It's Part of the Job - The HRW Report on Gay Police Abuse is Out

For those who remember the "happy ending" of the arrest of GiL a couple years back, one tiny victory was the ability to meet with and speak to Human Rights Watch about the unfortunate event - essentially take part in the research they were doing, gathering statistics and testimonials about gay-related arrests in the country over the last 5 years.

The report titled "It's Part of the Job" (download it here) was presented yesterday; it paints a really dark picture of the current practices with gay men in police stations, which we already know but now are well proven and documented. Bottomline for GiBs: don't get into trouble. Oh and learn french.

Droits de l’homme

Quand la torture des détenus aux postes de police « fait partie du métier »...
Par Béchara MAROUN | jeudi, juin 27, 2013

« Le comité des droits de l’homme des FSI manque de personnel et n’a pas de réel pouvoir, tandis que la justice ignore régulièrement des plaintes concernant les violences policières. »
« Ils m’ont interrogé après m’avoir déshabillé. Ils ont versé sur moi de l’eau froide, m’ont attaché à un bureau au moyen d’une chaîne et m’ont suspendu par les pieds comme un poulet », raconte Mohammad à Human Rights Watch, qui vient de publier son rapport sur la torture des détenus vulnérables dans les postes de police libanais.
À l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de la drogue et de la Journée internationale de l’ONU pour soutenir les victimes de la torture, Human Rights Watch s’est cette fois intéressée au traitement par les Forces de sécurité intérieure (FSI) des détenus au sein des postes de police libanais, notamment les individus appartenant à des groupes marginaux, voire vulnérables, tels que les toxicomanes, les personnes qui exercent le sexe comme profession et la communauté LGBT (lesbiennes, gays, bisexuels et transsexuels).
Hier, un rapport de 66 pages a été publié par l’association qui œuvre pour les droits de l’homme. Se basant sur 52 témoignages de personnes arrêtées durant les cinq dernières années, car elles ont été soupçonnées de pratiquer l’homosexualité, le sexe comme profession ou d’usage de drogues, le rapport révèle au grand jour les mauvais traitements, l’abus et la torture subis par ces individus. Sur les 52 délits commis par les FSI, aucun n’a été vraiment puni.

Souffrances morales et physiques« Ils m’ont interrogé après m’avoir déshabillé. Ils ont versé sur moi de l’eau froide, m’ont attaché à un bureau au moyen d’une chaîne et m’ont suspendu par les pieds comme un poulet », raconte Mohammad, arrêté pour détention de drogues, dans son témoignage. « J’ai été suspendu par les pieds, mes mains liées à une barre de fer qu’ils m’ont fixée sous les genoux. Ils ont cassé toutes mes dents et mon nez, et m’ont frappé au moyen d’une arme à feu jusqu’à ce que l’os de mon épaule se disloque », a-t-il affirmé.
Ce genre de traitement n’est pas exclusif à un seul poste de police au Liban. Selon le rapport, les postes de Hobeiche, de Gemmayzé, de Baabda, de Mousseitbé, de Zahlé, d’Ouzaï, de Saïda, ainsi que le bureau de renseignements de Jdeidé et le local de prédétention de la prison de Baabda pour les femmes ont tous témoigné d’incidents similaires. Les formes de torture rapportées les plus communes sont les coups de poing, les coups de bâton ou des coups au moyen d’outils de fortune. Cannes, règles et bottes peuvent faire l’affaire. Sur les 52 personnes ayant témoigné, 17 affirment que les policiers ont refusé de leur donner à manger ou à boire, ou les ont privées de leurs médicaments. Neuf d’entre elles ont rapporté avoir été menottées aux cuves des toilettes. Onze ont été contraintes d’entendre les cris de souffrance d’autres détenus, et 21 des 25 femmes interviewées ont subi une certaine forme de violence sexuelle, allant du viol au harcèlement. Certaines se sont même vu proposer un rapport de police plus allégé si elles consentaient à coucher avec les policiers.
« L’abus au sein des stations de police est chose courante au Liban, mais il est pire quand il s’agit d’individus appartenant aux catégories vulnérables de la société, explique Nadim Houri, directeur adjoint de Human Rights Watch au Moyen-Orient. Et ce genre d’abus se poursuivra jusqu’à ce que le Liban mette un terme à la culture de l’impunité au sein de la police, qui se croit devoir donner une leçon aux détenus. » M. Houri a affirmé en outre que le rapport révèle que le statut socio-économique des détenus peut jouer en leur faveur. Parmi les témoignages, celui d’un professeur de l’AUB, accusé d’homosexualité et qui a été traité différemment par les policiers quand ils ont su sa profession. M. Houri a cité aussi le test anal comme l’une des pratiques violatrices des droits de l’homme et qui continue d’être utilisé dans certains postes malgré les recommandations de l’ordre des médecins. Il a enfin affirmé que les lois libanaises sont souvent violées, comme celle fixant la durée maximale de détention à 48 heures, ou celle permettant au détenu d’être assisté par un avocat.

