Middle East
Coming Out in Lebanon
Openly gay, lesbian and transgender people face persecution across the Arab world. The exception may be in Lebanon, which has slowly grown more tolerant thanks to the work of activists. Throughout the Arab world, gay, lesbian and transgender people face formidable obstacles to living a life of openness and acceptance in conservative societies. Although Jordan… Read more »
Iran’s transgender community: Legally recognised yet socially ostracised
Transgender people in Iran are both legally and religiously accepted in the country but their existence in Iranian society is not easy. Iran is the only Muslim country in the Persian Gulf region that gives trans citizens the right to have their gender identity recognized by the law—but violence, rejection from their families and society,… Read more »
This Gay Couple Left Iran For A Better Life.
Washington – In the best-case scenario if Ramin Haghjoo and Nima Nia still lived in Iran, they would be married. Just not to each other to women, probably through arranged marriages. Perhaps they could have found women also attracted to their own gender and looking to hide the fact, like one of Haghjoo’s friends did.… Read more »
British man sentenced for ‘touching man’s hip’ finally back home
A Scottish man who was jailed in Dubai for touching another man’s hip has returned home after a long ordeal. Jamie Harron, a 27-year-old electrician from Stirling, Scotland, was sentenced to months in prison for public indecency after he touched another man in a bar, apparently to avoid spilling a drink. The alleged incident took… Read more »
2 gay Iraqi soldiers found love amid war. Then the death threats started
SeattleEach night, when the guns fell silent in Iraq, Btoo Allami would invite his friend Nayyef Hrebid over for dinner. The two first locked eyes on a dusty battlefield in Ramadi. After days of exchanging hasty glances amid gunfire, they snuck away one night to listen to Michael Jackson on shared earbuds. The music stopped,… Read more »
Israeli MP forced to resign after attending nephew’s gay wedding
An Israeli MP has been forced to resign – after attending his nephew’s same-sex wedding. Yigal Guetta had sat as a member of the Knesset (Parliament) for the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party. But his decision led to anger from other lawmakers within his party and from Orthodox rabbis, after he revealed that in a radio interview… Read more »
Kuwait deports 76 gay men in crackdown
World of Politics, Fear and Loathing Kuwait has deported 76 homosexuals and shut down 22 massage parlours this year, the head of a morals committee has said. The gay men were apprehended during nationwide campaigns aimed at enforcing the law regulating massage parlours, Mohammad Al Dhufairi told the Kuwait Al Seyassah daily. The committee, made… Read more »
The UAE’s position on gay rights is actually surprisingly progressive – and I should know
In Arabic we have no words for ‘gay’ or ‘straight’. But we have over 200 words for love, and we have gender neutral terms too. I prefer not to call myself ‘gay’ in Western terms because I want to decolonise my body Recently, I was asked to defend my support of the UAE and explain why I… Read more »
Government will not allow gay couples to adopt in Israel
Responding to court petition, state cites ‘difficulties’ for the child; lawmakers accuse government of homophobia The government announced on Sunday that there are no intentions to change the law and allow gay couples to adopt in Israel. In response to a High Court petition, the state said that it was opposed to allowing same-sex couples… Read more »
As a gay man born in Iraq, I know that western intervention is to blame for the murder of LGBT Iraqis
Disdain for the West is potent on Iraqi soil – what did we expect after destroying a civilisation for no actual reason? Yesterday in Baghdad, Iraqi actor Karar Nushi was murdered due to rumours of his homosexuality. He had been receiving death threats because of his “transgressive appearance” – particularly his long hair – and… Read more »
‘Mr Gay Syria’: film documents lives of LGBTI Syrian refugees
When “Mr Gay Syria” premiered at the Sheffield Film Festival in England this June, it took viewers by surprise. For starters, the documentary revolves around a little-spoken of community: gay Syrian refugees. Turkish director and journalist Ayse Toprak chronicles the lives of Hussein Sabat and Mahmoud Hassino, as an usual quest brings them together. Married… Read more »
Lebanon Hosted The First Gay Pride Ever Held In The Arab World
This Sunday, May 21, marked the end of a week of festivities in Lebanon following its first Gay Pride, which was also the first Gay Pride in the Arab world. It was held in Batroun, in the north of the country, and was the closing event in a series of celebrations and debates in the city’s… Read more »
After firing several gun shots, police arrested more than 30 men apparently between the ages of 16 and 30 for being homosexual.
