GiB#2 | Gayly Ever After

So last Monday (May 17) was the international day against homophobia. The next day, Portugal joined the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, Norway, Sweden, South Africa and 5 U.S. states in recognizing gay marriage. Big week for gay rights.

It might be that I didn’t really look for one, but I’m not aware of any GiB activity in Lebanon for the occasion. As far as I’m concerned the celebration boiled down to watching a debate on French TV on the topic “Is France homophobic?”, where gay activists were complaining about France not being enough ahead of the curve, about the persistence of occasional gay bashings and some kids being kicked out from home for being gay.

As for Lebanon, the conversation I had with my friends while we were watching the program sums it up well:

- “Would you say Lebanon is homophobic?”, my straight friend asked.
- “This level of debate doesn’t even apply here”, my GiB friend and I responded in sync.

Not to belittle how far along Lebanon has gone, where it stands right now, the efforts we’re putting and where we’re headed - We’re actually doing much better here than anywhere else in the Middle East except for Israel. I do believe that gay tolerance is on the rise in Lebanon, and it’s happening right before our eyes. I mean seriously, where else in the region would they dare to use a sign like this new GiB joint in Monot did?