L’absence de mécanismes de surveillance Pour sa part, Lama Fakih, chercheuse au sein de l’association, a noté, lors de la conférence organisée hier pour rendre public le rapport, que ce genre de traitement est dû à des législations inadéquates, à l’absence de structures efficaces pour porter plainte et à un système juridique basé sur les aveux. Cela pousse par exemple les policiers à exercer la torture pour obtenir les confessions des détenus. « Un officier de la police de Mousseitbé nous a déclaré que la torture est chose normale et qu’elle fait partie du métier », a affirmé Lama Fakih, qui a souligné que six personnes seulement parmi celles qui ont témoigné à l’association ont porté plainte à cause d’« un manque de confiance ». « C’est là qu’il faut appeler l’ordre des avocats à agir, a indiqué Nadim Houri, car la plupart des avocats ne conseillent pas vraiment aux détenus de porter plainte, d’autant que ces derniers prennent peur pour avoir commis une entrave à la loi, en étant homosexuels par exemple. La vulnérabilité de ces gens-là est donc sociale, mais aussi constitutionnelle. »
Human Rights Watch, déplorant un manque de mécanismes de surveillance et l’inefficacité de ceux déjà en place (comme le comité des droits de l’homme au sein des FSI), a appelé les autorités à créer des mécanismes transparents pour recevoir les plaintes des citoyens et à obliger les policiers à arborer des badges portant leurs noms afin que les détenus sachent avec qui ils traitent. L’association a aussi revendiqué à l’adresse des autorités judiciaires plus de fermeté, des directives claires à ce sujet, et a demandé la création d’un organisme indépendant pour les investigations et la surveillance des crimes de torture. « Les pays donateurs doivent aussi s’assurer que les fonds octroyés sont usés à bon escient et demander des comptes », a souligné Lama Fakih. De son côté, Nadim Houri a enfin estimé que la réponse des institutions concernées au rapport présenté « n’est pas suffisante ». « Elles reconnaissent l’existence du problème, mais il n’y a pas de vraie volonté de réforme, précise-t-il. Il est pourtant plus important aujourd’hui d’améliorer l’attitude des membres des FSI que la qualité de leur équipement. »

Ghostly Ambiguity

Not a day goes by lately without gay matters making headlines on the global news channels.

The same can be said about the newsstreams coming out of Lebanon, except in our case it’s not about another country opening up marriage rights to same-sex couples or the world’s first official coming out of a major sport’s professional athlete.

On the contrary. As the world progresses steadily on same-sex issues, Lebanon keeps on regressing, one little step after the other.

The top gay-related headline these last few days is about the violent police raid of the Ghost Bar nightclub (the little brother of belated Acid nightclub) that took place last week.

The short-term arrests of 3 people and the humiliating treatments that followed have spurred all kinds of reactions in the media – a mixed bag nicely covered in G-Azzi’s post “With or Against Us”.

Photo taken from L'orient le Jour's website

But as gay rights defenders counter-attack, and as the issue spills over into the broader gay-friendly and human rights community, it does seem that the officials involved such as Dekwaneh Mayor Antoine Chakhtoura  and minister of interior Marwan Charbel are not getting away without virulent criticism on their homophobic attitude.

One of these media reactions I find particularly interesting: Murr TV. Why so, because (it might just be a rumor but) word has it that its presenter Joe Maalouf JUST GOT FIRED from MTV. 

The irony being that, for once, Maalouf had taken in his latest show “Enta Horr” a relatively moderated, less homophobic stance on the Ghost intervention than he had in the past - a new episode well covered here by the folks at Blog Baladi.

This time again, in what is probably a perfect reflection of the society's reaction in general, MTV has just blown away every possible record of ambiguity. 

A humoristic picture that's been circulating. But what if
it's true the guy just got fired?

Or, perhaps one could argue it's actually the exact contrary of ambiguity: 

That by firing Joe Maalouf, MTV management has decided to get rid of any left ambiguity (remember the “counter-accusations” of Joe Maalouf being gay) on where it stands on gay matters. 

I just wish we, as a people, would get even the slightest opportunity to express ourselves on the Big Gay Question through a national vote or something. 

