Arte Spotlights Beirut

French-German TV channel Arte is one of the best out there if you ask me – the perfect mix between culture and entertainment, between mainstream and alternative, between conventional and eccentric, between European and rest-of-world.

In your face, Big Brother: Try stopping it now!

And it’s about to get even better for the Lebanese public:

Next Friday January 20th at 9:35 PM Beirut time, Arte will air “Beyrouth Hotel”, Danielle Arbid’s most recent film that was banned in Lebanon for allegedly being “dangerous for Lebanon’s Security”.

Better than waiting for the movie to appear in the back drawers of pirated DVD shops, Arte gives us the chance to see it in all legality on TV. I wonder how our dear censorship bureau feels about that.

For those who miss it then there are two late night re-runs the following week: January 26th at 01:15 AM and January 30th at 03:55 AM.

Another Arte show of interest is the sequence “Prochain arrêt : Beyrouth” made by Pierre Aboujaoude. The five chapter series (~25 minutes each) airs every day this week (started yesterday January 16th) at 7:05 PM Beirut time, and again every weekday next week (Jan 23rd) at 9:00 AM.

Also worth noting is Arte’s service Arte+7, which allows to view all programs online for the whole week following their airtime.

Enjoy the show!

Paradise Lost

Up until not too long ago, the beach in Jbeil now exploited by Eddé Sands was called Tam Tam Beach. It stretched south to a smaller beach that was still public, called Paradise Beach. 

some things are better kept hush hush... says this building in Paris

A narrow stretch of white sand trapped between the cliffs and the sea, Paradise was just as nice as any other private beach, with the only difference that it was free and unattended.

After reading online about rumors of GiBbyish activity going on in Paradise Beach, one hot summer day I felt like trying it out to check for myself.

So I went off with a friend, settled on the sand, had a little swim then started to explore the beach. Pretty typical beach except for one natural characteristic: The rock formations at the tip of the beach shaped something of a grotto, like a little maze that still got some sunlight inside but that was completely isolated from sight. The water was about knee level throughout the grotto.

When I entered the grotto and observed the people from inside, the cruising scheme became quite obvious. It would start as eye contact on the beach, then the guys would swim around each other, perhaps get a little touchy in between a wave and the next. Then, they would start to drift slowly toward the cavern, and finally they would get to serious business once inside...

Soon enough, there I was fooling around with an anonymous hunk I had noticed on the beach... in a sea cavern… some crazy shit!

It’s only later that I realized that Paradise Beach was long known as “the gay beach” in the GiB community, but it was so hush-hush that no one had ever mentioned it to me. Like a dirty little secret.

The thing is it had a pretty bad reputation outside as well as within the community – The kind of places people would describe with something like “if you go there you’re likely to step on a needle left there at night by a junkie and you’ll be sure to catch AIDS”.

But whatever Paradise Beach was – a nice public beach or a decadent Gomorrah – it can only be better than what it has become today: yet another reserved-access beach for the lucky property owners of the new Byblos Sud complex.

Watch out new owners, for the gay spirits still haunt that grotto!

Post title is a tribute to Robert Fisk’s superb article where he dubs 2006 Beirut a Paradise Lost.

Summer Highlight III: The New Places

V-lovers come out! A new stencil's in town

Part of having a dynamic nightlife like Beirut’s, is having to live through even your favorite spot closing down. But then there’s also the new places, the new discoveries, the places that make you want to go out again just for the sake of trying something new, just to say you tried to wipe out some of that Beirut boredom routine.

Getting the chance to party in a place like the Linda Sursock Palace – even if this going to sound like the radio ad for a MixFM event – was no less than epic and memorable. Big kudos to Behind the Green Door, even if part of the credit has to go to Cotton Candy who were the first to do it a couple years ago. That would be my number one highlight of a ‘new place’, which naturally had to come from one of the players in the underground scene.

My number two would be the new clubs that focus on live music performances, that give more meat than Music Hall and more flavor than the live entertainment of the likes of Pier7: One is the Democratic Republic of Music (DRM) in Hamra, and the other one is the recently opened Angry Monkey in Gemmayze, both of which we should be thankful to for bringing back the LIVE.

Another highlight – or should I say coup-de-coeur – is the Coop d’Etat / Em Nazih complex on Pasteur street , which also houses rental rooms and spoken Lebanese Arabic classes for visiting foreigners. A cosy spot that shows you can still get a pretty crowd and a 5,000L beer.

Number four would be this cute new pubs area near the Samir Kassir memorial fountain at the Northern edge of downtown. It hosts a burger joint, a tapas bar, and a bunch of friendly little bars, all in a perfectly landscape-designed (and pedestrian!) area that gives it so much of a European feel that it makes you forget this is actually Beirut. They’re all unpretentious, and best of all they make me feel like downtown is a place for us again! (no offense to the tourists and the nouveaux riches of the solidere-town).

And then there’s the somewhat lowkey activity on the GiB scene, that barely makes it to number 5. Ghost Bar opened in Jdeide in the beginning of summer; it was dubbed “the new Acid” but it is actually more like a caricature of Acid in my mind – so not so much a summer highlight.

Finally most recently there was the opening of Le BOY in Saifi/Harbor area…It held the promise to be hot and happening (to me), until I found out it actually opened at the same location as former Milk – Le BIG disappointment! Even Barcelona’s Salvation didn’t get me to come! Vivian Shallop crowd if you read this, I promise to try it at some point to make up a fair opinion.

Summer Highlight II: Sweet Sour Getaway

There are plenty of options to spend a day at the beach not too far from Beirut, whether you go North or South – it’s a coastal country after all… Just have to pick a mood from GiBbyish at St Georges to partyish at Oceana to super-Bobo at Lazy-B, or pick a place from laid-back Pierre and Friends to 5-star pampering at Orchid (beware some of these sun tanning days might end up costing over 50$).

Yeah we can watch the world go by...up on Cloud Fifty Nine!

… But by far the most pristine, the largest, the prettiest – and generally one of the cleaner ones – , is the public sand beach of Sour (Tyre), about 80 minutes’ drive south of Beirut just next to the Tyre Rest House. It was my number one beach option this summer, whenever I was willing to push the car ride an hour further.

The beach often has cristal blue water (thanks to Israel and the Northbound currents) and stretches several kilometers for your jogging pleasure. It has about 50 identical wooden cabins housing small restaurants that the locals call “the Tents” (“el Khiyam”), and it’s the very last one, called Cloud 59, that has more of a Beirut-ish atmosphere. It’s run by cool hippy looking guys and their girl boss, it serves alcohol even during Ramadan (daring!), it''s super relaxed yet with good music, it has different areas both crowded and secluded, and most of all… it is unbelievably GiB-friendly!

