This was the letter sent to Mr. Dickinson (Carnival President)
Dear Mr. Dickinson:
On August 20, my partner and I boarded the Carnival Paradise ship in Long Beach, California for a 4-day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada. This cruise was the first for both of us, so we were very excited to be aboard this wonderful ship. The first 3 days were fun and enjoyable. We had a fantastic time on the ship and at our port stops. The ships crew was very cordial and hospitable and we enjoyed our meals and the many people we met during this time. Unfortunately, in the evening of August 22nd, this all changed. We sat at the Rotterdam Bar to have a drink and met some of the friends we met on the ship. As we sat talking, the bartender (from Peru) was eavesdropping on our conversation (which didnt bother us at first) about the relationship between my partner and I (we are professional, lesbian-mothers). A few minutes later, I overheard him at the other end of the bar talking to other patrons, laughing, telling them we were lesbians. This was annoying, but nothing too upsetting.
Soon after midnight, we left with our friends (both male and female) to go into the Rex Dance Club. While we were there, we were dancing and having fun with our new friends. My partner and I began dancing, and only dancing, with each other and were rudely told by the security guard that we couldnt do that in this club. I asked him why since there were heterosexual couples dancing and groping each other all over the club, which (in my opinion) was more disturbing and inappropriate than 2 girls dancing together. He refused to give me a reason.in order to avoid conflict, we stopped dancing together and continued to dance with our other friends.
About 15 minutes later, an African-American girl, who was standing close by when I was speaking to the security guard about the dancing, came up to me and assaulted me. There was no provocation on my part, nor were there any words exchanged prior to her pushing me into the wall. I pushed the woman back from me, and the same security guard came up to me and wanted all of my information (my name, stateroom #, etc). I asked him why he wanted this information, rather than ask me: 1) If I was OK after being assaulted; and 2) If I wanted to file a complaint against the woman who assaulted me. I asked him why he allowed the woman who assaulted me for no apparent reason, other than because I was gay, to leave the club without any questions or incident reports. He refused to answer any of my questions. I told him that my partner and I would leave the club and not return. This was not good enough for him. He continued to disregard the facts about the assault and made obvious discriminatory decisions regarding this matter, since there were many witnesses there who could (and tried to) corroborate these facts.
The next evening, August 23rd, my partner went back to the club to speak with this security guard, get his name, and ask for clarification on why we were asked to stop dancing and why my safety wasnt his concern. That security guard was not working at this time, but many of the others were, including the bartender. When my partner asked the bartender for the security guards name, she refused to give it, as did all of the other Carnival employees.
The homophobic and discriminatory actions my partner and I experienced this evening ruined the wonderful time we had prior to this violation of our civil rights. The next day was our day at sea and we were looking forward to spending time on the ship. Unfortunately, we did not feel safe being on this ship anymore. I was afraid that we would again be assaulted or discriminated against by this woman and/or by Carnival Security. Coincidentally, that day our steward decided that he couldnt clean our cabin or make our beds for some unknown reasons and refused to replace the water in our cabin and our beach towels.in addition, we had to make numerous requests that day to get another comforter for our bed because it was cold. Our first call was in the late morning and then asked the steward 4 more times throughout the day for another comforter. It finally came to our cabin at 9:30pm; almost 10 hours later.
This cruise was one that my partner and I were looking forward to after hearing so many good things about your ship. However, the discrimination and physical & emotional abuse we were forced to endure the last day and a half aboard the Paradise has soiled our memories and left us wondering why such a renown company like Carnival Cruises allows its customers to be denied their basic civil rights and fear for their personal safety. Thinking about this incident is still, today, emotionally disturbing to me. I am hoping to get some type of explanation/apology from Carnival Cruise lines regarding this type of (illegal) discrimination and violations of ones personal safety before I decide upon my next course of action. Does Carnival provide sensitivity training to its employees? Do you employ gay crew members? I would also appreciate feedback on these questions as well.
A fun and wonderful trip was ruined, but more importantly, my partner and I feel extremely violated and are saddened that our sexual orientation in an OVER 21 nightclub provoked such harsh and biased treatment on our well-deserved vacation.
Denise
long beach, California
U.S.A.
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