I know the results would probably be bitter to swallow, but nevertheless sweeter than all this media and political nonsense we're  having to take in.

Discrimination v/s Dignity: 0-1

Nothing beats the satisfaction of winning over illegal practices through successful legal action; the pride of fighting humiliation with dignity; the relief of countersriking discrimination with an earned human right.

The sad episode of Cinema Plaza finally allowed just that. By triggering a host of indignation and anger in the civil, legal and medical communities, it accelerated the efforts started two months ago following another scandal from the "morality police".

The campaign that started it (below) and the body
that made it happen (above): a perfect combination!

As of Tuesday, August 7, 2012, the ANAL TEST has become ILLEGAL in LEBANON. This “Examination of Shame” ordered by the torturers of Hbeich and conducted by its corrupt medical examiners can now be subjected to legal proceedings on behalf of the detainees, and the physician can be banned from practicing medicine.

No more excuses can ever be made by anybody including the ministry of Justice, who blamed the delay in passing the Circular over to the concerned parties more than one month ago on an “administrative error”.

This is what keeps the sit-in organized by Helem this coming Saturday August 11 at 10 AM in front of the Ministry of Justice, still very relevant despite the win.

Lebanon’s LGBT and friends cannot but be thankful to the lawyers and doctors at Helem and at the Lebanese Order of Physicians (L’Ordre des Médecins du Liban, currently headed by Dr. Charaf Abou Charaf) for this victory.

Everyone’s now hoping for more to come. With election season coming up mid of next year there seems to be good momentum right now for the logical next step to this latest win: to abolish Article 534 once and for all. Let’s make it happen!

MTV’s Joe Maalouf: A Tribune for Homophobia and Bigotry

This guy must be so happy now that he can handle my spit on his face.

(Photo from Facebook)

It took just one screening of his program ‘Enta Horr’ (“You are free”) on Murr TV to mobilize the whole of Beirut’s dearest morality police around the cause he chose (out of the blue): to put an end to the “prostitution and debauchery” taking place in Beirut’s porn cinemas.

He must feel so damn powerful right now.

Only a few weeks since the airing of the program, one old cinema in Tripoli and another one in Beirut, were raided and shut down by the police. Such a relief for Lebanon’s desperate housewives and macho dads who must be loving Joe-the-morality-savior like their own son!

The guy must feel so damn virtuous.

The 36 guys who were in the Plaza cinema on this busy Saturday afternoon were all arrested. They are still rotting in Hell aka the Hbeich police station. They’re being humiliated, mistreated, outed to their families, and stuck in tiny detention cells with 36 degrees outside and no ventilation.

This self hating gay-in-the-closet must feel so damn straight right now.

Irony has it he’s just been outed by the gay community. Are you happy now, Joe?

Whatever one might think of the places that were raided – shady, filthy, immoral – they exist even in the most conservative Arab cities – Damascus has them, Amman has them. They’re not a sign of “too much freedom” but on the contrary, they are a symptom of a closed and homophobic society. They are a desperate choice for gay guys to have an occasional sexual encounter.

And that’s just what Murr TV has become, too: closed minded and homophobic. What started as a celebration of youth and freedom of speech when the station re-opened a few years ago, has turned into a conservative quest that is insulting a big chunk of the public.

Shame on you, MTV, and your lil’ Joe you must feel so proud of. Shame on you, 36 times.

Another Call to MP Moukheiber

Wanted to highlight another open letter to MP Ghassan Moukheiber that was published last week in French daily L’orient le Jour. Lines up well with Dr K’s Open Letter from last year. Hoping for a clear RSVP this time.

Beirut Boy said it better than I dare say. You get the picture.
(BB's Sept.3 post)

MP's, it’s 2012 time has come to revise rotting laws like this one.

A law inherited from another age.

A law that impairs individual liberty.

A law sporadically abused for shady reasons.

A law that allows Hbeich staff to act like masters of torture.

A law that continues to make many innocent people’s lives miserable.

