Gay Life Lebanon: Bounce Back Beit - GlobalGayz

Contents:

• THE DARKER SI FOR GAYS LEBANON
• GAY SNA, GAY SCENE BEIT, LEBANON - LGBTQIA+ TRAVEL FOM
• DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI
• BEIT'S GROWG GAY SCENE GETS "OUT" ONLE
• GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT
• EVERYONE IS WELE: THE ONLY GAY HANGOUT THE ARAB WORLD
• GAY, STRAIGHT, OR JT LEBANE?
• GAY BEIT
• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

THE DARKER SI FOR GAYS LEBANON

Cred: Mona Alami/IPSBEIRUT, Aug 24 2014 (IPS) - In a untry where civil liberti rema the prerogative of the powerful and wealthy, the Lebane gay scene is to be tread refully.

The recent arrt of 27 members of the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) muny shows that those not so lucky – those belongg to the more vulnerable tranch of society – are always at risk of experiencg the darker si of Lebanon. While anal prob have been banned by former mister of Jtice Antoe Kortbawi, they are still ed by the police, or as a threat to force tae to adm their homosexualy, explas Saleh. The Lebane Psychiatric Society issued a statement early 2013 sayg that: “the assumptn that homosexualy is a rult of disturbanc the fay dynamic or unbalanced psychologil velopment is based on wrong rmatn.

In addn to advanc ma on the legal ont, the Lebane public has bee more aware of gay rights thanks to chang mentali and the promotn of creative works focg on gay issu. Mashrou’ Leila, a famo Lebane rock band, has discsed homosexualy Lebanon s songs and last year a Lebane movie lled Out Loud featured five young Lebane engaged a group marriage.

GAY SNA, GAY SCENE BEIT, LEBANON - LGBTQIA+ TRAVEL FOM

Some 18 percent of the Lebane populatn believe that homosexualy should be accepted society, pared wh Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia where over 94 percent of the populatn view homosexualy as viant.

However, Makarem adds, “spe recent posiv, beg gay n still mean beg the subject of discrimatn, om a legal standpot, pecially for those whout the right nnectns or wealth. 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.

DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

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! 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.

” Dpe this, Beit has a burgeong gay scene, and many gay bars and clubs are makg a tidy prof, not jt om Lebane but om homosexuals who e to the cy om other, ls permissive untri the Middle East. Simon – who prefers that his last name not be ed to protect anonymy – a social worker at the Lebane gay rights anizatn Helem, says that Lebane society remas tolerant of homosexualy. ” In orr to bypass social rtrictns, many Lebane homosexuals are turng to gay social workg webs such as or A new smartphone applitn lled Grdr even tells people wh profil how far away other ers are loted.

BEIT'S GROWG GAY SCENE GETS "OUT" ONLE

Jamal says that for people who aren’t open, there aren’t many other optns when to meetg partners, “There’s a road Dekwaneh where gays go to cise, lled Freeway, ” he says. The movie tells the story of an Algerian-French heterosexual young man begng a soclogy study of gay islamic homosexuali and disverg gay love wh a young French steward. Filmed 12 untri and 9 languag, this documentary, directed by gay Mlim filmmaker Parvez Sharma, tells the lorful and varied stori of gay and lbian Mlims om all over the world.

GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT

In this portra that is multi-layered both terms of form and ntent, a gay man nonts the ghosts of his past and explor hidn longgs, unrequed love and tormentg feelgs of guilt. After beg tranged om his fay for his homosexualy, we observe a young Arab man over four seasons and om far away as he navigat his solu – all the while attemptg to rennect wh his mother. 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.

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.

EVERYONE IS WELE: THE ONLY GAY HANGOUT THE ARAB WORLD

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.

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.

GAY, STRAIGHT, OR JT LEBANE?

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).

It drew 400 people and ran for hours as dozens of young Beitis, cludg Hamed Sno, lead sger of the ternatnally succsful Mashrou Leila, stood up to tell their g-out Grand FactoryThe gay sger and dancer Moe Khansa is big news, too: at the Beit Art Fair an Iranian artist’s portra of him embracg another man sold for $8, 000. 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.

”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. 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.

GAY BEIT

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. 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. 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.

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. In this part of the Arab world few plac offer even the relative eedom om fear and persecutn still found her - but then gay men have never walked hand hand down Hamra Street eher. Gay people n hang out together chic f, de at trendy rtrants, or dance at hip clubs whout fear of beg harassed by the police, but sexual meetg plac like bathho and cisg areas are more dangero.

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

Mawaleh, the first and only gay magaze neighborg Syria, was published 2012 - 2015 by Sami Hamwi "a Syrian gay guy, " documentg the stggl of LGBTQ people the face of that natn's scent to hell. In a untry where homosexualy n be punished by up to a year prison, and relig stutns that reject same-sex relatns hold enormo power, the unnventnal chant reflected the fiance of the uprisg, and a surprisg shift attus toward LGBT rights.

But LGBT advot are hopg the lls for polil change and wave of anti-ernment protts are also an opportuny to re-exame the place of anti-gay sentiment mastream Lebane society. While pro-ernment opponents of the protters have latched onto this by hurlg homophobic sults and raisg ncerns about the protters’ diversy and openns, activists are turng the smears around. Although ’s viewed as relatively socially liberal, Lebanon still crimaliz homosexualy acrdance wh a law that dat back to the late days of the French Mandate, when France ntrolled the untry om s morn foundg 1920 until 1943.

And Charbel Khalil, a TV producer who is also an avid backer of the print, has acced artists and journalists of jog the protts to pass laws “relatg to their homosexualy. She adds that homophobia will not disappear om society if the lg class falls, but a secular state would be a start for a long-term procs to promote acceptance and equal protectn unr the law. While recent lgs have terpreted Lebanon’s ban on “all sexual relatns ntrary to the laws of nature” as not applyg to homosexualy, the Lebane legal system do not always apply precents.