Posts Tagged ‘beirut’

Don’t let The Gays into my country!

Posted: May 2, 2013 in Human Rights
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#LebLGBT #DekAbuse

This will be my profile photo on Twitter and Facebook because:

I believe that all citizens should be treated equally regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression.

I am outraged by the arbitrary arrests in Dekwaneh on Apr 21st 2013 where a transwoman and 3 men were detained, and subjected to verbal, physical and sexual abuse, their nude photos were taken by cell phones and sent to the media. The Mayor was present through all that and he then confesses to his crimes on national TV. All this is documented. No investigations or disciplinary measures were taken against the mayor by authorities.

I am disturbed by what our Minister of Interior has just announced: “Lebanon is against perversion (his chosen term for homosexuality), which is considered a crime according to Lebanese law. I wonder, now that France allowed same-sex marriage would we allow them to enter our country”. How could I be more knowledgeable about our laws than our Defence Minister. Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code penalize any sexual act “against nature” by up to one year in prison and has been historically used to criminalize homosexuality. In 2009, a Lebanese judge in Batroun ruled against the use of article 534 to prosecute homosexuals. He clearly flaunts his ignorance when he questions whether Lebanon should allow The Gays to enter our holy nation, as if the door has been closed and the recent achievements in France on the human rights front will open that door!!! I stand speechless.

I am encouraged to speak out because I know how many want to and how little support they have to do so.

This is an adaptation of the Lebanese flag. The red says “7okouk” Arabic for “Rights”. I also like how the two red bars form an Equal sign. I wish they could have added to the flag what would represent the rights of womyn, foreign workers and refugees, all of whom are also at risk to suffer similar brutality in our rotten system.

I will keep this photo till May 17 2013: The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO)

LebMASH Press Release regarding the Dekwaneh Abuse Case

Posted: April 28, 2013 in Health, Human Rights
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Here is the Press Release by LebMASH (The Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health) regarding the Dekwaneh abuse case that I have previously blogged about.

For immediate release,

The Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH) strongly condemns the acts undertaken, based on orders from Mr. Shakhtoura, the Mayor of Dekwaneh on April 21st 2013. According to media reports1, personal accounts of victims2, and the mayor’s confession3 on national TV, individuals in Dekwaneh were targeted based on their perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Three men and one transwoman were arrested and exposed to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse4.

We at LebMASH believe in the World Health Organization (WHO) definition5 of health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Societal oppression, discrimination, abuse, and homophobia/transphobia against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community lead to a higher prevalence of psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and attempts, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse. Such discrimination and abuse were apparent on April 21st, 2013.

The negative impact of this abuse extends beyond the individuals who were arrested. The abuse represents a threatening message sent to all LGBT individuals in Lebanon where many will fear becoming the next victim. Fear of persecution impacts one’s mental health negatively, especially in a country that still criminalizes “unnatural sexual acts” under Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code.

We, as health care providers and concerned citizens of Lebanon:

(1)   Call on our fellow healthcare professionals in Lebanon to speak up against these acts of abuse and their serious health consequences.

(2)   Call on the appropriate authorities to launch an immediate investigation into the events of April 21st, 2013. We insist that those who perpetuated the abuse are held accountable for their actions. We must ensure that they face appropriate legal consequences.

(3)   Call on the Lebanese parliament to eradicate the antiquated and unjust Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code.

The LebMASH Board - info@lebmash.org

  • Hasan Abdessamad, MD FRCSC FACOG – Obstetrician & Gynecologist
  • Rami Baz, MD – Pediatrician
  • Rita El-Haddad, BS – Psychology Doctoral Student
  • Omar Fattal, MD MPH – Psychiatrist
  • Omar Harfouch, BS – Medical Student

References:

  1. Raynbow YouTube: LBCI reports again on Dekwaneh arrest, closure of gay bar
  2. NOW News: Transgender club victim speaks out
  3. LBCI: اقفال احد ملاهي المثليين في الدكوانة
  4. Legal Agenda: فحوصات العار في الفضاء العام
  5. World Health Organization: WHO definition of Health

My response to Mayor of Dekwaneh abuses

Posted: April 25, 2013 in Human Rights
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Imagine you get a phone call from your sister telling you she was arrested on a night out and her nude photos are already circulating online.

Imagine your closeted best-friend, who fears for his life if his family knew about his sexuality, has his name publicly posted on the door of a recently shut down gay bar.

It can happen to anyone of us or the people we love and care about, so we shall not remain silent.