--Gib

Abolissez l’article 534, Monsieur MoukheiberPar Nabil FAYED | 31/05/2012 OpinionVous êtes l’élu d’une circonscription précise, mais on peut aussi vous considérer comme représentant tous les Libanais. Vous êtes de plus le rapporteur de la commission parlementaire des Droits de l’homme, et c’est à ces deux titres que je m’adresse à vous pour vous entretenir d’un sujet qui gâche la vie de dizaines de milliers de vos compatriotes : le code pénal libanais qui, dans son article 534, punit d’un an de prison les homosexuels.
Ils se retrouvent donc parqués avec des criminels, des trafiquants, des gens qui ont enfreint la loi, et ce dans des conditions déplorables.
Le dictionnaire dit que l’homosexuel est celui qui éprouve une attirance pour une personne du même sexe. Il n’est question ni de perversion, ni de délit, ni de crime.
Sans aller jusqu’à faire l’historique de l’évolution du regard que la société a jeté sur l’homosexualité, je cite deux dates : en 1974 le DSM4 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), qui est l’ouvrage de référence des psychiatres américains, a supprimé l’homosexualité de la liste des maladies mentales (déjà il n’était plus question de délit ou de crime). L’OMS, en 1991, a emboité le pas. Mais tout cela semble relever de la préhistoire....
On dira que modifier la loi ne changera pas les mentalités. Mais il faut bien commencer quelque part. On commence par modifier la loi, les mentalités suivront avec plus ou moins de retard. Un député courageux (Samy Gemayel) a ainsi réussi à obtenir l’abolition de la loi qui punissait les coupables des « crimes d’honneur » de peines symboliques. Ces glorieux coupables égorgeaient quasi impunément leurs sœurs si elles avaient eu une liaison sexuelle en dehors du mariage, ce qui revient à supprimer une vie pour un acte qui ne porte préjudice a personne !
L’Orient-Le Jour a publié il y a quelques jours l’histoire de trois jeunes gens arrêtés par la police parce que l’un d’eux avait les traits « fins ». Ils ont été livrés au poste de Hobeiche pour subir un examen médical alors que, de l’aveu même des médecins, ce genre d’examen ne prouve rien. Voilà où nous en sommes en 2012 alors que le président des USA a déclaré il y a quelques jours qu’il appuyait le mariage homosexuel et l’adoption d’enfant par ces couples. D’ailleurs, la plupart des pays évolués ont adopté cette politique. Même l’Argentine, réputée machiste, reconnaît maintenant le mariage homosexuel. Oh ! Les homosexuels libanais n’en demandent pas tant, ils souhaitent simplement la dépénalisation de l’homosexualité et la suppression de l’article 534.
Monsieur le député, vous êtes quelqu’un dont la réputation de probité n’est plus à faire. Et rien ne faisait peur à votre oncle, l’indomptable Albert Moukheiber. Prenez donc l’initiative de présenter un projet de loi abolissant l’article 534. Le Liban a tout à gagner de cette initiative. Il est probablement inutile d’énumérer ici toutes les vexations et les humiliations qu’affrontent les homosexuels dans notre pays, de rappeler que leur logement et leur travail sont continuellement précarisés par leur statut d’homosexuel. Il faudrait que cela cesse. Au secours ! Vous irez dans le sens de l’histoire et vous gagnerez la reconnaissance de beaucoup de gens malheureux.
Respectueusement.
Nabil FAYED

The Gay Gift of Blood

Twice in the last few months I had to go to a hospital’s blood bank to donate blood, once for a friend and once for a relative. As I was doing some googling on the topic I stumbled on one, then more and more articles talking about a “Gay Blood Donation Ban” existing in many countries. "wtf?!", I thought.

Turns out this ban has been, and remains an active area of debate today: latest case in point, a few months ago the British government decided to lift the ban on gay men who have not had sex for ten years prior to donating blood, calling the ban discriminatory and considering it a possible breach of the “Equality Act”.

From what I can tell Lebanon seems miles away from this level of debate around discrimination or equality, and for that matter from this kind of health policies. The Lebanese version of the blood donation questionnaire may be intense and exist only in Arabic, but it does not seem to touch explicitly on the gay issue.

The closest it actually gets to the topic, amidst many yes/no questions about current and past medications and conditions, was this one:

إقامة علاقة أو علاقات جنسية متعددة و مشبوهة؟  (Translate: “Did you have numerous and suspicious sexual interaction(s)?”)

As I was filling out the questionnaire I kind of froze on that one…

Were all my recent sexual interactions considered as “suspicious” because as a sexually active gay guy, they were with other men? In fact, what counts as “numerous” interactions? Or, is the question geared more towards safe / protected sex?

Well then, since this all seemed so subjective I ended up going with my own assessment for “numerous” and my own definition of “suspicious”, and candidly checked the “No” box.

I knew that the first thing they’d do before using my blood is to test it for things like HIV and HPV, but I still felt a little bad about lying because I know these diseases have a latency period, that they are more frequent among gay men, and that they are probably the reason behind the gay ban to begin with. Even though I'd tested myself about 6 months earlier, I know I'm never too far away from the “risk zone”.