IRQR Voice Last Thursday around 8:30 pm, Esfahan’s police raided a private party in Bahadoran, the Garden region of Esfahan. After firing several gun shots, they arrested more than 30 men apparently between the ages of 16 and 30 for being homosexual. IRQR received several reports in last few days and were able to confirm… Read more »
The Secret Life Of A Lonely Gay Christian In Yemen
This story originally appeared on Narratively, a digital publication and creative studio focused on ordinary people with extraordinary stories?—?get thee to more amazing tales on the new face of adoptive parents, a series on paperless people, and clandestine love. As Al-Qaeda and ISIS encroach on his once-progressive city, one terrified young man has become the… Read more »
Yousef and Farhad Graphic Novel
Graphic Novel Captures What It’s Like to Be Gay in Iran: Part 4 OutRight Action International | Posted 03.01.2017 | Home Read More: Yousef and Farhad, Yousef and Farhad Graphic Novel, Iran, Iran Gay Rights, Iran Lgbt, Iran Lgbt Rights, Iran Love, Lgbt Love, Amir Soltani, Khalil Bendib, Outright Action International, WorldPost Middle East, WorldPost… Read more »
Police kill two people for wearing women’s clothes in Saudi Arabia
Two Pakistanis identified as cross-dressers have been tortured to death by police in Saudi Arabia, it has been reported. The victims were among 35 men arrested in the capital city of Riyadh for dressing as women, an offence which has its own branch of law enforcement in Saudi Arabia. According to The Express Tribune, a… Read more »
Meeting the needs of MSM in the Middle East and North Africa
Manuel Couffignal is a Senior Advisor: Funding and Influence at the Alliance. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), men who have sex with men (MSM) are a particularly vulnerable and highly stigmatised community, and their burden of HIV infection is significantly higher than the general population. From 2005 to 2015, the Alliance worked… Read more »
Deadly Stigma: HIV Infections in Middle East on the Rise
Despite a historically low prevalence of HIV infections, countries in the Middle East and North Africa are facing a rising number of HIV/AIDS cases at a time when the rates of new infections drop across the globe as part of a concerted effort to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Such a dynamic is on… Read more »
The UN’s LGBT expert has advocated for a global partnership to end violence
He advocated for unity in his keynote speech at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) in Bangkok. Vitit Muntarbhorn said: “resolute action is required to stop the violence and discrimination affecting not only LGBT communities but also the human rights defenders working with them… “this goes hand in hand with the… Read more »
Transgender Saudi man speaks out publicly for first time to help others
“My name wasn’t Salman when I was born about 28 years ago. It was Salma.” London (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – As a transgender man from Saudi Arabia, where his identity could see him jailed and flogged, Salman Al-Dukheil waited decades before speaking out about who he is – or who he was. “My name wasn’t… Read more »
‘Jihaderotica’: Author Takes Aim At ISIS With Gay Love Story
A new novel takes on the terror group, by imagining a tender same-sex love affair on the battlefield Opponents have gone after the Islamic State with bombs, with interdiction, and by fighting its propaganda online. Here’s a novel approach: gay sex stories. An elusive fiction writer has published a narrative about the Sunni militants’ ongoing… Read more »
Get An Up-Close Look At Israel’s First Transgender Beauty Pageant
Photographer Oded Balilty goes behind the scenes with “Miss Trans Israel.” New Yorkers can get a behind-the-scenes look at Israel’s first-ever transgender beauty pageant as part of Brooklyn’s annual “pop-up” photography festival. Oded Balilty, who nabbed a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 2007, is bringing his colorful series, “Miss Trans Israel,” to Photoville,… Read more »
ISIS execute four men for being gay – including two of their own members
ISIS has executed four men on suspicion of being gay – including two of their own members. On Saturday (August 20) local sources said the terrorist group had murdered four men on charges of homosexuality and sodomy in the city centre of Mosul. The four men were thrown from the top of a former insurance… Read more »
What It Means To Be A Gay Teen In A Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Community
Recently, “Mira” cut her hair short. It was cute, and boyish. The next morning, she was called to the office in her high school yeshiva and told, “We don’t tolerate such shenanigans.” Girls at their school are required to look properly feminine, and all of them are expected to marry. “Sam” lives in a similar… Read more »
Thousands attend Jerusalem Pride, despite fears of repeat attack
Last year’s parade was stopped after a violent knife attack was carried out. Members of Jerusalem’s LGBT community are returning to the city’s streets today for an annual pride parade – one year after a deadly stabbing attack. This year’s parade is being dedicated to the memory of Shira Banki, the 16-year-old girl who was… Read more »
LGBT magazine faces threats after publishing in Arabic for the first time
An LGBT magazine in the Middle East was praised by many for publishing in Arabic, but now the founders are facing lawsuits and death threats. My Kali, an online LGBT magazine in Jordan, published their first issue in Arabic for its May/June edition. Celebrate the Season at a Central Valley Vineyard Lodi is home to… Read more »
This Syrian refugee marched next to Canada’s Prime Minister at Pride
A Syrian refugee marched next to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Toronto Pride. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau made history on Sunday by becoming the first Prime Minister to march in Toronto’s Pride parade, with thousands taking to the streets for the celebrations. However, while lots of people were focused on Mr Trudeau, another man… Read more »
Everything you need to know about being gay in Muslim countries
The official fiction, Brian Whitaker explains, is that gay people don’t exist in the Middle East. They do – and for many of them, the attitudes of family and society are a much bigger problem than the fear of being persecuted When the US supreme court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage last year, the… Read more »
What Does The Koran Say About Being Gay?