The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, LBC TV, asked the public to submit their response to the human right abuses committed by Dekwaneh Mayor Antoine Chakhtoura on April 21 2013. That night, Chakhtoura ordered a raid on Ghost Bar that caters for gay bisexual and transgender clientele. His forces carried illegal detention of people. Victims were dragged to the municipality building, where they were insulted, interrogated, forced to undress and their photos were taken. The bar was shut down few days later and the full names and date of births of 4 detained victims were posted on its door.

A tranwoman victim reported to NOW that she was verbally, physically and sexually abused.

“They hit me and pushed me around and insulted me by using derogatory terms like ‘faggot’ and ‘half-a-man,’ then they asked demeaning questions such as how much do I make per hour and whether I enjoy ‘sucking on it,’ then asked me to strip naked and then took photographs of me.”

Here are the responses that LBC chose to broadcast:

http://www.hidepark.tv/VideoPlayer.aspx?id=MjcxOQ==

Here is my response:

 

Here is the segment of the news reporting on the abuse.

 

The mayor has already confessed to his crime on national TV:

“Of course we made them take off their clothes, we saw a scandalous situation and we had to know what these people were. Is it a woman or a man? It turned out to be a half-woman and half-man and I do not accept this in my Dekwaneh.”

So this mayor believes he can enforce his set of morals on the whole population. He played police by arresting people and he played the doctor by subjecting them to a physical. He is neither. This is a fine example of abuse of power and should be exposed and stopped.

Lebanese Lawyer Mr. Nizar Saghieh told NOW that the municipal police’s detainment of customers is illegal and should be looked into because it is a clear violation of the constitution. He urged the civil society to address the abuses as quickly as possible if the subjects decide not to sue.

Outrage is evident on social media are posters denouncing the mayor’s abuses are sprouting:

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Mayor of Dekwaneh Antoine Chakhtoura responsible for sexual abuses and racism

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To learn more and follow this story as it unfolds, follow the Lebanese LGBT Media Monitor on Facebook and @LebLGBTmonitor on Twitter.

You can also follow hashtag #DekAbuse that was created for this incident.

The #LebLGBT hashtag is always handy to follow any news related to the Lebanese LGBT movement.

Stay strong. Speak up

Dear France, re-colonize us!

Posted: April 25, 2013 in Human Rights
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The country that gave Lebanon’s Penal Code article 534 now gave all its citizens the right to marry.

Article 534 criminalizes any “sexual act against nature” by up to one year in prison and has been used against homosexuals.

As France marks another historic achievement for human rights, Lebanese officials arrested 4 men and 2 transwomen in a Ghost bar in Dekwaneh, east of Beirut, just for their perceived sexual orientation and gender expression. The 6 were all Syrian nationals and also “breaking” the curfew enforced on Syrians in the municipality of Dekwaneh after 6 PM. The victims were humiliated, stripped down and even photographed, the nude photos taken by police were even provided to mainstream media and leaked to social media.

Ghost Bar was shut down. The men and women were now all released, but the trauma of such an experience will scar their lives for long. 

Congrats France, maybe it is time to colonize us again, perhaps this time you would leave us with a better set of penal and ethical codes.

http://youtu.be/CIDy3ltVqGI

On a happier note, today the Lebanese government signed the first ever civil marriage certificate. Nidal and Kholoud became the first couple to ever have a civil marriage on Lebanese soil. Khouloud said: “I tell everyone, no rights would be lost if fought for.”

PS: Before anyone jumps on my back, I am not really calling on France or any other country to “re-colonize” us for whatever reason.

My schizophrenic Lebanon!

Posted: July 10, 2012 in Personal
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Today I started #Lebanonissoschizophrenic hashtag on Twitter.

After a 14-day trans Canada road trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, I flew to Lebanon on July 1. I find it fascinating how we, Lebanese, learned to survive and even have fun in such a troubled country.

Here are few observations-turned-tweets I just sent out tonight:

  • Most foreigners want to visit Lebanon. Most Lebanese want to leave!

 

  • Lebanese womyn enjoy the freedom of going out in public wearing almost nothing but not the freedom of giving their nationality to their children!

 

  • They call it “The Green Lebanon” but most mountains are now eroded with construction!

 

  • The government fails to supply enough power to its citizens yet this is how lit Beirut waterfront is:

 

  • We have the most liberal online presence in the Arab world but the slowest Internet!

 

  • We have poor infrastructure that leads to horrible traffic jam as we drive to a live concert by Enrique Iglesias or Charles Aznavour!

