Beit gay pri event a first for Lebanon | CNN

Contents:

• LEBANON IS KNOWN AS GAY FRIENDLY. BUT PRI WEEK WAS SHUT DOWN.
• US WHE SUPREMACISTS FOUND GUILTY OF GAY PRI RT PLOT
• BEIT GAY PRI EVENT A FIRST FOR LEBANON
• LEBANON LNCH ARAB WORLD'S FIRST GAY PRI WEEK
• GAY, STRAIGHT, OR JT LEBANE?
• OPN IN LEBANON, GAY ACTIVISM IS FUELG A NEW NVERSATN ABOUT MOCRACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS
• GAY PRI CALENDAR
• DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

LEBANON IS KNOWN AS GAY FRIENDLY. BUT PRI WEEK WAS SHUT DOWN.

Pri Month honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprisg—a watershed moment for the Gay Rights Movement—and regniz LGBT people who have ma ntributns to history. “Back the ‘90s jt wasn’t ol to be around people who were assumed to be gay, ” explaed Romanoff. Lebanon was the latt natn to jo the crackdown, wh Interr Mister Bassam Mawlawi issug a letter a week ago to Lebane secury forc orrg them to break up any events that "promote" letter, labelled "very urgent, " said that "after the spread of lls on social media to anize parti and events promotg homosexualy Lebanon… and nsirg the negative nsequenc brought by this phenomenon on dividuals and society" police and secury forc should "take the necsary measur to ban any celebratns, meetgs or gathergs aimg to promote this phenomenon and to report the rults back.

The Mistry of Commerce posted a vio (below) on social media showg officials seizg rabow-lored products, cludg toys, handbags and accsori, which they said rried "symbols and nnotatns that enurage homosexualy and ntradict nature. "The Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn's 2020 report on "State Sponsored Homophobia" around the world noted that Kuwa, Sdi Arabia and Lebanon were among 69 natns that have laws banng homosexual Arabia, the report noted, was among six Uned Natns member stat where "the ath penalty is the legally prcribed punishment for nsensual same-sex sexual acts. Frank Schaefer, pastor of Zn Uned Methodist Church of Iona, was restated after beg ocked, as a rult of him officiatg at his gay son's weddg, and beme a mor natnal celebry.

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US WHE SUPREMACISTS FOUND GUILTY OF GAY PRI RT PLOT

AdvertisementSKIP Amro/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagMay 16, 2018BEIRUT, Lebanon — For members of Lebanon’s gay muny, Beit Pri week was tend as a way to celebrate diversy, fight discrimatn and ph for more rights and regnn. But that dream me crashg down this week when the Lebane thori taed the celebratn’s anizer, releasg him only after he promised to ncel the remag ncellatn was a blow to gay men, lbians and transgenr people Lebanon, who say they face legal and social discrimatn spe livg one of the most socially liberal untri the Arab world. ”Homosexualy is crimalized across the Arab world, although some untri look the other way as long as remas private.

Lebane law stipulat that “any sexual terurse ntrary to the orr of nature” is punishable by up to one year prison, but do not specify which sexual practic are law is enforced irregularly, so Lebanon has veloped to one of the Arab world’s most open and active gay muni.

BEIT GAY PRI EVENT A FIRST FOR LEBANON

Night-life activi iendly to lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people are easy to fd, and several anizatns provi health and other servic. The lead sger of the Lebane rock band Mashrou’ Leila is one of the regn’s most famo openly gay Lebanon is also home to 18 officially regnized relig sects, many of which oppose homosexualy on relig grounds and have associatns that mpaign agast gay-iendly Pri was tend to be a ne-day seri of events Beit, Lebanon’s pal.

In 2017, the openg event of gay pri week was nceled after threats by Islamist Hubbard ntributed reportg om Larnaka, Cyps. Image source, North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via RtersImage ptn, Photos shared on social at the time allegedly showed dozens of the hate group's members beg arrted near the pri eventFive members of a whe supremacist hate group nvicted of plottg to rt at a gay pri event will spend three days jail, a urt has men and dozens other members of the Patrt Front group were arrted last June after a rint spotted them wh masks and shields gettg to a were lled and found rt gear and a smoke grena the lorry was stopped near where the North Idaho Pri Alliance was holdg an event the cy of Cor d'Alene. As such, he simply st those thoughts asi until he reached his 30s, a time when Persen was ready to evaluate himself and fd those rourc that helped him realize what those thoughts meant: he’s gay.

LEBANON LNCH ARAB WORLD'S FIRST GAY PRI WEEK

The first ever gay pri event is takg place this week Lebanon, a untry where homosexual acts are still nsired a crime.

Instead of the ual gay pri paras seen the Wt, Beit Pri will clu an exhibn on genr fluidy fashn as well as a storytellg get-together centered on g-out stori and a gay-themed party one of the Middle East’s biggt night clubs. Several anti-homophobia events and monstratns have taken place Lebanon recent years, but activists are hailg Beit Pri as a “first”. Abou Abbas thks the ad go a long way toward affirmg lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) rights.