Digging a little more in the issue I found on their Website that Donner Sang Compter Lebanon is more explicit and more discriminating about the gay issue. It states clearly that you should not give blood if “You have had an unprotected sexual activity with multiple partners” or if “you are a man who has had sex with another man (even if protected)"… some food for thought.

The 24 hours after donating blood are always a bit stressful. Not so much for its physical impact, but because any unknown number appearing on your cell phone could mean bad news from the blood bank’s test results… thank god and my guardian angel the damn phone never rang.

Yorgui Teyrouz’s story at Beirut TED Talks 2011 of how he

came to found Donner Sang Compter in Lebanon was so touching 

it brought tears into my eyes and the whole audience’s.

But it seems that as much as a gay guy would want to be a “hero”, his adherence to the cause cannot go a long way

for the mere fact of being gay. I thought it important to shed light on this issue

when I saw that Donner Sang Compter was doing a fundraiser at the

next C U NXT SAT party at Art Lounge.

-- pic, post by Gib#2

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

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

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.

It Gets Better | by Art Hake

Something’s been messing my mind. This epidemic of teen suicides in the US, involving kids who were taunted for their sexuality and then chose to end their lives in order to escape the bully. Four independent incidents in a month do not label as an epidemic, thankfully, but I hope we can agree that it’s four times more than acceptable. Some of the kids were not even sexually active yet; they were different. Some stronger kids called them “fag” or “sissy” and hit them. They became frequent victims of groups. They got cornered. They were lost. And they couldn’t take it anymore. 

The sad part is, if enough light is shed on the topic, I’m sure we can come up with darker numbers.


As a result of low media exposure and total inertia from authorities, the “It Gets Better Project” was founded. And things did get better. At least for the movement. Joel Burns’s emotional speech, a city councilman from Texas, was streamed on YouTube more than 2 million times. Ellen DeGeneres featured a special on her show. How cliché! And President Obama raised his eyebrows. But most importantly, hundreds of individuals from around the globe uploaded amateur videos of their own “it gets better” experiences on the net, facing their videocams from their bedrooms, voicing hope and support to the confused youth. I can’t get enough of watching these films. Google them! The Google Employees’ video is not bad at all either.


Being a sexually-confused teen is no easy job, especially in Beirut. Hell, being Lebanese is no easy job! Justin Aeberg. Billy Lucas. Cody Barker. Asher Brown. Seth Walsh. Raymond Chase. Tyler Clementi. All gone. How many Tonis, Abdos, Ahmeds and Alis were bullied for being GiBs? To be honest, we don’t hear of too many scary stories. Beside a fishy double death this summer, I do not recall of any major GiB news headline lately. I guess these things are kept within intimate circles, away from social scrutiny. Never underestimate the fear of shame.


We hear stories or rumors or both. Probably both. But not on the news. We’re not worthy of being mentioned. We don’t exist! But we’re targeted. By jokes. By law. By practice. By habit. By norms. By local gods. By locals. By ignorance.


Our strongest feature as a society is our ability to bond with each others and develop social networks. They replace support groups and LGBT-friendly associations. They also cause wars, sometimes, but they do keep us away from dying old in total solitude. However, in most cases, what else do we have but ourselves?


These videos refreshed bad memories. I was so fucking lucky for an unbelievable family and for the luxury of a decent education. I was granted good health and an agreeable lifestyle. Despite everything that was offered to grow up normally, I couldn’t escape those bumps on the road. I was different; I tried hard not to show it. The bullying was acceptable: it’s more or less what every kid goes through. We’re big on asserting who has bigger balls. And some occasional verbal abuse did sting. But it was nothing compared to my incomprehension of my feelings and urges. At first I refused my body’s choices. I will spare you the emotional rollercoaster I went trough. But god what a ride! You’re packed, ready to go and things still go bad. With the challenges of school and friendships, the shooting hormones, the identity crisis, the one-way infatuations, the fear of reaching out, the terror of being caught… you’re in deep to your knees. Not to mention the burden of an injured country with bad odds. University days were softer due to a new level of independence. I just wish I had GiB friends to talk to back then, they would have spared me discovering myself through creepy sexual encounters fetched on the Internet. Ambushed by diseases and sexual deviants, this is how most of us start our GiB career. When I finally accepted myself, I was an adult already. But time was on my side. I met incredible people. I lived in a happy city for a college year. I met the man of my dreams. I came out to friends and friends came out to me. I don’t live in a GiB ghetto, I am a hardworking Lebanese man with a career and big hopes. And friends. I love my life despite all its imperfections. I’m motivated. I want more of life.