 

  • Beirut is named the “gay capital” of the Middle East while article 534 still criminalizes homosexuality in Lebanon!

 

  • Security is at stake yet Lebanon has at least 6 international festivals running all at once. I can barely find a ticket to many of the concerts!

 

  • My friend borrows money from me and she drives a car I can never afford!

 

  • Everyone complains about the economy but new buildings are sprouting everywhere you look!

 

  • When a woman tells you she is getting a tattoo it is most likely for her eyebrow, eyelid, or lip contour!

 

  • Some pay hefty sums on plastic surgery but would not spare a dollar on a family doctor! Lebanon has one of the highest numbers of plastic surgeries per capita in the world. Banks advertise for loan specially customized for your plastic surgery needs and Lebanon is becoming a popular destination for plastic surgery tourism in the region.

 

  • We live in our parents’ house till we get married and we complain how our private matter is of their business!
  • A woman might pay half of her monthly income to buy a dress that she can only wear to one event.
  • Everyone claims to be secular and when a sectarian protest breaks the streets are full!

 

  • Our Lebanese society loves our legendary drag queen, Bassem Feghali, but despises any man who appears or acts feminine.

 

  • Most Lebanese have double nationalities yet we discriminate against foreign workers! Lebanon has a high rate of suicide among foreign domestic workers. Ethiopia has blacklisted Lebanon and prevents its citizens from flying there for work. To be allowed to leave Ethiopia, workers claim they are flying to Dubai but later get smuggled into Lebanon.

 

  • Most Lebanese will seek another nationality to find a new home somewhere else and after they immigrate all they think about is back home.

 

  • You can’t figure out how to hate it even if you try hard to.

Can we discriminate in fighting discrimination!?

Posted: March 12, 2011 in Human Rights
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I am dedicating this post to LGBT rights in Lebanon. It might resonate with human rights activism else where.

LGBT Protest in Sodeco square, Beirut - June 2009 against brutal use of violence by police

In the past decade, Beirut has got more international attention as the “Sin city“ and “Provincetown“ of the Middle East. More recently, Beirut appears to be gaining a world-wide reputation as a gay destination. This culminated with the announcement by IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association) of its 2010 Symposium being held in Beirut in Oct. 2010.

This drew a mixed reaction from the Lebanese LGBT community. Bekhsoos dedicated a whole issue criticizing and even mocking gay tourism in Beirut. Helem supported the event but the speech delivered did not shy from bluntly stating Helem’s skepticism about any benefit to the LGBT community from gay tourism. Raynbow Media Monitor’s report drew a variety of opposing reactions on the blog and on theLebanese LGBT Media Monitor.

IGLTA 2010 symposium in Beirut

An Ad by Aishti, Beirut in 2004 targeting LGBT consumers.

Reading through all different arguments, here is my impression on the conflict: A majority is probably not even aware of the controversy surrounding gay tourism and gay-friendly businesses. The few LGBT activists were divided. Sophisticated intellectuals call it neoliberalism and Western imperialism, the meaning of which I had to look up in a dictionary. Your everyday leftist will argue: “Do not use my pocket to enrich yours”. Others believe that LGBT-friendly business and gay tourism promote the LGBT cause. I believe the issue is too complex to be summed up in a rigid black or white opinion.

This issue resurfaced few days ago when Helem’s administrator, Hiba Abbani, wrote an article for Al-Akbar titled “LGBT rights: Down with Sectarianism“. The article opens with comments about IGLTA’s 2010 symposium and continues to talk about pink dollars, consumerism and ends with calling on LGBT people “to fight the market and not surrender to it.” Abbani’s article intimidated few activists especially that it can be easily misinterpreted as the official position of Helem. (Read Did Helem miss!? “ما موقف جمعية حلم من موقف “جمعية حلم by Raynbow Media Monitor)

The LGBT community in Lebanon is very diverse. It has the poor and rich, the leftist and right winged, professionals and artists, activists, slacktivists and pacifists, the LGBT rights fanatics and the all-inclusive human rights advocates, etc…

  1. Do we advocate for the rights of one LGBT group and not the other?
  2. In our fight to end discrimination, are we allowed to discriminate?
  3. Are we assuming that LGBT who are more financially grounded face less discrimination, coming out struggles, social marginalization and stigma as compared to less financially founded LGBT?
  4. Are less financially blessed LGBT more worth of our activism than more financially achieved?