GAY, STRAIGHT, OR JT LEBANE?

Damien said that Beit Pri is not lookg to promote legal rights such as gay marriage – Lebanon has not fully legalized civil marriag. Var anti-homophobia mpaigns have been met wh protts, and venu have been reluctant to host their events.

There have also been a seri of secury crackdowns on gay-iendly night clubs and bathho, events that stirred sizable bate the natnal media. BEIRUT (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - Lebanon this week be the first Arab untry to celebrate gay pri but the openg event a landmark n of ftivi was nceled after Islamists threatened Lebanon, a non-prof group promotg equal rights, was due to host a cultural event last Sunday as a kickoff to the entire week, but said was dropped by the venue after threats om the Associatn of Mlim Scholars Lebanon, a Salafist the gay rights movement has steadily grown Beit, homosexual acts are still punishable by up to a year Makso, director of Proud Lebanon, said the week marked a watershed gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr life, spe the threatened vlence and some lol opposn. TRAILBLAZERMost untri the regn do not tolerate an open celebratn of LBGT life, wh few Middle Eastern untri acrdg rights to gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr cizens.

OPN IN LEBANON, GAY ACTIVISM IS FUELG A NEW NVERSATN ABOUT MOCRACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Many risk f, jail and even ath, wh reports of social excln and abe hosts a gay pri para Istanbul each year and Israel holds a week of events Tel Aviv every events are typilly held durg June - LGBT Pri Month - or at a time that memorat a turng pot a untry’s own LGBT history. Wednday marked Lebanon’s Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Bphbia (IDAHOBT) and the man who iated the tone pri week said was no cince. “I wanted to pick a symbolic date, a day that would be hopeful, ” Hadi Damien, who set up Beit Pri, told the Thomson Rters Foundatn by there have been anti-homophobia ralli Lebanon, the 28-year-old said he wanted to make sure the gural event did not foc on protts or repealg laws.

”Polls show the vast majory of Lebane reject homosexualy but Beit is takg steps towards crimalisatn, wh a urt lg this year which a judge nced homosexualy is not a crime but personal choice. The gay scene Lebanon has certaly changed durg the last 13 years, but the real challeng are still that the mp wasn't there already. The rich and powerful gay populatn had nothg to fear, as threw s parti "classier" recent years, Lebane gay men and women have bee more visible public plac and the media.

And there is ls fear of harassment sce the anti-homosexualy law is no longer really how much have thgs tly changed?

GAY PRI CALENDAR

A stone's throw away om an famo police statn where gay men were huiated and terrogated (for thgs such as wearg makp) jt a few years ago, a gay "bear" club has opened, which ref entry to any "effemate-lookg" men. "Gay" Lebanon is ually applied to feme-lookg men, and their liv n be a long trail of tntg, harassment and abe. Many Mederranean men, spe their relig upbrgg, will gladly revert to their pagan origs, to the Dnysian pleasur of fact remas that l between "gay" and "straight" are very unfed Lebanon.

That don't mean openly gay men are always rpected but do mean that there is no anised homophobia as one n fd some wtern untri. And if the rich and "wternised" Lebane dared venture to more workg-class streets, they would see real gay pri actn, not jt rabow flags beg waved once a year. In fact, a gay pri day would probably look like the icg on the McDonaldisatn ke, now that Lebanon has s shoppg malls, Big Brother-style TV programme and … s surveillance meras.

Could be the same policemen who "terrogated" gay men a few years ago, subjectg them to "anal tts"? However, the language and ncepts they e seem to be pied om the "ltle pk book" of wtern advocy groups and are sometim unadjted to lol gay reali.

DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

Many wear the way they would wear a Prada logo, or as a sign of belongg to a wternised "enlightened" ele (when most Lebane have no ia what this flag reprents) Lebanon needs orr to genuely advance gay rights is a leap to morny. This would surely silence those who claim that "homosexualy is a wtern trend aimed at rptg our youth" Lebane society also needs is to e to terms once and for all wh s nate dilemma: the need to nform to social and relig dictat vers s natural "pagan" clatns.

LGBT rights groups and supportive nonernmental anizatns have been holdg events — cludg fashn exhibs, story-tellg ssns and human rights nferenc — memoratn of the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT), wh a big outdoor party planned for this Sunday the untry’s isn’t the first time that Lebanon’s LGBT muny has marked IDAHOT, but ’s certaly the first time has received such wispread attentn, some of ntroversial. Gay activism Lebanon has been around sce 2004, when Helem, the Arab world’s first LGBT advocy group, lnched the untry. The muny has sce grown to clu a number of LGBT rights groups, a sexual-health center and a vibrant scene of gay-iendly bars, rtrants and clubs — altogether a remarkable achievement for what is still a religly nservative untry.

Even as Sunni extremists were threateng the nference Beit, a Christian church Lebanon’s send cy, Tripoli, was arrangg a nference of s own to discs ways to nvert homosexuals to “normative sexual behavr, ” acrdg to news reports.