And to top the Europe-style beachgoing experience, the city of Sour packs a lot of features, too: the charm of its old harbor, its excellent and reasonably priced fish restaurants, the narrow pedestrian streets of the Old City and its street markets, a couple lovely boutique hotels and owners’ room for rent ideal for a one night stay-over, the surrounding Archeological sites (and Palestinian camps!), and the list goes on…

Despite its run-down infrastructure and rampant poverty, Tyre is in my mind THE up-and-coming beachtown of Lebanon: definitely more sweet than sour!

Summer Highlight I: The Sporting Parties

Yesterday Sept.21 was the official end of the summer. As I pick up the first autumn leaves on my balcony I look back at these past months and I can say that for me, they were a sequence of quiet and busy times (and blogging inactivity!), with a couple highlights.

Sure Summer 2011 Beirut Nightlife had a lot of highlights way overground: The new White, the new Pier 7, the revamped Sky Bar – and the list goes on –, the terrace parties were booming!

But for those of us who like it more underground, if there is one place that embodied best the alternative scene this summer, it has to be Sporting Club.

Coincidentally or not, many main actors in the scene threw at least 2 or 3 parties there sometimes at one week intervals - whether it be P.C., Behind the Green Door or Basement.

I obviously had to miss some of them but those I made it to were great for the most part, the outdoor location by the sea really helps make for a cool party when the crowd is fun, the music’s good, and the GiBs are putting it on.

It might not be too late yet, Basement is throwing “the last one” this coming Saturday! Will the weather permit one last crazy night?

Roy’s Got Toys for Boys

When I wrote Eurotrip Goodie Bag about a year ago and raised the question “Will they ever open a real sex shop in Lebanon?”, I didn’t see it that one coming so soon.



If you ever need of a “G-spot massage wand for men”,

an “Electric Little Ass” or a why not a “Handsome

up penis pump” – you now know where to go!

Enter Roy’s Toys, a new online sex shop serving (discretely) the Lebanese marketplace. With a bunch of dildos and fleshjacks, the product portfolio is still a bit limited for gay guys (where’s the cock rings, the poppers, the porn, the underwear?), but the staff tells me that it’s continually expanding and will soon include BDSM and roleplaying costumes.

Personally I probably won't be a top customer but I consider that this shop is filling an underserved niche that has the right to exist and certainly a lot of opportunity, so I was really glad to find out about it!

Roy’s Toys staff tells me the market is already picking up for them, although they can’t advetize aggressively given the nature of the business...

Oh and another piece of insider info: currently the best-selling product for gay guys is the “G-Spot Stimulator for Men” which “Stimulates the male G-Spot to give you an explosive orgasm”! Sounds exciting (litterally) doesn’t it?

Keep Your Dirty Hands Off Of Me!

Can the gay community in Lebanon be anything but sensitive to the new ad campaign against torture launched recently by ALEF (Act For Human Rights)?

The campaign's billboard: "Their Suffering is Not Comfort"
- inspired by an Arabic saying.

According to the first-hand experience of GiL, whose 7-post series on GiB re-counts his seven day-long arrest and detention (and future indictment?) under gay related accusations, it would seem that it is no longer customary to torture gay guys who are arrested in Lebanon’s detention centers.

Well he might have been just lucky.

Apart from the living conditions and the length of his detention, GiL was not treated through physical violence, although he certainly did undergo psychological pressure and humiliation.

But what if GiL had been less cooperative with his persecutors, when he signed without resistance their own – and inaccurate – version of his deposition?

What if GiL had used more of a defensive strategy, if he had been more aware of his civil rights?

What if GiL had been more aggressive if he had realized in time the injustice he was a victim of?

And most importantly, what about the physical violence he witnessed with some of his cell mates, who were charged with various drug and sex related crimes? They probably weren’t the sophisticated torture practices that you hear about in horror stories, but many of his co-detainees did receive that huge slap in the face.

For some, their bruises, their muteness spoke for themselves.

As for those detainees that did not go back to their cell after their interview, whatever happened with them remains a big question mark…

Now if that’s the standard of care at the Hbeich police station, the bête noire that has been under high scrutiny by the NGOs, one can only imagine what the standard practices look like in the less visible vaults of our prisons and detention centers.

With that in mind, we GiBs cannot but adhere to the cause. The problem is blatant and it’s big, it’s barbarian and it’s bad. For if even just one person gets tortured in Lebanon because of his or her sexual orientation, then it’s in our duty to show all our support to ALEF, Restart, Human Rights Watch and many others who are putting their best efforts to...

MAKE IT STOP.

by GiB#2, with comments from GiL

And Then We’ll Call it POSH

Let’s rent a place the size of your living room. Paint it in dark.

How about this to illustrate this post?
"my ass" wandering in Paris.

Now get some bar sponsors. Cheap brands will do the trick.

Ok now let’s get a couple bouncers and a cheesy pop DJ. Oh and remember to ask him to plan for a long stretch of Arabic.

We'll pack a whole lot of gay guys. The crème of GiBs. Five per square meter will work. Nevermind capacity. 20 dollar open bar should do it. Works well elsewhere.

… And then we’ll call it POSH.

Antelias is so happening right now I tell you. This place’s gonna be hot. Acid meets Milk meets my garage, how could it be otherwise?

But NO. Turns out the place’s NOT hot, NOT cool, NOT sexy, NOT Posh. Turns out the place... sucks.

A new gay spot opening up never fails to raise curiosity. People want to try it and often have high expectations, because a new place is supposed to raise the bar, not lower it and just profit from a vacuum in the gay clubbing scene.

… but POSH?! Oh Please.

-- Post, pic by GiB#2.

« Les Préservatifs Sont Trop Chers ! » Ten Years Later

I walked out of the pharmacy that day with the eyes buried into my bill. The item I was staring at read: “Durex condoms – Pack of 3: 8,000 lira” (~5$).

“That’s nearly 2 bucks a piece”, I thought. And then a song popped up in my head. An old song from SoapKills, I remember the last one on their album Bater and their only one in French.

« Frères ! les préservatifs sont trop chers !

Moi j’suis jeune et j’ veux baiser »

(Translate : « Brothers ! The condoms are too expensive! Me I’m young, and I want to fcuk”)

The cover of unforgettable album Bater.
(Source: Amazon)

I froze for a minute as the song gave me quite an intense emotional flashback. It had marked me since the first time I'd heard it, with its daring lyrics and incredible composition. I was still under twenty back then. Always horny, often broke, and the condoms did seem too expensive at times.

It was 2001, a decade ago today – Damn!