This is my little contribution to the Project. Look at us, in tiny Beirut, thrown like unwanted puppies in the forest. Things will get better.

GiL’s Wake Up Call

GiL comes to GiB with a seven-post series retracing his experience being arrested in Lebanon under charges of homosexual activity, followed by charges of drug use.

Lucky he took only a week for it.

Only it takes more than a week to recover. GiL decided to write it down to help himself move on from this dreadful experience.

As a testament of GiB’s full support for GiL, for the next couple weeks GiB will be the outlet for his story. A tribune for his cause. A loudspeaker for his call.

A call to those like Diamond Walid who in her recent piece in the Guardian “Gay, straight, or just Lebanese?” pretend that “the anti-homosexuality law is no longer really applied” in Lebanon: sorry my jewel but… go check your sources.

But GiL’s wake up call is actually two-fold:

- One to the local GiB community saying: “Stay Careful and Hang in There”,

- and the other to the rest of the world out there: “Beirut Ain’t Gay Heaven on Earth, Dude”.

… Two messages that were well relayed by Helem at the IGLTA (gay travel) conference that was held in Beirut two weeks ago .

Now without further ado… the seven-post series by GiL.

- by GiB#2. Photo off the Net.

GiB | Celebrates and Calls on Contributors

The golden number is 10. GiB was born on November 10 last year. It’s 2010 now, GiB is 10 months old. And incidentally, GiB readership just crossed the line of 10 thousand unique visitors.

Dear readers, it’s about time GiB thanked you all for your readership and support. And to celebrate the occasion, based on some of our latest-greatest Google Analytics statistics, please allow GiB to bestow upon you our GiB Reader Awards!

But first, GiB wants to make a call out loud to potential GiB contributors out there to consider taking part in GiB. Your stories, your opinions on gay life in Beirut matter to GiB and we want to hear them and post them, so do get in touch!

Now without further ado, the 2010 GiB Reader Awards (presented by Lady Gaga)...

The GiB-In-The-Making Award goes out to…

All of you readers who emailed GiB with questions on things to do and places to go, as you were contemplating your trip to Lebanon (usually also Syria), whether you ended up coming or not. Now tell us… did gay Beirut live up to your expectations? Well guess what, they just closed down Acid on us!

The Lebanese Porn Award goes out to…

The 30+% of readers who landed on GiB via the listings on GayDemon and bestmaleblogs, the two popular online gay directories based in the U.S. that are used mostly for porn: Sorry to disappoint you folks, but GiB ain’t showing Lebanese hunks with huge dikcs anytime soon… and you don’t have to apologize for spending merely 30 seconds on average on GiB!

The Adventurous GiB Award goes out to…

 The 150+ readers who reached GiB by googling “gay sauna beirut”, “beirut gay sauna”, “gay bath beirut” , “hammam al nuzha gay”, “beirut bathouse gay”, “hammam tripoli gay” and came across the post Up for a Scrub? So tell us guys did you end up trying the sauna? How was it??

The Keep the Faith Award goes out to…

The UNIQUE VISITORS from Azerbaijan, from Zambia, from Tajikistan, from Uzbekistan, from Cameroon, from Mongolia and from Nepal (please do tell your friends!) and to the UNIQUE VISITORS from China and Cuba (is GiB banned there or something?)

The Intellectual GiB Award goes out to…

The 400+ readers who opened the page for the post “Arab Naïveté and the Silk Cocoons”, GiB’s single-most read post according to the stats. I wonder, is it because of the catchy title, or are you guys really into this kind of weird metaphors and allegories?

The Curious GiB award goes out to…

The 2000+ visitors who found GiB by googling things like “gayinbeirut”, “gib beirut”, “gay beirut blog”  or “gays in beirut gibs”, and who spent more than 5 minutes on average reading GiB’s stuff. Way to see it in action, Beirut word-of-mouth really works wonders!

The Foreskin Attentive Award goes out to…

The ~60 readers who landed on GiB by googling things like “are lebanese men circumcised”, "are lebanese men generally circumcised", “lebanese cut or uncut”, “circumcised in Beirut”, “christian circumcision beirut”, or “lebanese circumcision”, only to find a mitigated answer in the post r u c/uc?. Question to the reader who googled “lebanese karam circumcised”: now tell us… did he turn out to be cut or uncut?

