Steps: Ian ‘H’ Watkins says band turned down gig in Dubai over nation’s ‘archaic’ LGBT+ legal guidelines

Steps have refused to play a gig in Dubai as a result of the contract stipulated there must be “no mention of sexuality,” band member Ian “H” Watkins has stated.

Speaking on the Attitude Pride Awards 2023, the 47-year-old Welsh singer stated: “Recently, we’ve got simply turned down a gig within the Emirates in Dubai, particularly, due to their human rights insurance policies and particularly their legal guidelines on LGBTQ+ folks.

“We got offered a very lovely sum of money, but, in the contract, it did say no mention of sexuality and for me, as a gay man, I did say ‘that doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not going to be part of that’.”

Same intercourse relationships are unlawful within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai is without doubt one of the seven emirates which make up the UAE.

The five-piece group – made up of Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Watkins – beforehand carried out within the UAE in 2018, however Watkins stated the nation’s legal guidelines have modified since then and are actually much more “archaic”.

He defined: “We did a gig in Dubai years ago, but the laws have changed a lot since then.

“Actually, the entire world has progressed, however the legal guidelines within the Emirates and Dubai are much more archaic now.

“I think, if we took a stand and did our show, as it was, I, specifically would be in danger.

“I’d go to jail, we might completely be in contempt of the federal government.

“But we can do our bit and we will actually go up and say, ‘no, we’re not doing that’, and that creates even more noise.”

He stated he had instructed his fellow group members they might carry out with out him in the event that they needed, however they refused.

Steps member Claire Richards, who was additionally on the occasion, referred to as the choice to show down the gig, a “no brainer”.

She stated: “It’s absolutely what we stand for as a band and all of us support H to the hill, it’s not even a question.

“I imply, there’s an argument to say we might have gone. Lots of people say ‘go and fly the flag’ and do it that manner however that is giving oxygen to it.”

Last 12 months, comic Joe Lycett attracted outrage and reward in equal measure after staging a stunt through which he claimed to shred £10,000 in protest of David Beckham’s controversial multimillion-pound World Cup promotion take care of Qatar.

Homosexuality can also be unlawful within the Middle East nation, which shares a border with the UAE.

Steps – most well-known for his or her hit observe Tragedy – fashioned in 1997 following a small advert in The Stage leisure paper, trying to find a five-piece line-dancing pop group.

They went on to attain a string of high 5 singles, two primary albums and help Britney Spears in throughout her 1999 tour. A comeback album and UK tour in 2017 celebrated their twentieth anniversary, and in 2022 they launched a Platinum Collection album.