That was the year when then hyperactive local electro pop band SoapKills released its third and highly acclaimed album, Bater. A memorable album named after a lovely village in the Chouf. SoapKills is no longer alive now, it was dismantled in 2005, but somehow it still lives on. It has become no less than a myth for many of us in the war generation…

Fortunately for Lebanon’s music scene, SoapKills co-founders Zeid Hamdan and Yasmine Hamdan both remain highly active on-stage as well as off- stage, each doing his own thing... but I can't help but think that gosh, weren’t they good together!

--by GiB#2

Frères - SoapKills (Bater, 2001)


Frères ! les préservatifs sont trop chers
Moi j’suis jeune et j’ veux baiser
Ma mère, ma sœur, mon frère, me disent de faire
Attention, clair
Mais moi j’veux pas m’laisser faire
Par la politique du cancer
Qui hausse les prix partout
« Des actes théâtraux dans une salle d’attente » *
L’attente, bruyante, fuyante
« Musique classique un hymne à la collectivité à 18h précises »

Frère, ne rate pas les combats
Qui auront lieu ici-bas
Dans les centres commerciaux
Pour adoucir les mœurs a scient *
Mais frères, La publicité réclame
Des actes théâtraux dans ma chambre
Des pièces de monnaie trainent flemme harem *

« Musique classique un hymne à la collectivité à 18h précises »

S’il pleut, couvre-toi.
Les préservatifs sont trop chers

P.S: couldn’t find the lyrics online but since I always thought they're so powerful and poetic, I thought I’d take a stab at them myself. The lines marked with a * are those where I’m still not too sure - if any fan out there can help perfect them, it would be greatly appreciated!

More From Big Brother

Since writing Go Censor This, Big Brother I became more and more aware of the severity of the state of censorship and intolerance that we live in here in Lebanon. On one afternoon that week I wanted to go see the World Press Photo 2011 exhibit taking place downtown, but as I was looking for the address I found out it had been closed ahead of schedule because it featured work from an Israeli photographer…

Then a couple days later I was reading about the last movie from Lebanon-based production house ..né.à Beyrouth, an Iranian film called Circumstance that talks about modern day Iranian youth and that was shot in Beirut. It obtained the Film Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival last February, but believe it or not we won’t be able to watch it in Lebanon. At least not in all legality.

Good thing sometimes the media are on ‘our side’ and live up to their role as agents of free speech: I could still get a sneak peak at the World Press Photo exhibit thanks to l’Orient le Jour. And I probably will get myself a copy of Circumstance one way or another.

Check out the roundup of top current issues like these compiled by BeirutBoy... All this really calls for more mobilization!

--GiB#2

Beirut Warms Up

You know Beirut summer has started when there’s one too many parties to choose from on any given weekend. That was already my feeling last Saturday when P…C… threw its Pirates de Cannes and Basement its last reunion party on the same night. But then again like many times I ended up choosing… neither.


Just like churches and mosques get fully booked come wedding season, which stretches all the way to September, so do the indoor and outdoor venues on summer weekends. All the major festivals - Byblos (and Off-Byblos), Baalbeck, Beiteddine, Beirut Music and Art Festival, Batroun) have already announced their concerts programs, but we can certainly expect some last minute surprises!

… As for BiG GiB parties, it seems the official summer kick-off will be coming from Matinée's Circuit Festival, with their June 18th Beirut Official Preparty – location still tbd.

Can you feel the heat approaching?

--by GiB#2. Flyer from Facebook

On Peeing in Hamra -- by Joplin

You see, I know no better than Hamra. I was born in Hamra. I went to school in Hamra. I went to college in Hamra. I lost my ‘virginity’ in Hamra. I got drunk for the first time ever in Hamra. I applied to grad school in Hamra. And I even pee in Hamra.


Yes, I emptied my bladder in a Hamra pub; not in the gentlemen’s restroom, not in the ladies’ restroom, but in a single WC common to both genders. It stood there all by itself. A sink, a toilet, scarce tissue papers, and one wooden door. Common bathrooms seem to become a recurring pattern in Hamra’s growing pubbing scene – and it’s not just a matter of space or lack thereof.

Mainstreet, the grandest of Hamra’s shy pubs, has two bathrooms, one painted in baby blue and the other in light pink. Yet they both stand unlabelled without a sign for Man or Woman. So thank you Hamra. Thank you for recognizing those who feel unsure about their gender. Thank you for respecting transsexuals. Thank you for recognizing that a male like me feels uncomfortable using the urinal alongside a bunch of other men. Thank you for helping us redefine gender and sexuality.

Post by Joplin; Picture off the Web

Go Censor This, Big Brother

Been missing watching a good gay movie. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mean porn, I’m talking quality gay themed movies from worldwide cinema, a good Spanish drama, a hilarious British comedy, an insightful Canadian documentary, a Holy Wood thriller … or a romantic Israeli flick for that matter.

Granted, a lot of LGBT movies out there are crap – but some of them are gems.

They’re not always erotic, mostly inoffensive, sometimes even rated PG-13, and yet we won’t be able to get them in Lebanon any time soon. At least not at the Virgin megastore next door, the new 16-screen cinema megacomplex around, or the next pirated DVD seller in Da7ye.

Anyone who still watches movies on Lebanese TV stations will have noticed, that the way our censor gurus have been acting lately is just unacceptable. Slicing and dicing movie scenes to the extent they do, on the basis of both visual and verbal content, is way too 20th century to be acceptable to any educated citizen today. Hopefully some minister in the next government will have the courage to topple this censorship bureau once and for all.

But as 21st Century citizens, how can we accept the censorship of a cultural item on the mere basis that it features a gay couple or touches on gay issues?

Well we don’t.

Whether they like it or not, we will get to watch those movies. For Technology Is On Our Side.

We will get them anywhere from international shipping via Amazon to Internet streaming on Netflix… and all the way down to the shady Russian gay torrents online.

With 3G Internet around the corner, with the new maritime Internet cables we’re hooking up to, soon enough our Internet plans will become Unlimited and Uncontrollable. Same thing with online shooping picking up.

Now go censor this Big Brother:

Open up every one of our packages at the customs. We’ll re-order it out.

Strip search our luggage at the airport. We'll hide it out.

Watch each one of our bits and bytes. We’ll figure it out.

Block the torrents and streams. We’ll mirror it out.

Then keep trying to “educate” us. And we sure will kick you out!



My own GiBby Box Office from the last few years!

- by GiB#2 - Photo captions mostly from IMDb

Acting Opportunity, Anyone?

I got an email from a young filmmaker based in Germany who is currently planning his next movie project with a German production house.

He's just now starting to cast for actors, and is looking for two English speaking actors around 20 years old and with a Middle Eastern look, to play the role of a young gay couple who moves to Europe and face all kinds of difficulties that come with it.

The casting will gauge the actor’s acting skills, will look for a good presence in front of the camera, and obviously will require someone who is comfortable playing a gay character.

