Gay rights Lebanon: The good, the bad and the ugly - Inx on Censorship

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• DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

(Beit) – Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people and their rights  Lebanon are part and parcel of the natnwi protts that began on October 17, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today a web feature. The lg follows siar judgments om lower urts that have cled to nvict gay and transgenr people of “sexual terurse ntrary to nature” four separate lgs between 2007 and 2017. “This lg signals a new horizon for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people Lebanon, who have long been persecuted unr discrimatory laws, ” said Neela Ghoshal, senr rearcher on lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) rights at Human Rights Watch.

A crimal urt cled to nvict them of “unnatural offens” 2017, when the judge said that “homosexuals have a right to human and timate relatnships wh whoever they want, whout any terference or discrimatn terms of their sexual clatns, as is the se wh other people. While judg are not legally bound by the precent and may still nvict people of homosexual nduct unr article 534, Makhlouf told Human Rights Watch that they are likely to give ser nsiratn to the lg subsequent s.

The exceptn may be Lebanon, which has slowly grown more tolerant thanks to the work of Bohnak for The New York TimThroughout the Arab world, gay, lbian and transgenr people face formidable obstacl to livg a life of openns and acceptance nservative societi. In Sdi Arabia, homosexualy n be punished by floggg or Egypt, at least 76 people have been arrted a crackdown sce September, when a fan waved a rabow flag durg a ncert by Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebane band wh an openly gay there is one exceptn, has been Lebanon.

While the law n still penalize homosexual acts, Lebane society has slowly grown more tolerant as activists have worked for more rights and 2013, the Lebane Psychiatric Society said homosexualy did not need to be treated as a mental disorr.

His mother received phone lls om people she did not know, shamg her and her, he liv wh his partner, Carl Bou Abdallah, and most of their neighbors know they are gay. Azzi believ that activism has been a kd of shock therapy for Lebanon, but that was necsary to give the muny a voice so that would be taken much more work needs to be done to enurage tolerance other ci, “beg gay Beit is no longer a sry thg. She helps others who have the same qutns she once did, and shows them they are not, she do not believe Lebanon is entirely safe for gays and lbians, and she did not want her full name is often asked if she is a boy or a girl.

“If you have passn toward somethg, you mt have patience for to happen, ” she hop that one day people won’t thk about gay and transgenr issu, and will jt let humans be humans. While Lebanon is an exceptn the Arab world, is not an exceptn the Middle East; Israel, gay, bisexual and transgenr people have wispread rights and we handle rrectnsA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 10 of the New York edn wh the headle: Comg Out Lebanon, and Helpg It to Be More Tolerant. If you n five the state-approved homophobia and are willg to act wh discretn while out and about, the Arab untri n reem themselv a thoand and one different ways, om the ancient centre of Petra to the glterg ephets of Bahra and to the serts beyond.

While by and large closeted kgdoms, the handful of gay clubs the progrsive cy of Beit n allow you to be your te self, while the luxury ternatnal hotels across the regn n ensure your privacy is rpected. Wh so much do see and do, Mt is bt seen by tour b, allowg you to hop off at untls mms, the Sultan’s Palace and the Mutrah Corniche wateront, before venturg further afield on day trips to the beach and turtle-filled lagoons for divg and of the slightly more tolerant untri the regn, Oman is said to have once had s own gay sultan – Sultan Qaboos b Said al Said – although the state prs is quick to ny this as a pric mour! In realy, the laws are rarely upheld except high-profile s, however, and gay Oman remas a perfectly safe place to | Photo: Katera KerdiPetra, particular, is the crowng glory of Jordan, protected wh sandstone cliffs and offerg an unrivalled llectn of monuments, cludg the fg Siq to the Treasury on an ethereal sert se of red rock and dun known as Wadi Rum2.

Now you, avid explorer of gay Arab worlds, get to see the antiqui all their majty, movg om Roman Amphheatre to Csar stle wh a samplg of early Christian art along the way.

Jordan crimalised homophobia as early as 1951 and while there remas social stigma and ‘public moraly’ laws that hr LGBTQ+ eedoms, gay Jordan gas tractn thanks to s unrground gay muny (most active on Grdr! Gay Bahra legalised homosexualy 1976 though this means ltle as an LGBTQ crackdown is still force targetg those that supposedly vlate “public cency”, as Jordan.

On paper, Tunisian law still stat that homosexualy is illegal, yet wh an openly-gay printial ndidate recently nng and ongog activism, ’s lookg more and more likely crimalisatn will e. Avoid the occurrenc and Lebanon will she, thanks to s fantastic beach rorts not far om the pal as well as s mounta vistas, ancient s and more, all urteoly attend by kdly Lebane social stigma rgs te and the ft array of Arabian gays is likely to be found onle (hello Grdr, my old iend) gay Lebanon is perhaps one of the few Arab natns where a tentative gay scene tak shape real life. As well as hostg the regn’s largt gay club, POSH, where gay Arabs and ternatnals n fally dance together whout fear of persecutn, gay Beit also hosts annual queer events such as the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and Beit Pri.