Beit gay pri event a first for Lebanon | CNN

Contents:

• BEIT GAY PRI EVENT A FIRST FOR LEBANON
• GAY BEIT
• LEBANON IS KNOWN AS GAY FRIENDLY. BUT PRI WEEK WAS SHUT DOWN.

BEIT GAY PRI EVENT A FIRST FOR LEBANON

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”.

GAY BEIT

Abou Abbas thks the ad go a long way toward affirmg lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) rights. 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. > 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.

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

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.

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.