It is potentially a hit film that will be presented at Berlin Film Festival, Torino Film Festival and others, an “ambitious very interesting project” and a “well-paid job” by Luigi's own words (travel expenses, accommodation etc. all covered).

Anyone interested in casting for the movie should email Luigi at: corpoaperto.filmproject@googlemail.com

So… will you or someone you know take on this opp. and become the next hot actor from Lebanon? Pass it on!

Gagaesque Lil’ Monsters

Catching Gaga’s Monster Ball tour might well be one of the five pillars of Gay today. I’m one lucky bastard who got to fulfill that one in 2011. Here's one to you Gaga:

… Because no artist promotes self acceptance, self accomplishment, sexual diversity and tolerance better than you do,

For making us forget in a split second you were 40 minutes late,
For your daring speeches, your amazing costumes, your provocative stances,
For you most gorgeous crotch grabbing dancers,
For the progress you’ve made with your dancing,
For crying spontaneously on stage when you opened your heart to us,
For risking your life climbing up and down crazy structures just for our viewing pleasure,
For pledging your donation to an LGBT charity, reading out loud the letter of a fan,
For swearing you didn’t lip sing not for a single minute through this incredible performance,
For using bad words, for calling us your little monsters,
And for reminding everyone that Jesus is all about love and nothing else.

…Today Gaga, I’m your billionth fan and I fucking love you bitch.

some crazy shit from Gaga's concert. Yalla Lebanon 2012?

Lebanon Speaks Up Loud Against Homophobia

Save the Date.
May 17: The International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO)

Lebanon might not have a flashy gay parade with rainbow flags waving above our heads just yet. But many of us Lebanese, gay, straight or anywhere in between, are already actively engaged in a collective effort trying to raise awareness and fight homophobia.
 
More often than not, homophobia is just another by-product of ignorance. People remaining stuck with their pre-conceived ideas, their limited knowledge about how homosexuality plays out in real life.
 
That’s where your stories, your personal experiences and your opinions can help a great deal. Sharing some of your thoughts with the rest of us will help spread awareness within, as well as outside the community.
 
So here’s the deal: As Lebanon’s LGBT blogosphere, we are asking everyone, gay or straight, to take a minute to think: How does homophobia affect you or someone you love?
 
Write 150 words or less and email to: myidahostory@gmail.com
 
You will be advancing the cause more than you think!
 
Wanna check our blog?

This is it: http://lebidaho.wordpress.com/
———————————

This project is a collaborative effort between LGBT bloggers & our awesome Graphic Designer!

Listed alphabetically…we are:

Beirut Boy: Email @beirutboy
Gay in Beirut: Email @GayinBeirut
LebaGaGa: Email @lebagaga
Lebanese Alien: Email @Lebanesealien
Lebanon Rebel: Email @lebanonrebel
Rainbow Experience: Email @rainbowexp
Raynbow Monitor: Email @LebLGBTmonitor
Graphic Designer: @zoozel

--pic designed by @zoozel

Homegrown

Not a homegrown cruising website for Arabs, I guess we’re doing ok with the manjams of the world . Rather, the new forum AHWAA describes itself as a ‘safe place to debate LGBTQ related issues in the Middle East’.

I checked out some forum posts and it does seem like a good place to share stories or seek support from new friends (at least virtual).

There are many middle eastern countries represented in “Mideast Youth”, the team behind this commendable highly needed platform. But a flagrant absence of Lebanese youth behind the effort, perhaps because we feel less repressed? Let’s see how it picks up over here.

Cut the Crabs

I'm finally over it enough to talk about it, that time I got the crabbies.

"Use a Condom or Masturbate" - Poster for
a safe sex campaign in San Francisco.

Flashback to this early phase in my sex life. I've recently broken up with my boyfriend but we’ve stayed close, with travels in between. Technically single the whole of last month I’ve been screwing around like a madman. Even with this guy from msn last week who must have been scratching his crotch everytime I wasn’t looking.

Now I’m sitting here on the couch and my ‘ex’ is kneeled down in front of me. No, he’s not blowing me to try and revive our flame; he’s holding a magnifying glass, wearing the eyeglasses he never wears, and scrutinizing my pubes. Plunging his nails under every infested hair pulling out each crab as I look away in disgust.

A glamorous sight indeed. Though in this moment of despair, he meant the world to me.

The little brown dots on the kleenex sheet next to me. They're starting to move around. They're live insects that were just there hanging on my pubes feeding on my blood. A whole bunch of them like a virus infection. They’ve even laid down eggs that are about to hatch. In French, ‘morpions’ reminds of nasty sex jokes while ‘la gale’ sounds like middle age diseases like ‘la peste’ or ‘la rage’. I feel like the dirtiest man on the face of the earth right now. I’m gonna puke.

To make things worse, I must have had them several days already, even though it's only today that the itching became so unbearable, enough for me to tell my ex I suspect something. So I must have contaminated that other hookup from two days ago. He will be cursing me next week.

If crabs are a common episode in many gay guys’ early trials and tribulations, and relatively manageable, they forced me to face the reality of random gay sex and sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Here was one for me with horrendous names to cope with like crabs lice or scabies, and that even the condom wouldn’t stop... one you can only prevent by being 'pickier'.

But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger now doesn’t it? Well I’m glad I killed the little bastards that time around.

-Post, pic by GiB#2

I heart Beirut



Speaking of Beirut nostalgia... do you remember
these old posters?



Beirut I love you (I love you not): a TV/Web series well worth checking out. In the same spirit but perhaps not the same quality of script or filming as Shankaboot, but very good, creative work -- a nice dive into Beirut of the street, modest picturesque Beirut, graffiti Beirut, Beirut of the old meets new slash east meets west, girls boys and jewish moms, should I leave or should I stay, the Beirut of Soap Kills and Mashrou3 Leila… of all of us Tareks and Yasmines.

The 12 episodes are all online on youtube for your viewing pleasure. Still, my personal favorite has to be the short film that initiated this short series idea for OrangeDog Prods. It was the 10-minute cute couple’s love parade on Amelie music by Yann Tiersen. I remember my eyes getting all wet and feeling like “It sounds good to be straight!” and “I wanna fall in love again!”

-- by LeGiBiT

Bring On the Porno Chic

There’s a new party in town called “Porno Chic” – oops scratch that, it’s “P… Chic” to stick with Facebook etiquette – the new label created by two cool dudes from Beirut’s gayfriendly society.

A first installment in Zico House last month, a second one in Argos (Hamra) two weeks later, and a #3 at the Roger Moukarzel studio in Qarantina a couple weeks ago – feedback says they were all kindof fun and started to build a growing pack of regulars.



Terrible quality phone pic
from the Roger Moukarzel party
but… you get the picture.



