Discrimación sexual: Beit, pal árabe l ullo gay | Opión | EL PAÍS

Contents:

• GAY BEIT
• BARS & CLUBS GAY BEIT
• MAPA GAY BEIT
• GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT
• LA UNIDAD GAY DA S PRIMEROS PASOS PARA SALIR L ARMAR EN BEIT
• GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS BEIT
• GAY EN BEIT
• BEYROUTH GAY
• BEIT, PAL áRABE L ULLO GAY

GAY BEIT

> Gay Lebanon Gay BeitBeit is home to an ever-growg gay scene. Outsi of Israel, Lebanon is the most gay-iendly untry the Middle East. Although homosexualy is theoretilly illegal, the penal law is rarely ed.

Gay travelers Beit shouldn't face any difficulti, but public displays of affectn are ill-advised. D habacn y apartamentos privados hasta hotel LGBT-iendly, tien la opción alojarte en el meollo los distros gays, así o en otros barrs los lugar que vis.

Un tud en el Soho, una habación partida en Barcelona o en el Castro, un hotel gay en Chelsea o en el Le Marais, ¡vive la experiencia misterb&b en todos los stos turístis gay! Beit’s world fame for war is fally beg overshadowed by s emergg reputatn as the (gay) party pal of the Middle East. The New York Tim’ travel sectn emed the cy the ‘number one place to vis 2009’, and, another article, raved about the cy’s thrivg gay scene, dubbg ‘The Provcetown of the Middle East’.

BARS & CLUBS GAY BEIT

Even gay life is boomg. The cy’s gay bars – even if most still prefer to be lled ‘gay iendly’– are thrivg.

They have ma Beit a visible fol pot of gay tourism the Middle East. Acrdg to Ghassan Makarem, executive director of Helem Lebanon’s gay rights anisatn (the first and only of s kd the Arab world), the ernment don’t object to this image.

MAPA GAY BEIT

“If the state knows a certa bar is a gay bar, they don’t re.

” The last time a gay bar was harassed by the police, Makarem relled, was 2005.

GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT

At the cy’s two ma gay clubs, Milk and Acid, a mix of Lebane, Syrian, Jordanian, Kuwai and even some Iraqi men disprove any remag theory of cultural relativism. That is to say, once si people don’t behave differently om any other gay club the world – wh the possible exceptn of the ocsnal male belly dance.

But acrdg to Bertho Makso of Lebtour, a Beit-based travel agent that promot gay tourism to Lebanon and anis very popular Bear Arabia events, that is exactly what his clients are lookg for. Still, I was loath to accept such a one-dimensnal image of gay life Lebanon. On a stroll across the universy grounds he explaed that the ‘gay’ song our mutual iend referred to, Shem el Yasme (Smell the Jasme), plays wh a tradnal property of Arabic poetry and lyrics: love is always directed to a man.

Haig tells me that everyone the band has gay iends and ’s really not an issue.

LA UNIDAD GAY DA S PRIMEROS PASOS PARA SALIR L ARMAR EN BEIT

Hamed Sno, the charismatic lead sger of the band, is of a rare speci: a publicly out gay man Lebanon. Some prits are unhappy wh the official stance of the Catholic Church and have ved Helem to talk about the issue of homosexualy to their ngregatns. Many prenceived, Wtern ias about polil and relig attus toward homosexualy prove rather els Lebanon.

One rehg surprise is that Al-Akhbar, a newspaper that is half owned by Hezbollah, has ma homosexualy part of s reportg agenda and wr que posively about the issue.

Recently, they ran a big exposé on homosexualy prisons.

GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS BEIT

Another surprise reveals what is, acrdg to Makarem, a ser mistake on the part of the Wtern media: the assumptn that pro-Wtern polil parti are pro-gay.

GAY EN BEIT

“The New York Tim, which is supposed to be a ser newspaper, ran an article on gay nightlife that claimed some thgs that were absolutely ridiculo. For stance, nclud that bee a pro-Wtern majory was elected, that would be a good thg for gays Lebanon. This was nsistent wh stori of a large flux of gay men om Dahiyeh the cy’s gay bars and clubs, and the experience of a woman who told me she got ls flack for wearg a miskirt Dahiyeh than the smopolan shoppg street of Hamra, where the men would ‘accintally’ bump to her and stare at her cht.

What was even more remarkable to me – g om a part of the world where Mlims are generally perceived as the most nservative and homophobic group society – was that a lot of people seemed to agree that Mlims Lebanon were more open to discsg homosexualy on the street (albe never the media) than Christians. Ghassan Makarem of Helem told me, “You uld be part of an Islamic movement and be pro gay. Havg said that, when I ntacted the admistrators of the Facebook group lled ‘Gays of Dahiyeh’, took a que a b of persuasn to get them to talk to me.

BEYROUTH GAY

Whoever was I talked to, before he signed off he told me that the past few years thgs had changed a lot Dahiyeh and that there had been an enormo crease visible homosexualy the neighbourhood – he claimed that some 30% of the men were now gay.

No neighbourhood is that gay. There was nothg particularly gay about the place. In the terviews after his release he sudnly nied he was gay.

But whether he was jt scramblg back to the closet or not; the gay sex he reportedly admted to unr terrogatn had never been the issue.

BEIT, PAL áRABE L ULLO GAY

The Lebane gay rights anisatn Helem is seekg out a siar route. offers travel advice and an extensive gay gui of Beit.

The same people anise very popular Bear Arabia-events twice a year: check They’re very knowledgeable and fun and have big plans for Beit: the owner Bertho Makso exprsed his visn to anise a (gay) love pri para the near future. The Gefor Rotana is one of the most nveniently loted hotels Beit, wh walkg distance om the Corniche (the seasi promena) and s beach clubs, the shops and rtrants of Rue Hamra and Downtown Beit, and some of the most popular gay-iendly plac town.

Lufthansa is one of the most gay iendly airl on the pla. And what don’t hurt eher: the attractive lead sger is openly gay.