Gay people are reclaimg an Islamic herage

Contents:

• ALAA JARBAN: ONE OF YEMEN'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MEN
• DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE
• WHAT HAPPENED WHEN FOUR GAY GUYS FROM TEL AVIV TOOK A VATN TO DUBAI
• WHAT PART OF THE MIDDLE EAST IS A GREAT GAY DTATN?
• EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
• GAY PEOPLE ARE RECLAIMG AN ISLAMIC HERAGE
• WHERE TO GO WHEN IM YOUNG GAY? - AMSTERDAM FOM

ALAA JARBAN: ONE OF YEMEN'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MEN

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. Out Loud is the first film om Lebanon wh a gay theme that sets a new standard for cema om the Middle East the midst of the Arab Sprg. A documentary by Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir, I Exist giv a voice to gay and lbian Amerins om the Middle East, who often rema silent out of shame and fear.

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. Enuraged by Sandra, Ama lnch a blog lled “A Gay Girl Damasc, ” reprentg a margalized voice the Middle East on polics, relign, and sexualy. 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.

In post-Fran Madrid where he lived an openly gay existence, his life rembled one long Almodóvarian y, full of excs and sexual taboo-breakg. 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. A short documentary that tells the stori of Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebane rock band wh an outspoken gay sger, and Sarah Hegazy, an Egyptian activist.

DOZENS OF GAY MEN ARE OUTED MOROC AS PHOTOS ARE SPREAD ONLE

Between realy and animatn, the story of Nidhal is told, a young homosexual Tunisian who fend dividual eedoms Tunisia through his work rad. Meet like-md members wh terts Gay Arabs, Gay Mlim Datg, Gay Mlims, Gay Arabic, Gay Iranians, Gay Egyptians, Gay Persians, Gay Armenians, Gay Afghans, Gay Iraqis. Image ptn, Alaa Jarban's "I'm Queer" post has provoked a backlashThe issue of homosexualy is wily taboo the Middle East, cludg Yemen where the penalty for beg gay n be severe.

Last week, spired by the hope the revolutn created, Alaa beme one of the first people to e out publicly as gay while still livg Yemen. "In his post, Mr Jarban revealed timate thoughts and reflected on a perplexed and isolated perd of adolcence growg up as a gay boy a nservative society.

Fdg posive support shared on a public platform, regardls of how small, shows a distct shift attus towards homosexualy among some Yemen. But while for some that is a good thg, for others rerc the ia that Yemenis need to prerve their tradns orr to fight off this creepg so-lled "Wtern morny" prospect of acceptg homosexual people seems distant a untry that do not acknowledge their existence.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN FOUR GAY GUYS FROM TEL AVIV TOOK A VATN TO DUBAI

"I asked iends where is the gay muny, and people said there are no gays Yemen, " wrote a girl who was aaid to share her real inty on Alaa's blog, which has bee a platform for ntributors om the LGBT [lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr] muny. "When the protts reached Yemen, I cid to take part the hope of fdg a new si to my untry, a si I uld fally relate to, " said Mr that hope began to wane as he watched the limed impact the revolutn had on tradnal Yemeni life and attus - spe the otg of a print who had led for 32 ptn, Kamal al-Solaylee says his cisn to e out as a gay Yemeni enuraged othersKamal al-Solaylee - thor of Intolerable: A Memoir of Extrem, a book about the trials he faced g out as member of the Yemeni diaspora - scribed Mr Jarban's cisn as brave, pecially for a man so young. Acutely aware of those nsequenc, Mr Solaylee is nearly 50 and liv his book was published, gay Yemeni men sought him out, eager to share experienc and embrace their sexual inty an acceptg Yemeni Solaylee was luged wh emails and letters.

WHAT PART OF THE MIDDLE EAST IS A GREAT GAY DTATN?

"I beme the godfather of gay Yemeni men, " he feels protective of Mr Jarban and wants to help him, but there is ltle he n do if the 23-year-old cis to stay Yemen. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe ia was to show the hypocrisy of Morocn society by showg how many gay men are livg quietly straight society. It backfired S/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagPARIS — At least 50 to 100 gay men were outed Moroc over the last two weeks, rights activists say, after the men were intified on lotn-based meetg apps while shelterg at home amid a ronavis at least three s, men were kicked out of their ho, L.

EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI

”In Moroc, a North Ain kgdom where homosexualy and sex outsi marriage are crim, gay people are pafully acctomed to the feelgs of peril and rejectn, and many keep their sexual inti unr, their ver has been blown a way that would be crimal most Wtern societi, rights advot say. ”What mak this episo particularly paful, gay lears say, is that was igned by someone who had also been sgled April 13, a Morocn transgenr Instagram personaly based Istanbul, Naoufal Mosa or Sofia Talouni, was sulted about her sexual orientatn.

In a rage, she released a profany-laced vio enuragg women to download the lotn-based meetg apps, like Grdr and Pla Romeo, which are ually ed by gay subsequent vios, she said her aim was to reveal the hypocrisy of Morocn society by showg her attackers how many gay men were livg their vicy, perhaps even their own people followed Ms. Mosa’s lead and created fake acunts on the apps to gather photos of gay men, which they then posted on private and public Facebook pag, settg off the homophobic attacks igned a firtorm of cricism, both of Ms. “My datg life Moroc was somehow OK as long as my partner and I were beg super discreet and ut, ” said one gay man who asked to be intified only by his ials, N.

GAY PEOPLE ARE RECLAIMG AN ISLAMIC HERAGE

Abllah Taia, a proment gay thor and one of few to publicly clare his sexual orientatn Moroc, says that the state keeps people a gray area, makg them vulnerable to abe and discrimatn and forcg many to hidg. ”Moroc’s Interr Mistry did not rpond to a requt for outg episo is seen by many as stroyg a agile balance that the untry’s unrground gay culture has built laborly over the years, ma even worse a time of uncertaty and enomic hardship.

But they do have some support at Bezad, the print of the Pan-Ain Organizatn for the Fight Agast AIDS, said that while Moroc’s laws were unlikely to change, s health mistry enurag associatns like hers to help vulnerable populatns, cludg gay people. As I was relaxg on a direct flight I took wh three of my iends to Dubai Internatnal Airport, I uldn't help but wonr: Would we be able to meet gay men the seasi Emirati cy whout gog unrground? Jt Then, Flights From Israel to Dubai Began' A Mlim Woman and a Gay Jewish Man Are the Perfect Couple This Show Visg Dubai Is Like Standg on the Sil of a Gang Rape We found a real drag kgdom at a rooftop bar on top of a central hotel which has a gay lp every Friday night.

Durg the nversatn, enhanced wh genero quanti of alhol, the picture beme clear: Immigrants to Dubai, particularly the gays among them, are often fleeg Arab or Eastern European untri where they had a much harr time. We fd a real drag kgdom at a rooftop bar which has a gay lp every Friday nightSamir, tall and rather shy, told me how he left his parents Moroc and hasn’t seen them for almost two years. People at the Mall of the Emirat Dubai, May 28, Ahmed Jadallah/RtersThere’s another place for gays to meet that’s a lot ls lorful but a lot more hectic: Grdr, the gay datg app.

WHERE TO GO WHEN IM YOUNG GAY? - AMSTERDAM FOM

Bee Lebane queer artist Munir Abdallah's gallery on our se of his first nu gay photography exhibn the Arab world was so popular, we asked him for even more timate photos of the tradnally private Abdallah's exhib of gay erotic photographs of Arab men at ArtLab Beit Cy Lebanon is over. But the impact of the notable first show of gay eroti the Arab world still lgers -- and giv hope for more open exprsn this new, born 1964 Beit, is a Tai Chi stctor and a photographer.

Forster went to Alexandria, Egypt, to have his first experience of gay love, and one of the most famo gay poets of the twentieth century, Constante Cavafy, also hailed om that sprawlg metropolis on the sea. Even hotspot Beit, long known for s excg nightlife and hunky men, has bee ls attractive as Helem, the area's only LGBT anizatn reports that Article 534 of the Lebane Penal Co ("sexual terurse ntrary to nature" is punishable for up to 1 year prison) has been ed recently to harass gay and bisexual sce the famo Nile Queen cint ( which 52 gay Egyptian men were arrted and "examed" for dancg whout women partners on a floatg dis), Egypt is not nearly as open as ed to be.