As for LGBT-friendly venues, those have their list of prices available. By visiting, you are accepting their terms and the profit margin they chose. It is great If they donate, it is fine if they don’t. Helping the community should be applauded but not expected. Those venues are not more expensive than your mainstream homophobic business in Beirut. So which is more efficient, investing our time and effort in fighting LGBT-welcoming businesses or the plethora of homophobic places that have similar profit-driven tactics!?

I am all for social justice and for fighting classism, but let us not be hypocritical, if we are to start a campaign against inhumane practices by businesses let us not launch it only against LGBT-friendly ones.

LGBT supporters march within the Laique Pride. Beirut, 2010

Arab countries revolt, Lebanon dances it away!

Posted: March 10, 2011 in Personal
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This post was editted on Apr. 17, 2011 to include the follow up editted video. It appears that the flashmob folk dance inside Beirut’s International Airport happened on March 5, 2011 and was planned by Beirut Duty Free.

“You have your Lebanon and I have my Lebanon” – Khalil Gibran

Meet my Lebanon.

The Lebanese people mastered the art of survival, they learned to enjoy the moment and live day by day. Music, dancing and partying never stopped through all the years of war and political turmoil.

What other airport would allow that?

On March 5th 2010, people in Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport came together and danced their differences away. Passengers, flight attendants, employees, and security staff danced to a mix of Lebanese folk and modern dance music. Even belly dancing was thrown in, a mix that reflects this nation’s diversity and resilience.

This comes in a time when people in Lebanon are staging protests to bring down the sectarian system.

This second video was embedded into this post on Apr. 17 2011

Anatomy of a Riddle! Will your answer be right-eous?

Posted: November 23, 2010 in Human Rights, Personal
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“A dad and his son had a car accident, the father died and the son was rushed to the hospital… The Doctor said: “I can NOT do the surgery, he is my son” Explain

This was a riddle I received by a broadcast BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) from my sister today.

Before you scroll down, take a minute to think about the right answer. Please consider leaving your first answer as a comment on this post.

With my sister in Lebanon end of 2009 (Blog post and photo are published with her permission)

“The Doctor is his Mother” I replied.

“You truly are a feminist” my sister wrote back.

I read her line as I was recovering from a reality shock. I actually fell in the trap. I have to confess that it took me more than a minute to figure it out which, in my opinion, is appalling.

“I did not know the answer” she continued.

“Who else on your list knew it?” I asked

“No one”

“I loved this riddle. It is such a feminist riddle. I did not guess it automatically, it took me some time, which is a shame. It reflects traces of brainwashing by an eastern Chauvinistic society in which we were raised.”

I am still not over the fact that I did not know the answer immediately. I realized how much work I still need to rid myself of prejudice I absorbed from a patriarchal society.

My sister felt even worst: “I hated myself when I knew the answer. كرهت حالي بس عرفت الجواب We all did, especially the girls. That is sad”

Yes, it is sad. It should be a wake up call for all of us. Lebanon is only “free”, “democratic” and “open-minded” when you compare it to neighboring countries, or other Arab-speaking countries. We should aspire to better quality freedom and social liberties than that of our neighbors.

No Lebanese man, woman or other should rest their case before womyn and those who identify as such have the full rights that men have. Womyn can not offer citizenship to their non-Lebanese husband or even to their kids from a non-Lebanese partner. Womyn can not report domestic violence to authorities as no protection is provided, on the contrary, they frequently end up back in the hands of their abuser same night. Womyn feel they need to hide their sexuality while men proudly flaunt it. Charges against a rapist will be dropped if he offers to marry his victim. Police get away with verbal sexual harassment of womyn on the street. I have witnessed few incidents in Beirut (#VisceralReaction). Many womyn are discouraged from pursuing further education because they are “ripe” for marriage. Those who do, will have strong competition from men, this is reflected in fewer womyn than men holding CEO or leader-position jobs. Womyn can be ostracized for delayed or no marriage. A unique term was even coined to further alienate these womyn: “عانس Aaniss”. It is amuzing that the term is rarely, if ever, used for unmarried men.

I have to say I have doubts people raised in a Western societies will get the answer more righteously! I witnessed patriarchy in USA and Canada in my past 5 years here, but on a different level. This will be left for a different post.

Back to our riddle, if you felt bad for missing the answer, I tell you what I told my sister: “Do not feel bad, you are so righteous in saying ‘I hated myself  when I knew the answer’, that by itself is strongly feminist.”

I posted this riddle as my status on Facebook. Here are few answers I received.