To stay in line with Facebook lexicon, we’ll say we LIKE the gayfriendliness / diversity / age mix of the crowd; we LIKE the male/shemale dancers in minimal attire (a daring and rare sight for Beirut); we LIKE the choice of music pre & post general drunk status. And we LIKE the choice of locations so far, although still lacking the creativity of Cotton Candy – speaking of which, last Saturday’s at Cinema Estral with Nomi Ruiz was a blast!

But to be fair, let’s also mention we UNLIKE the “open-bar” that runs out of alcohol at 1am; the unavoidable hangover from the cheapest choice of vodka. We UNLIKE promoting so much the drinking part of it like this is a fraternity beer pong, and trying too hard to convey that trash/glam image they seem to have in mind.

Party #4 is coming up this Saturday with a mystery “P…C…” theme. Scratch that. It’s “Pussy Cat”. Will you make it there to find out what the kittens have in store?

Hit Up Your MP's! Dr K's Open Letter



Logo from the MP's website:
"Your Voice, for Justice and Freedom"
Will he listen to Dr K's call?

A follower forwarded over to GiB a copy of the open letter he sent to MP Ghassan Moukheiber a few months ago. Dr K chose Moukheiber out of 128 MP's not only because he happens to be the MP for his circonscription, but also because he used to be most open to the LGBT cause, and happens to be a lawyer. The letter is still without a response, so if anyone knows someone who knows someone who knows MP Moukheiber or any of the younger/cooler crowd in Parliament, please circulate!

The text is originally in French, and a secret admirer just provided the English translation in the Comments section :) -- GiB#2

Monsieur le député Moukheiber, 

Je ne suis pas un quelconque activiste, ni un militant pour une cause humanitaire, ni affilié à un quelconque parti politique, je suis tout simplement un citoyen libanais en exil à l'étranger et qui étudie la possibilité d'un éventuel retour à mon pays après mes études. Par cette présente lettre je souhaite exprimer ma tristesse face à une situation qui reste bloquée au Liban depuis des années. Il s'agit du statut juridique de l'homosexualité.

En 1990 , L'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé supprima de sa liste des maladies mentales l'homosexualité. Aujourd'hui , 20 ans plus tard, des homosexuels libanais continuent à être poursuivis pénalement au liban. Quiconque essaie de prouver que l'homosexualité n'existe pas au liban se leurre royalement. Il s'agit d'une orientation naturelle de la sexualité humaine, les psychiatres du monde entier sont aujourd'hui d'accord pour dire qu'aucun traitement ni aucune psychothérapie ne peuvent faire changer l'orientation sexuelle des humains, et qu'elle résulte de l'action conjointe de facteurs hormono-génétiques et environnementales. Le mariage entre hommes qui s'aiment est légal dans plus de 8 pays dans le monde; des dizaines d'autres pays offrent la possibilité d'une union civile et une majorité de pays dans le monde ne condamnent pas cette orientation... Les mentalités évoluent inexorablement. Pourquoi est ce que le Liban est toujours à la traîne dans ce domaine? Pourquoi est ce que la loi 534 continue aujourd'hui  d'exister et d'etre appliquée alors qu'une telle loi discriminante et homophobe ne devrait pas avoir sa place dans un pays démocratique?

Si ce sujet me tient à cœur c'est parce que je suis en couple avec une personne formidable qui est du même sexe que moi. Et à chaque fois que nous rentrons au Liban ensemble, nous réalisons qu'une éventuelle vie dans notre pays est tout simplement impossible. Pourtant je suis citoyen libanais, j'exerce mes droits civiques en tant que citoyen libanais, pourquoi est ce qu'une vie normale me serait impossible dans mon pays? A quand un débat honnête sur ce sujet au Parlement? A quand la suppression totale et définitive de la loi 534? A quand des commissions parlementaires libres non politisées et indépendantes de toute influence politico-religieuse pour faire avancer les choses dans le domaine des droits de l'Homme?

Monsieur le député, la situation des homosexuels au liban est déplorable! L'exclusion pousse à la déviance, la communauté gay au liban ne cesse de se tourner vers des addictions en tout genre y compris vers la drogue, la prostitution et autre pratiques néfastes tant sur le plan physique que moral, pourquoi ne pas tendre la main à ces personnes plutôt que de les exclure? Il est grand temps que notre gouvernement prenne des actions concrètes en notre faveur. Il existe bien d'autres pays arabes (même plus islamiques que le liban) qui n'appliquent pas une telle loi discriminante, tel que la Jordanie.

Monsieur le député , il est grand temps que nos politiciens assument leur responsabilité en prenant des actions concrète pour limiter la fuite de cerveaux! Des centaines d'autres couples homosexuels libanais n'attendent que l'annulation de la loi 534 pour retourner au pays.

Nous attendons tous des actions concrètes en faveur de la liberté et de l'égalité.
En espérant que les choses changent dans ce sens,

Bien à vous ,
Dr K.

Confessions of a Hairy Arab

“Arabs are Hairy”

Without any doubt, this stereotype serves Lebanon's brand equity very well on the meat markets abroad.

What better place to admire bear chested
Lebanese dudes... than the ski slopes in Faraya?!

…if only these admirers who swoon over our body hair, had any idea about the secret struggle of Lebanese guys with their hair, I bet they would find it less sexy!

A struggle that is becoming more obvious by the day: Just looking around at the beach, you can tell two things about Lebanese guys and their hair: One is the demystifying fact that not all Lebanese are hairy, as there are many naturally smooth guys.

And Two, that the concept of shaving and trimming body hair has become commonplace in Lebanon, much as it has abroad, both among gay and straight guys. At last, it is no longer just another superfluous bodily care to label as “gay”, merely as “metro”.

Though one thing that gay guys still love to do much more than others, is to delineate their beard with millimetric precision (tezyi7): This one hair must stay, this one must go, this one I take off with the “string” or the “mousse”, that other one I try to get rid of permanently with laser – There, the perfect beard to go with the perfect eyebrows.

My own experience with body hair reached new heights recently, when I came across an old photo of mine taken at the beach when I was around 22. Taking a closer look at the photo, I could not believe my eyes how little hair I had on my chest at the time: only a few soft little hairs in the center. Little did I know back then what the twenties had in store for me in the hair department: Today, a few years later, I carry a chestful of hair!

Digging more into the issue, I went back to my childhood’s “secret drawer” where I found, along many other weird things from my past, a little plastic jewelry box. Inside it, not your average baby name bracelet: far from it. It contains…

My first pubic hairs!

I must have been in my early teens when I got them, carefully pulled out a few of them, and decided to keep them as a relic, a souvenir. This screams “What the F***?!” and I hear you, but I guess it tells a lot about the fascination of young men with their changing hairiness.

Apparently the teen years and early twenties go by with more of this kind of good surprises, enforced by compliments from hairy men’s lovers.

