Everyone is wele: the only gay hangout the Arab world | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT
• LEBANON IS KNOWN AS GAY FRIENDLY. BUT PRI WEEK WAS SHUT DOWN.
• EVERYONE IS WELE: THE ONLY GAY HANGOUT THE ARAB WORLD
• BEIT GAY PRI EVENT A FIRST FOR LEBANON
• GAY BARS BEIT - BEIT FOM
• GAY BEIT
• FOR BEIT'S GAY MUNY, CHEMIL BLAST SHATTERED A SAFE SPACE
• GAY LEBANON
• BEIT GAY MAP
• BEIT GAY BARS

GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT

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’. 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

EVERYONE IS WELE: THE ONLY GAY HANGOUT THE ARAB WORLD

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. “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.

BEIT GAY PRI EVENT A FIRST FOR LEBANON

For stance, nclud that bee a pro-Wtern majory was elected, that would be a good thg for gays Lebanon.

GAY BARS BEIT - BEIT FOM

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.

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. 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. 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.

GAY 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. Other plac to check out: Behd the Green Door (porn spired bar Gemmayzeh); Barometre (very atmospheric, very tellectual leftist Arab bar near the Amerin universy Hamra – great cheap food, too, and Acid (somewhat tacky, but still… you n’t miss the biggt gay club the Middle East). 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.

FOR BEIT'S GAY MUNY, CHEMIL BLAST SHATTERED A SAFE SPACE

Night-life activi iendly to lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people are easy to fd, and several anizatns provi health and other servic.

GAY LEBANON

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.

BEIT GAY MAP

Everyone is, a study bathed by the afternoon sunshe, Wael Hse, a 24-year-old gay man, is chattg wh Naya, a transgenr woman, ahead of Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) on Thursday.

”Compared wh other untri the Middle East, such as Iran where homosexualy is punishable by ath, Lebanon has a relatively thrivg LGBT muny. ”Sce then Helem’s reputatn has spread beyond Lebanon throughout the Arab world and several siar anisatns have been set up, cludg the NGO Shams Tunisia, fightg for the crimalisatn of homosexualy.

He ed to be the manager of Bardo, Beit’s most famo gay bar, before jog Helem, an experience he says has opened his ey to the discrimatn faced by those om prived social backgrounds. Homosexualy remas a crime Lebanon, but the untry is unual among Arab-majory natns that has a small ternal gay rights movement.

BEIT GAY BARS

Asi om the crimal law, gay Lebane civilians have been charged wh vlatg censorship laws regulatg ee speech and ee prs. By Richard Ammon Updated 15, 2014 Stori, Photos, News & Reports for Gay Lebanon In ntrast to a New York Tim story on party-time gay mal Beit, Lebanon, a more realistic portra of Lebane LGBT life is portrayed a 2009 book Bareed Mista3jl (not misspelled) published by Meem (2009).