The Nosy GiB Award goes out to…

The 25 readers who googled “hamed sinno gay”, “hamed from mashrou3 leila gay?”, “hamed leila gay” or even “hamed sinno is homosexual”, and probably went on reading Party in a Steel Factory or Tattooed All Over. Now tell us… did you ever find out? Are you sure? Sure sure sure? But wait… isn’t he also the guy who waved a rainbow flag on stage at Byblos in front of major politicians, for the first time in Lebanon’s history (Photo)?

And last but not least…

The BFF GiB Award goes to…

Our folks in the online/blogger community in Lebanon, GiB's fiercest advertisers, supporters and commentators, to Dani, LGBT Monitor, GiAD, Ra’fat, Beirut Boy and all the others… Seriously, it would not be the same without you!

 … If GiB can be proud of one thing today, it's got to be that it's doing a fairly decent job taking part in The Gay Electronic Intifada of Lebanon ... but gosh how we hate the sound of that word!

GiB#2 | Way to Go Argentina!

This is already old news by now but I had to put it down.

It’s a small change in the text of a Constitution to replace the phrase “a man and a woman” with “the two contractors”… but it’s a huge change it brings for the LGBT community, and for society as a whole.

Argentina became on July 16, 2010 the first country across South and Central America to legalize same-sex marriage, following the steps of a few other forward-thinking countries in the world (and a few U.S. states). Two weeks later, the first Argentinean couple (aged 54 and 65) sealed their love in front of the mayor.

This sets a great example for Lebanon. While Argentina is probably not as diverse and complex in terms of religions as Lebanon, it is still very much a religious and conservative country… and yet this didn’t prevent the vote to go against the will of the conservatives (Catholics). It’s the more-tolerant majority that got the last word.

This kind of victory of democracy and tolerance against prejudice and taboo, is one that every society, including the Lebanese, deserves.

But let’s stay realistic here, and admit that we’re ages behind Argentina. We don’t even have the basis for same-sex marriage… So let’s shoot for civil marriage for the time being!

(Incredibly amazing artwork by… me)

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?

GiB#2 | A quand un Festival Gay Digne de ce Nom à Beyrouth?

... Pour que la ‘majorité silencieuse’ sorte enfin de ses cocons, que la foule (les folles?) de l’Acid se mette en maillot ‘une-pièce’ pour aller danser, et pour que les touristes gays d’Europe, d’Amérique et des pays Arabes (qui n’attendent que ça) puissent enfin se fixer une date pour faire un voyage au Liban.

... Pour regrouper une foule de gens, une masse gay et gay-friendly (pour ne pas dire « hetero-friendly ») avec tous les L, les G, les B, les T et leurs amis; qu’elle puisse se réunir enfin au grand jour, dans toute sa diversité et sa normalité, le temps d'une fête.

... Qu’elle se fasse grande et belle à la face du Libanais lambda, histoire d'accélerer sa prise de conscience, de lui montrer clairement et une fois pour toute qu’elle existe bel et bien, qu’elle vit parmi eux et avec eux, pacifique, festive, créative...

On ne peut pas dire qu’il n’existe rien de tel à Beyrouth, ou qu’on n’est pas sur la bonne voie pour y arriver. Helem a bel et bien organisé des (mini) gay-pride a Beyrouth, et l’organisateur de séjours Lebtour continue bien d’organiser sa ‘croisière’ annuelle BearArabia.

Or du fait de son alliance avec BearArabia, Lebtour s’adresse en grande partie a la scène bear, un groupe finalement assez niche et communautaire. Je n’y suis jamais allé, et ne suis pas prêt de le faire. Sans vouloir paraître moqueur, je ne peux pas m’empêcher de sourire en pensant a tous ces durs-au-coeur-tendre (et poilu ?) jouant des hanches sur les derniers tubes de Nancy Ajram.

Celà dit Lebtour a au moins le mérite d’avoir osé, de l’avoir fait et refait plusieurs années de suite, d’avoir créé le rendez-vous (début Mai – c’est dans 10 jours!), et surtout d’avoir démontré a quiconque serait tenté de se lancer dans ce business, qu'il ne risque pas d'être embêté par les forces de l’ordre, et que ça pourrait bien marcher...

...et je serais flatté si on le baptisait le « GiB Festival » !

(Photo prise à la Laïque Pride de Dimanche dernier (25 Avril 2010) au Centreville)

Got Milk? | by Art Hake

I was going through some archives related to Gay activism throughout the world and found this angelic face throwing an inspiring speech at an LGBT rally. I had no idea who he was: Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter, Academy Award winner for his work on Milk (2008).

I wanna step into 2010 with positivity, so I decided to write about this, even though it’s kinda irrelevant to the blog purpose.