In the wake of the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that took the lives of 49 people, there has been much speculation around gunman Omar Mateen’s motives for the attack. The rationale for the crime, first considered to be a straight man’s act of homophobic violence, became self-loathing when it came to… Read more »
Taliban uses boy sex slaves to dupe & kill Afghan police, survivors reveal
Exploiting the pedophilic boy play ‘bacha bazi’, the Taliban infiltrates the Afghan security forces to attack and kill police commanders. The tactics were revealed by several officials and survivors to AFP. The ‘bacha bazi’ tradition dates back a long time, and is most widespread in the province of Uruzgan, central Afghanistan, where ‘bacha bereesh’ –… Read more »
Gay mullah flees Iran for conducting same-sex weddings
‘They were saying I am a cleric and I shouldn’t be meeting gay men. The other mullahs were suspicious about my sexual orientation and threatened me with death’ A Muslim gay cleric who conducted same sex weddings in secret in Iran has been forced to leave the county after receiving death threats from fellow religious… Read more »
This New Movie Tells the Tortured Love Story of Two Gay Iraqi Soldiers
An upcoming documentary, Out of Iraq, tells their tale The last few decades have seen a transformation in Americans’ attitudes toward gay people. Today nearly two-thirds of Americans say homosexuality should be accepted, up from just over 30% in the early 2000s. Yet in some African and Middle Eastern countries, nearly 100% of people say… Read more »
Rare LGBT protest held in Lebanon
A rare protest, demanding a repeal of laws criminalising homosexuality as “against nature”, has taken place in Lebanon. Around 50 activists gathered outside the Hbeish Gendarmerie in Beirut, a place where morality police often take suspects, in the first protest of its kind for four years. As well as calls to decriminalise homosexuality, the group… Read more »
EXCLUSIVE – We’re more than bodies thrown off buildings by Isis! ‘Mr Gay Syria’ contestants wear leather hotpants in show of defiance against Islamic State as winner reveals his boyfriend was beheaded by extremists
Hussein Sabat was crowned ‘Mr Gay Syria’ at Istanbul competition this year and is now campaigning for LGBT rights The courageous 24-year-old wants to show that Syrian gay men are more than bodies thrown off buildings by ISIS Five brave competitors bared their souls, performed strip teases and danced in high heels to impress the… Read more »
Top Saudi cleric: Homosexuals should not be punished
A prominent Saudi Muslim scholar has come out to disavow persecution of gay people. Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, with harsh punishments ranging from floggings to the death penalty. But Dr Salman al-Ouda, a member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars and director of Islam Today, has called for an end to the… Read more »
Arbitrary detention of LGBTI individuals in Lebanon: specific vulnerabilities and international ways of recourse.
“States are complicit in the violence women and LGBT groups face if they implement discriminatory laws that trap these people in a spiral of abuse”, stated the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) while presenting its report on the gender-perspective on torture to the Human Rights Council on 9 March 2016. This draws interest… Read more »
The Myth of the Queer Arab Life
For most people in the West life in the Arab world for gay people is hard to fathom. It is, like many other parts of life in this region, complicated. One of my favorite television shows growing up was a Ramadan special featuring an Egyptian performer called Sherihan. One year she had a Ramadan special… Read more »
Israel gives green light to HIV-preventing PrEP drugs
Israel has become the latest country to approve the use of PrEP drugs to prevent HIV infection. Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drug Truvada can drastically reduce people’s chances of being infected with HIV if taken daily. The drug has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation and is routinely available to at-risk men in the US… Read more »
Shelter for LGBT Syrian refugees to open in Berlin
A LGBT rights group in Germany is opening a new home in Berlin for gay refugees. The project by Schwulenberatung Berlin is in cooperation with the city council and will create shelter for over 120 people, reports euronews.com. The group behind the project say they decided to open the shelter due to abuse gay migrants… Read more »
Lebanon allows trans man to legally change his gender
For the first time ever, a trans man in the Lebanon has had his gender legally changed on public records. The decision came after Judge Janet Hanna of the Beirut, Lebanon Court of Appeals, allowed the man to change his legal gender. The ruling has been celebrated as the first time in the Lebanon that… Read more »
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