Kristen Antoinette Gray, an influencer who stepped foot on Bali’s sandy shores in 2019, has been deported after she made claims of the island being “LGBT friendly.”
According to government officials, Gray’s posts on social media were the cause of her eviction. Her posts were considered to have “disseminated information disturbing to the public,” said Jamaruli Manihuruk, chief of the Bali regional office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
“She stated that she could provide easy access to Bali through the recommended agency and offered the low living costs in Bali, that it is comfortable and LGBTQ-friendly,” Manihuruk said at a news conference Tuesday.
Gray has also penned an e-book, which the minister also cited. Her book costs $30, and Gray also offers a follow-up consultation to help others become an expatriate in Bali for $50. “She is suspected of carrying out business activities by selling e-books and put a rate for consulting (about) Bali tourism,” Manihuruk said.
Gray has been accused of living and working in Bali without a proper business visa.
“I am not guilty. I have not overstayed my (tourist) visa. I am not making money in Indonesian rupiah. I put out a statement about LGBT and I am deported because I’m LGBT,” Gray told reporters following the press conference.
Gray and her partner, Saundra Michelle Alexander, are currently in immigration detention until a flight to the United States becomes available. She shared that she and her girlfriend had been living in Bali for more than a year. They booked one-way flights with plans to stay for six months — but they were trapped when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
