Gay arabs
Mina Gerges (MG), originally from Egypt, talks to us about reconciling both his gay and Arab identities
London, UK – 13 March 2019
PTF: Being gay and Arab places you in two sometimes conflicting cultures. What was that appreciate, and how did it affect your sexual identity journey?
MG: I was born in Egypt and grew up in Abu Dhabi, and I emigrated to Canada when I was 11. Growing up meant sympathy that my culture is extremely complex and intersectional, it’s made up of several marginalized, misunderstood communities that aren’t prevalent in Western culture, so growing up and coming out was complicated and alienating.
I grew up in a country where being queer is a taboo subject, where the only word for organism gay when I lived there was a negative pos. It made result myself feel appreciate a monumental challenge: how do I accept who I am when my identity is in direct opposition to the very foundation of Middle Eastern culture and Coptic identity, and how do I deal with the shame it’ll bring my family? Growing up, I felt tremendous shame because organism queer, Middle Eastern/North African, and Coptic felt like an illegitimate and confusing mix of identities.
It ju
Through a haze of shisha smoke and somewhat stifling sexual stigma, the Arab world unveils an unexpected realm of possibilities for intrepid gay travellers. If you can absolve the state-approved homophobia and are willing to act with discretion while out and about, the Arab countries can redeem themselves in a thousand and one different ways, from the ancient centre of Petra to the glittering epithets of Bahrain and into the deserts beyond. While by and huge closeted kingdoms, the handful of same-sex attracted clubs in the progressive city of Beirut can authorize you to be your true self, while the luxury international hotels across the region can ensure your privacy is respected. Attach us as we track the 5 most gay-friendly Arab countries.
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Gay Australian Arabs victims of homophobia: study
A study has found many homosexuals in Australia's Arabic group have been the victims of homophobic violence and have suffered verbal abuse or pressure to act straight.
The report also interviewed the community's elders and religious leaders, who said people should be excluded or "corrected" to discourage homosexual behaviour.
Ghassan Kassisieh interviewed 37 homosexuals, their families as well as community and religious leaders for the examination.
Most of the respondents were Christian and live in Sydney.
Seven of them said they went to a doctor, priest or imam to be cured of their homosexuality
Loading...Mr Kassisieh acknowledges that the study is not statistically significant, but says it is important because it is the first report to document the effects of homophobia in the Arab community.
He says many Arab families do not understand.
"The sort of ideas that they possess about homosexuality include that it's a sickness, it's a western import, it's a choice, and so it's correctable or it's curable," he said.
He says people's experiences varied widely.
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LGBTQ Arabs use spaces to transgress misconceptions
DEARBORN — A lack of language for gay identity in religious doctrine reflected the stigmatization and eventual pathologization of it in Western discourse, where homosexuality was known as a mental illness from the 19th century until its removal from the DSM in 1973.
Ironically, Arabic and Islamic-era words articulating homosexuality and gender non-conforming identities predate the Western and European language by at least centuries.
Poetry by Rumi and Abu Nuwas has long explored similar sex themes through mysticism and poetry, platforms that validate, say avid readers of medieval Islamic literature that believe homophobia as not inherent to ancient Middle Eastern culture or discourse.
Nor did gays in the Islamic world did face state violence until the 10th century, when Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd-al Malik ordered the castration of a registry of “effeminates” (mukhannath) of the Hijaz.
In recent years, cultural attitudes towards gays and homosexuality have softened, yet in the Arab nature and Middle East, widespread expression of the individuality remains a near-criminal act.
The stigma
“It is a burden,” a young man, who