This blog is really about Beirut and the underground life of GiBs. For whether we throw a party attended by few hundred GiBs or open a shop with a hidden gay-friendly tag, don’t fool yourself: we still live underground. And no matter how blue the sky may seem, we don’t get to see it except from the corner of a window, behind obstructing curtains.

Some of our fellow local activists try to change things. We have associations, but it seems their own members don’t get along quite well. The “Abolish 534” group on Facebook is short to 3,000 members. The straight alliance for gay rights is a good cover-up for GiBs who can’t stand up for themselves –and I don’t blame them.

Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera ("Help yourself, and heaven will help you"). We can’t rely on others to help us out of our own shit, even though we never asked for it in the first place. Life’s unfair, hell yeah! But what can we do about it? Isn’t it time we do something about it?

California is debating same-sex marriage laws and we can’t even go out in the daylight. I just wish we had more inspiring personalities around us. Leaders we respect. People we can look up to. People who’s presence and support would help us fight for our rights in a more efficient way.

This is what Dustin said about Harvey Milk: “If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, or by the government, or by their families, that you re beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon I promise you, you will have equal rights federally across this great nation of ours.”

GiB#2 | Tattooed All Over

I just love these stencils we’re starting to see more and more around the streets of Beirut. Not only I find this visible face of Beirut’s underground art scene to be aesthetic, it’s also that it’s so well in tune with the city. It tends to highlight its history, and the scratching paint and bullet impacts on its walls. To me they bring back the image of war-torn Beirut that I have known during my childhood, with the life that kept going underneath. That these stencils started to appear during the severe repression of freedom of speech especially during the Syrian occupation until not too long ago, gives them even more of a symbolic value. It makes them sound like an outcry from the younger generations to the older ones, that we might well have our own ideas about democracy.

These graffiti by local artists are also giving more character to certain industrial areas of the city, some of which are starting to emerge as the next hip/artist loft -type neighborhoods in the near suburbs of Beirut. And the fact that there are so much more popping out lately is like there’s a popular uprising in the making.  

The pics I’m posting are some of the GiB-related material that I have come across during my nocturnal wanderings in the streets of Beirut, with one pic by Joumana Medlej. Not surprisingly, all of these stencils are found in Hamra, except the one that says BAREBACK (!) that I saw in front of the bus station in Jisr el Wati. But the merit of these stencils is not just being work by GiBs. For they are also among the first ones in Beirut: a superb demonstration of pioneering work by GiBs. 

If you want to check out more of these, this photo blog rockandahotplace and this guy's blog Beirut NTSC and his book "Archewallogy - Les murs murs de la ville" have a large collection of Beirut graffiti and stencils, with some additional GiB material too. I also came across two recent books on the same topic, Rhéa Karam's Breathing Walls and Tala Saleh's Marking Beirut. That's quite a few publications for one year! When I look at these images there’s so many of them that ring a bell, it’s like they’re part of the pedestrians’ landmarks by now. Some say the one with the guy from Sukleen is by Banksy… But as much as I would like it to be so, I doubt it really is.

This also reminds me of the story “Gay Community Thrives in Lebanon” which ran last year on NPR, the main independent news outlet in the U.S. One of the interviewees in the story is Hamed from Mashrou3 Leila, who talks about the stencil in the last picture. This stencil marks the current evolution of mentalities in Lebanon, where until recently the official language used for ‘homosexual’ in Arabic was akin to ‘deviant’ or ‘fag’. The audio of the NPR story is worth listening to and below is the excerpt from the transcript.

Keep the graffiti coming guys! I hope it covers the entire city one day. We should do a fundraiser to buy lots of spraypaint, what do you say?

“HAMED SINNO (Graffiti Artist; Student): The thing is, in Arabic, people describe homosexuality as ‘shaaz’ which translates to deviant, literally. And it's the most popular way of describing it, and it's kind of offensive, you know, like someone's basically calling you deviant and it stems from a lot of - like a lot of cultural understandings that are very oppressive. So the graffiti - the guy wearing a mask says who's a deviant? Your mom is a deviant. I'm homosexual.
MERAJI: Hamed himself has been the target of anti-gay graffiti, so he's using his graffiti to express frustration at his own treatment. He hopes to spark a dialogue about homosexuality in Lebanon, where it's still against the law. For Brian Whitaker, a journalist and author of "Unspeakable Love," a book about gay and lesbian life in the Arab world, writes that in terms of opportunities for gay social life and activism, Beirut is as good as it gets. Whitaker credits Beirut's ethnic and religious diversity.”