It’s only later on that things start to take a bad turn. One day around the mid-twenties, the horror happens: You notice you’re starting to grow hair “in the wrong places”. In places where hair simply doesn’t belong. Is it the 21st century way of life, the electromagnetic waves of our cellular world, is it the pesticides, I have no idea what it is…

All I know is I’m not liking these little hairs growing undercover as “duvet” on my shoulders and on my back. And what is it with this incredibly long transparent hair that I busted coming out of my ear?

This brought on my all-out battle against unwanted hair. I was still naïve enough to think I was in power with my little metrosexual arsenal on hand: Costly laser hair removal sessions, torture-like waxing appointments, even these nasty depilatory creams and their most nauseating smell in the world. It’s only a matter of time before one has to capitulate: the time it takes to realize that the enemy hairs are only growing darker, thicker, unsexier.

And because bad news seldom come alone, on another horror day, you notice you haven’t just started to grow hair in the wrong places, but also to lose it “in the right places”. That’s when you look in despair at your dad’s hair – or your uncle’s on your mother’s side if you trust the saying, – trying to get a glimpse at your future baldness.

The Light from Above, the one you get in the elevator or from the bathroom mirror glass, becomes your biggest foe. Suddenly you find yourself paying more attention to the disgusting billboards from hair transplant centers, watching what shampoo you use and buying expensive Minoxidil hair preservation products.

And then one day, Life strikes again, ruthless… with the first white hair. The rebel white hair you dreaded comes out of the lot, you pull out in all self-confidence, telling yourself it must be due to the last horror movie you watched... yeah, right.

-post, pic by GiB#2

Beware Our Boycott Power



From a wall in Gemmayze

There is an email circulating around about one of Gemmayze’s favorite spots, Kayan, refusing to serve drinks to a group of gay guys, and throwing them out of the place with no clear reason why. The note tells the story in detail and calls on a boycott of this place.

Personally, I would tone down the reaction a notch, as I heard that the folks showed up in a large group, loud and without a reservation. Leaves room for a misunderstanding. But still, it’s quite disappointing coming from Kayan who’s always been among the more gay-friendly bars out there…


Kayan, GiB’ll give you another chance, but watch your ass from now on!

Dogs not allowed. Gays not allowed – Rue du Liban – Feb. 1st, 2011

This is not Nazi Germany. This is Beirut’s proud nightlife.

Karim comes in, joins his friends, tries to get the waitress attention to finally ask for an Almaza mexican beer. The night is quiet on rue du liban, in gemmayzeh, on a Tuesday night around 10.30 pm. There are some tables waiting to receive more customers in Kayan, one of gemmayzeh’s supposedly most relaxed bars. Kayan’s crowd is normally diverse, different nationalities, different ages, etc.

This is a story Kayan’s diverse crowd will not appreciate.

Beirut, liberal capital of the middle-east. Gemmayzeh, liberal nightlife quarter of Beirut. Whether this is true or not, one thing is for sure, Kayan still has a long way to go. Or better if it doesn’t get the chance to prove itself. Boycott Kayan.

Around this table of 8 guys in their late 20’s or 30’s calm and cheerful laughter can be heard, stories are shared -a typical night out between friends catching up. Except Karim has been waiting for his beer for about 15 minutes. The waitress comes back empty handed and announces to the guys that it’s the ‘last call’ for alcohol. Anyone would find that strange at 10.30 pm in Gemmayzeh. Karim asks nicely if he could still get his drink since he ordered it 15 min ago and Gilbert asks for a last Vodka. The barman is busy mixing more drinks, people are still coming in, the request for a drink didn’t seem out of place. The waitress comes back, stressed, nervous and having difficulty making a sentence “I’m sorry but there’s no more last call, we are closing down early tonight.” The poor waitress lookshopeless, turns around and walks away before any questions are asked. Three minutes later, another waiter drops the bill on the table and says “We are closing down. Can you please pay and leave.” The two barman are still making drinks. The place is packed, as usual, people are still coming in. Something’s strange. Alessandro leans towards a regular of the bar to tell him what’s going on. He confirms what any sensible person refuses to believe “I’m sorry to say this guys but it’s their diplomatic way of being homophobes”.

In shock, humiliated and embarrassed, 8 men find themselves at the door of Kayan in total disbelief of what just happened.

The clerk from Somalia is sent out to bugger off the fairies. In vain of the clerk's effort to shut the fairies up, the big bold headed manager finally shows up, in his white barmen outfit, asks them to leave and keep quiet not to bother the neighbors. When confronted about kicking out gays, the big bold headed straight man goes back into his cave behind his bar.

What’s next? A “Gays not allowed” sign on half of Gemmayzeh’s bars?

-- by GiB#2.

Phoenix Rising B.S.

Music On, Music Off
A highlight from Daraj l Fann - the "art stairway"

Word has it Acid re-opened its doors last Friday. It’s good to hear about a place (re)opening up in Beirut, rather than more places (including the Government) shutting down, amidst all the “Lebanon is at the edge of major civil turmoil” and the “the country’s due for its next war” that we’re hearing around.

It was starting to look like a pattern in the last two months, with Acid closing down, then Ahwet l ‘ezez – a symbolic old-style Gemmayze hangout turning into a bank branch – then Basement – a pillar of Beirut’s electronic music scene falling under the real estate frenzy – to mention just these two. Pretty depressing indeed in this gloomy political atmosphere.

What exactly ended up happening with Acid, did the manager come to terms with the owner, the neighbors – and what was the real problem to begin with anyway? I do not know. But what’s reassuring’ about it being back up is that it disproves those who thought it had something to do with it being a gay club.

Apart from a serious identity issue (the
college football font and the rest of the flyer says
it all), the RGB party was ok fun

A few weeks ago there was a tweet about this article that read “One Beirut Gay club down, two sprout up!”. The two clubs in question were RGB in Sin el Fil (tried it once) and Vice Versa in Broummana (haven’t tried), which I believe are both still on. The editor at GayMiddleEast made it sound as another great example of Beirut’s ‘eternal ability to reinvent itself’ or the ‘phoenix rising’ cliché bullshit, and even ended his article with a resounding “Beirut – the super cool gay capital of the Arab world!”.



With all the shit going on in the country (and Acid back up!), this all seems so hard to swallow today!


UPDATE: I found out from Boy Breathing Beirut that they closed Acid back last Monday. Officially red-taped. Allegedly the place "promotes sexual deviance”.

K Gets Some Support

DrFaDi says:

First, i would like to congratulate you for choosing a psychologist who believes he cannot change you. Actually, being gay is no longer considered to be a mental illness. On the contrary, shrinks should not try to change sexuality of a person, but make him feel comfortable with it.



