to remove individual product listings, and a team that manages the company’s search abilities hid the results for more than 150 keywords,” the Times wrote in its report. Those keywords included “lgbtq,” “pride,” “closeted gay” and “transgender flag,” among others, the report said.

A search for “LGBT” and “LGBTQ” on Amazon’s UAE site on Friday, July 1, produced no results. But searches for “pride” did produce a few rainbow-themed items like notebooks, shirts and phone cases bearing the word “pride.” Rainbow flags with no wording on them were still available.

The UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a CNBC request for comment at the time of writing.

The news follows Pride month, which is celebrated in countries around the world but not in the religiously conservative Gulf, which is overwhelmingly Muslim. Homosexuality is criminalized in the UAE and can be punished by fines and prison time.

Amazon described its decision as one made to abide by local laws.

“As a company, we remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we believe that the rights of LGBTQ+ people must be protected,” an Amazon spokesperson said. 

“With Amazon stores around the world, we must also comply with the local laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate.”


Pride, ‘Lightyear’ and regional backlash


Earlier this month, the UAE announced it was banning Disney Pixar’s movie “Lightyear” from theaters for containing homosexual characters and a brief scene featuring a same-sex kiss. Numerous countries across the Middle East and South Asia did the same.

An Instagram post celebrating Pride month from the page of the U.S. embassy in the UAE in early June also drew sharp backlash from locals.


This is the second year that a U.S. diplomatic mission in any Gulf country has openly commemorated Pride month and gay rights; in 2021 the American Embassy in Abu Dhabi hoisted the rainbow Pride flag, triggering condemnation from prominent Emiratis angered by what many of them described as a lack of respect for their laws, religion and values.

The U.S. embassy in the UAE did not reply to a CNBC request for comment.


The UAE for years has worked to cast itself as a modern, tolerant haven in an otherwise highly conservative region. The oil-rich desert sheikhdom is home to a 90% expat population, and allows drinking alcohol, wearing bikinis on public beaches, and other cultural elements often forbidden in Muslim countries.

Last year the country passed a raft of modernizing reforms, including the decriminalization of premarital sex, an end to movie censorship in theaters and a shift from the Islamic weekend (Friday-Saturday) to the Saturday-Sunday weekend, in a push to be more competitive globally and attract additional foreign investment and talent.

Its nightclubs resemble those in Europe, it regularly hosts concerts of famous rappers and pop stars, and it even relaxed the penalties on some of its drug laws last year. In 2016, it established a Ministry of Tolerance.

Homosexuality, however, still remains a taboo.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×