Set your Gaydar on Stun

local6.com - News - Cruiseline: Ship Of Gay, Nude Passengers Barred From St. Kitts

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A cruise ship carrying gay and nudist passengers was temporarily stopped and prevented from entering the Caribbean country of St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday, a company official said.

A Windjammer Barefoot Cruises ship carrying 110 passengers was stopped by local authorities off the smaller island of Nevis early Wednesday morning, said Shannon Manno, vice president of sales for the Miami Beach, Fla.-based company.

"Local authorities told cruise ship employees that they had concerns about letting the ship in because it was a gay and nudist cruise," Manno said. "We're working on resolving the issue with higher authorities in the St. Kitts and Nevis government because this type of cruise has been there before."

An official at the St. Kitts Tourism Authority could not confirm or deny the report, but said gay cruises have come to the former British colony in the past.

"We have had gay passengers and cruise ships and there has never been any problem in the past," said Randolph Hamilton, a senior manager at the tourism authority.

The ship had previously stopped in St. Maarten and Anguilla and there were no problems, said Sharon Kersten, a publicist for Miami-based event production company Source Events, which organized the cruise.

"The passengers can be nude while the ship is at sea but once they come to shore they obviously have to be clothed," Kersten said.

The ship is the S.V. Polynesia, a 248-foot schooner. Most of the passengers aboard are Americans, Kersten said.

Oops. There goes your Social Security Check.

Newsday.com: Pa. Woman Charged in Hugging Muggings: "Pa. Woman Charged in Hugging Muggings




By Associated Press

March 23, 2005, 3:40 PM EST

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. -- A woman was charged with stealing money and other items in recent weeks by walking up to six elderly victims, giving them a big hug -- and then stealing their wallets or other loose items in the process.

Mary Ann Johnson pretended to know the victims who are too polite to refuse her hugs, police said.

It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday if Johnson has an attorney.

Violet Lawton, 79, said Johnson approached her at a supermarket March 15 talked about seeing her at church.

'I knew I didn't know her, but I didn't want to be rude so I didn't say anything,' Lawton said. A short time later, Lawton found her wallet missing from her purse. "