All Saudi men go through more or less of a gay phase and hold hands in public while teens. I once had my hand held by a senior Saudi prince at an Opec meeting—-not in public, but he was trying to show his “true friendship.” He also offered to smoke hashish with me—-something that might get lesser Saudi citizens' heads chopped off.

At the US Embassy, I was internal-affairs political officer and had a dozen bizarre cases—-other embassies would refer their toughest cases to the Americans & they'd fall in my lap. The place is still weird, and getter weirder with wifi & bluetooth.