Banky: policemen (London)



I believe your problem is being afraid of your homosexuality. Have you thought of WHY you are afraid of being gay? Are you afraid of being different? I think you already know that homosexuality is normal, i would even say it's natural. What is more convincing is knowing that there are gay animals!! In animal kingdom, religion and society don't play any role, so they can behave as they please. (btw, statistics show there are 10% of a population that is gay, just so you don't feel lonely).

It's too bad that society has put limits for this natural preference. It was common in Greek and Roman societies to have gay sex, it was even common between the teacher and his student. Athletes used to do it too, many ancient drawings show this. But when monotheist religions came and ruled, they banned all these practices and considered them as sins. It is even banned for married couples to have sex if not planning to conceive. They just want to protect The Family.

Nowadays, since the liberation of minds and declaration of Human Rights, homosexuality is being liberated from religion. Societies are looking at gay people in a human point of view. They are after all as human as straight people. So my advice for you is accept yourself, be happy with yourself, and don't worry! There are many openly gay people who succeeded, there are even more who are in the closet but still help their brothers. We should be united to change society's view. Be proud to be gay!

Majd says:

Yo, K, I just came out to my Palestinian/Syrian dad living in Canada a couple of months ago. It was difficult, full of contradictions. And i'm still living the shock resulting from it. I haven't had a conversation with him that's more than "hi, how are you." since i told him. Like you, i'm not OK with the way casual sex is, in a way, shoved down our throats (no pun intended), although i have a many friends who enjoy it. It's ok to have those different contradictions. The most important thing is that we're aware of them and try to resolve them.


Anon says:

Great post ! To this anonymous writer from another anonymous writer... If there is a reason why gays would ever want to change, its not because of us being gay- its because society is still learning to understand and accept us. We are living in a historical and changing time period. But if society accepted us just like they do heterosexuals, i highly doubt anyone would ever think of changing. The love and intimacy that two guys share is beyond words, but if i have to think of a word to describe it, it would be "phenomenal".

That alone would never make me want to change to please others- that fact that it feels so right and natural. I'm a 100 % Lebanese, happily married(to a guy) . We have a child together and my Lebanese parents and cousins all know and love me unconditionally. My Husband, son and I attend church regularly and the pastor loves and respects us as we are. We live our lives very normally and rarely ever encounter prejudiced or discrimination. We enjoy being an pioneers in our community and braking barriers for the younger LGBT generation who needs good role models. I pray that you can find some inner peace and love and acceptance.

In Pride we Trust

Anon says:

If I may, there are a couple assumptions here that aren't shared by the entire gay community. For example, I didn't start understanding I was gay until much later in my life, thinking that my attraction to men was simply because of the lack of women in my life (I lived in Syria, where gender segregation was more popular). Once I moved to Lebanon, and a short trip to England later, I realized I could have access to all the women in the world, and it wasn't going to change what I wanted.

Never did it cross my mind, though, that there was something wrong with me. I understood quickly that there was prejudice against who I was, but I didn't think that who I was was particularly wrong or vile - I thought other people were prejudiced. Reconciling my faith and my identity were harder, but somehow being biologically who I am just didn't seem so wrong to me.

Which brings us to the pill question: No. Even after thought, even after realizing that I'd have to work harder and live in the periphery, I don't want a pill that would change me. I'd be far more frightened of anything that would so fundamentally change me than anything anyone can throw at me. Literally - I fear not being myself more than losing my life. This isn't to say that your experience isn't legitimate or that others don't experience what you experience.

It's just too kind of offset the assumption that we ALL feel that way. As for telling parents and stuff, that is more along the lines of not hurting them rather than not being comfortable with who we are. I also hide that I drink and eat pork, and have occasionally smoked stuff that wasn't tobacco. That's not about being ashamed of that as much as I know my parents would really, really not like it.

K’s Shout Out

Dear GiBs,

It’s only been 2 days since I’ve been reading your blog, and today seeing that you haven't written anything yet in 2011, I decided to write to you.

I could relate to many things you said, but not to most.

Like you, I have lived my whole life in Beirut, I understand the culture we live in and the injustice that is part of our lives. Whether we are gay or not.

Like you, I come from a disappearing middle class, one that like any other social class in Lebanon is filled with social and family obligations.

My path however is quite different from yours.

I realized that I was gay a couple of years ago, and scared about it I decided to go to a psychologist for help, with the hope he could help me change.

He explained to me since the beginning, that there is nothing that can be done. I did a one-year therapy (secretly), at the end of which I decided to tell it all to my parents. It wasn't easy, and now, one year later, it still isn't.

Throughout therapy I could never find a guy here because he would be Lebanese, and Lebanon being a big village we would be bound to meet again or know someone he knows.

After telling my parents, I realized I could not live here any more and therefore left to the States for a year. During that year, I made great friends, had some amazing experiences, but nothing sexual. I was too afraid to take a step in that direction.

While abroad I would always have the same discussions with the gay guys I met. The minute I would meet one I would ask him:

- I there was a pill....
- NO!
- But you didn’t even hear the question...
- I know your question! They warned me about you! If there was a pill that would make me go straight?!
- Euh... yeah
- Well the answer is no!
- How can you say no so quickly! I mean think about it!

… and then I would go on depicting a scene almost as in science fiction, where gays would line up to turn straight just by swallowing one pill – in the back of my paranoiac mind there would be a side effect to that pill, but of course I would never add it to the discussion.

It would take me almost 20 minutes afterwards to describe to them the scene, the characters they were, and the advantages of being ‘like everyone else’. I would look at them, their eyes buried into deep thoughts, hesitantly change their answers from this offended "NO" to a tentative "I don’t know… it depends...", or an undecided "maybe".

Basically my whole point with this is how do you accept it enough for you to live it?

Because in my mind NO ONE, NO gay accepts it fully. There will always be a small noise nagging you from inside your head. Which is normal. No one wants to be different. No one wants to be part of a minority that has to fight for their right of existence.

But how do you accept it enough for you to act upon it? How does GiL’s horniness to pick up a complete stranger outweigh his fear of this stranger stealing from him, killing him? What he recounted is even worse than my imagination had created.

I’ve never been to Acid, or Bardo or any of the places you talk about. In fact, I never understood people who go there. Aren’t they scared of being recognized by other people?

You seem to be quite comfortable with your homosexuality but (if I understood correctly from your blog) you haven’t told your parents yet while I, who is still fighting it internally, already have. So many contradictions lay between us!

I want to believe I am not the only one that feels this way, though while reading your blog and others’, that’s not how it seems.

If being gay is difficult enough, being gay in a third world country is even harder... but being gay in a third world country and not accepting it after a year of therapy and another one abroad is more than I can deal with.

