By Jon Healy, ABC News
Tyler Wright celebrates after winning the world title in 2016. Photo: AFP - Gaizka Iroz
The wife of Australian two-time world champion Tyler Wright has blasted the World Surf League's (WSL) decision to add Abu Dhabi to its calendar for 2025 as homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi was listed as the second stop on the WSL Championship Tour schedule for 2025 when it was released last week.
Events will be held at Hudayriyat Island in the UAE capital, in an artificial wave pool created with the Kelly Slater Wave Company.
The WSL recently held a Longboard Classic event at the site, which boasts the largest man-made wave in the world.
But the addition of a stop in Abu Dhabi to the more high-profile tour for next year raised eyebrows and concerns, particularly for the wife of the WSL's 'only openly queer athlete'.
"Unfortunately, homosexuality is illegal at one of the locations and my wife can legally be sentenced to death or imprisonment if she tries to attend," Lilli Wright wrote on Instagram.
"Tyler has competed on this tour for over 14 years and has had the pride flag on her jersey since 2020.
"Even after winning two world titles she is still not valued enough by the WSL to be considered when they sold this event.
"WSL have the duty of care to their athletes to not put them in potentially life-threatening circumstances like this."
Human Rights Watch said the UAE tries to paint itself as a "progressive, tolerant and rights-respecting" nation, while squashing dissent and criminalising "sodomy" between men.
"It also continues to criminalise vaguely defined acts, allowing the authorities to arrest people for a wide range of behaviours, including public displays of affection, gender-nonconforming expressions, and campaigns promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people," HRW wrote in its World Report 2024.
London-based Human Dignity Trust, a group of lawyers focused on protecting LGBT+ people and their rights around the world, said: "Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Codes of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, which criminalises 'unnatural sex with another person', and Dubai, which criminalises acts of 'sodomy'. The Federal Penal Code criminalises 'voluntary debasement', but it is not clear what acts this covers."
Human Dignity Trust added that trans people have also faced prosecution under laws that prohibit a "male disguising as a female".
Lilli Wright said missing the event would put Tyler's career "at a huge disadvantage" as the event is locked in for three years.
"Tyler's queerness should not have to be a burden or an obstacle in her workplace," she said.
"It's important for me to add that I'm aware of my privilege as a white woman and am not here to promote racism or to tell people from a different country with different values how to run their own legal system.
"I do however believe it is a conversation where there is a country such as this that is putting a lot of money into being an international destination for professional sporting competitions especially when they have such strict laws on the LGBTQIA+ community.
"At the end of the day, WSL had absolutely no business selling this event to this location expecting their only openly queer athlete to go along quietly."
Poppy Starr Olsen, who represented Australia in skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, said she had similar concerns around Olympic qualifiers in Dubai.
"As much as I can appreciate the beauty of the country, it's not easy to compete and maintain a positive mindset when you're worrying about your safety everyday," she wrote on Lilli's post.
The WSL has been contacted for comment.
- ABC