Dzanc Books
Review by Brian Tanguay
The Gulf region of the Middle East is home to the largest number of migrants per capita of any place on the planet. Many migrants refer to themselves as Third Country Kids; born elsewhere, but living most of their lives in one of the Gulf countries, with no civil or political rights. It can be, as Gaar Adams recounts in Guest Privileges, his memoir of his time in the region, a precarious existence.
And yet the migrants arrive, from South Asia, the Philippines, Turkey, and Iran. Adams, raised in rural Wisconsin, studied Arabic in Yemen before taking a job in Dubai. His own sexuality made life complicated because Dubai and Abu Dhabi are inhospitable to queers in all their varied manifestations. The laws proscribing homosexuality are harsh, but applied unevenly. The obvious question, which Adams poses and then answers over the course of the memoir, is why a queer person would choose such an inhospitable place? As Adams demonstrates, the question itself is too narrow. What is the inhospitable place being compared to? Despite the uncertainties, is it still possible to construct a reasonably fulfilling existence? Is it possible to make the place home?
What Adams discovers is a thriving queer subculture that pushes boundaries and allows its denizens to live as authentically and honestly as possible. Looking from the outside and seeing only the superficial, one might assume that joy or happiness is out of the question, but the truth is far more nuanced. Adams encounters and befriends queer barbers, hairdressers, musicians, Parkour athletes, urban daredevils, and manicurists who create support networks and a true sense of community, deep and lasting friendships, and loving relationships. All know that harsh and swift oppression is possible, but many find ways to circumvent the risks. Joy, pleasure and belonging refuse to be put on hold, bottled up and held forever in abeyance.
Writing with remarkable candor and honesty about his own queerness, Adams also introduces readers to a diverse cast who forge a relationship with a place that can never be theirs. This requires recognition of risks as well as resiliency and a measure of subversiveness. The men Adams cruises on the Corniche at night are determined to extract what pleasure they can, in spite of the risks. Adams walks this place to experience the thrill, the joy, the unabashed hedonism, and for him the act is expressly political, a statement of his existence as a queer person.
The reality of a place can only be discovered on the ground. Some people migrate because they want to, but for most it’s an act of necessity, because building a life in their home country is, for any number of reasons, impossible. They don’t expect a welcome mat or a handout, just the barest opportunity. What comes through the pages of Guest Privileges is how pliable the idea of “home” really is.