I hope you were not offended by anything I said, because it isn’t at all my objective but simply the way I look at life.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, I am sure you are helping people, not only in Lebanon, but around the world to accept themselves.

-Your fellow GiB

-- guest post by K. Photo taken by GiB#2 in San Francisco.

Dress It Up In Light

Just superb. That's the one word I would use to describe the sound & light show of the UFA event/competition, which premiered yesterday and will play again a few times until end of year.

For info, the insurance company brought together a bunch of Lebanese artists who created really cool short clips that were projected on the Downtown building. It used a very high-tech kind of 3D projectors that would tailor the projections to the greatest detail of the heritage building. Each competitor team's artwork came with its own soundtrack and had at least something creative, something impressive or something interesting about it... Long live young Lebanese talents, creativity, and energy!

On the downside this high level of quality makes it hard to choose who I want to vote for... I'll need to bring a better jacket and watch the show again another time (no worries, it's free!). But for now, I thought I'd use some of the low-res pics I took to make this collage - consider this my holiday wishes card! Best wishes to all of you folks.

- Post and pics by GiB#2.

Life Without Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Americans have been actively debating lately on an old policy referred to as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, a policy that allows the military to investigate its applicants’ sexual orientation and to prevent openly gay guys and girls from joining and serving in the military. The Democrats put back this question on the table last year in yet another effort to repeal this old policy, and due to the newly acquired power of the Republicans, to no
avail…

...that's until yesterday, when the happy news came out: “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” has been repealed. Big win for LGBT rights activists and for a number of personalities who are highly sensitive and personally implicated in this issue from Barak Obama to… Lady Gaga. The reaction in America is nothing less than a jubilation - take a look at this excellent mashup on the subject from the Huffington Post.

But just like the U.S. is geographically, this debate is thousands of miles away from the level of our own debate here in Lebanon. Here, it is hard to even imagine putting the words “gay” and “military” in the same sentence. As a matter of fact, we’re not even able to put on the national debate agenda an archaic law that criminalizes homosexuality, let alone actually repealing it… but this post is not just another bashing of our infamous Article 534 – it’s about our very own version of don’t-ask-don’t-tell.

When I first heard there was a movement in the States to repeal don’t-ask-don’t-tell before I knew what it meant, I thought: Who the hell would want to revoke a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy? can you imagine what life here would be like for us gay guys in particular, if it weren’t for the don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy that the Lebanese people sort of abide to nowadays: "If I don’t ask or tell you my religion / political affiliation / what turns me on, then please, don’t ask or tell me in return."

Knowing how indiscreet and judgmental Lebanese people can be, sometimes we can almost hear through their thoughts as they scrutinize us wondering to themselves ,“does he have a girlfriend?”, “is he married?”, “is he gay?” – what would it be like if they did not keep at least some of their questions internally to themselves? I mean it’s one thing to be “out” and comfortable with oneself as a gay guy, and another thing to have to deal with this kind of people’s questions and opinions on a daily basis…

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, not a ring: just please, never ever repeal don’t-ask-don’t-tell in Lebanon!

- By Gib#2. Photo credit: The Huffington Post

Nudity and the Family Jewels

“The management” of the gym I go to put up a “notice” recently, reminding everyone that they can’t be walking in the nude in the Lockers area “for ethical reasons”. Chance for us to talk a bit about the Lebanese and their family jewels.

It is no secret that we are quite a conservative society, and as such, we tend to be quite inhibited when it comes to nudity. That Lebanese guys hate to be naked around each others is easy to notice through many little things of everyday life, especially for us GiBs who tend to notice them due to our interest in men.

Our society seems to close the loop against public displays of nudity on both sides of the equation. On one hand, guys don’t like to show up naked, even in men-only environments, and never had to do it growing up for reasons like not having Pool Day at school. And on the other hand, every public place is designed to encourage this kind of privacy, from individual changing cabins to individual shower rooms, such that guys never have to get used to it anyway.

This is very different from the West, where I discovered as a kid that it was normal, for example, to shower in an open shower room along with classmates. It happened without carrying any sexual connotation whatsoever. Being raised not to associate nudity with shame and taboo as we are here, I believe the kids abroad stand a bigger chance to grow through puberty more comfortable with their body and with themselves in general.

Also in the West, it is generally accepted for guys to hang around naked in front of each others, say in a gym’s or a pool’s locker room. How many movies have that locker room scene where you get to take a peak at the lead actor? There, nudity among men seems to come much more naturally and more often than not, there are simply no ‘privacy options’ even for the shy to play prude.

As far as I can tell from my own experience, this inhibition is also true of Lebanese family men within the privacy of their own home. They are uncomfortable being naked in the presence of their wife and kids. I was almost shocked the first time I went to Europe as a kid and saw that in my cousin’s family, it was normal for daddy to shower all together with mommy and the three kids – not something I would ever see back home. And no, they were not naturists.

I don’t consider myself to be neither a voyeur, nor an exhibitionist, just a guy who doesn’t mind seeing a naked guy around. Within the limits of moral behavior, I consider that every person is free to be as uninhibited as they want – on the basis that others can just look away if they’re bothered. It’s a personal choice and a cultural matter. And as much as I respect other people’s feelings and ethics, I hate being told what to do and not do as far as personal and cultural matters…

… so to “the Management” of the gym, I just want to say that this notice sounds kind of backwards to me - and I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with homophobia…

-- by GiB#2

Leb BloGosphere’s Brand New Two

Two great additions to Lebanon’s gay blogosphere came to life last month -- two new blogs that will cover exciting and still unrevealed facets of our gay life in Beirut.

One is Karim’s Rainbow Experience, the blog of a teenager living in Beirut who sounds extremely motivated and courageous, and who’s got a lot to say about how it is to grow up gay in Lebanon nowadays, to come out of the closet in our society and affirm oneself so early on in life. Keep it up Karim, we at GiB (for one) are really eager to find out if, and how, gay Lebanon has changed for the upcoming generation.

Skim through drugs, swinging and other Beirut
excesses... to gay confessions on Page 14.

The other blog is that of a pioneer of gay activism in Lebanon, human rights militant and founder of Helem, Georges Azzi. For GiB, the new blog holds a high promise, that of shedding some light into the knots and bolts of LGBT advocacy, community and NGO work in Lebanon... which might also carry with it a powerful message for those of us who’ve been stuck for too long in the 'silent majority'.

With these two new up-and-comers, it may seem that 2010 is ushering a new trend in the Lebanese bloGosphere. Together we’re boosting the online presence of the Lebanese gay community, which can only make us stronger, make our voice louder and serve our case better…

…And it seems we’re getting the general public's interest and getting free publicity, too! Gosh, some of us just made it onto Beirut TimeOut’s “baddest” issue!


-- by Gib#2
(Photo courtesy of Beirut Boy)