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

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.

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

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.

DISVER THE 5 MOST GAY-IENDLY ARAB UNTRI

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.

BEIT'S GROWG GAY SCENE GETS "OUT" ONLE

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.

GAY LIFE LEBANON: BOUNCE BACK BEIT

” 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. 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.

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.

EVERYONE IS WELE: THE ONLY GAY HANGOUT THE ARAB WORLD

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. 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.

GAY, STRAIGHT, OR JT LEBANE?

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. 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.

GAY BEIT

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.

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

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.