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Basic information
International
Lesbian and Gay Association
A world-wide federation of national and local groups seeking equal
rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people
everywhere.
Bint el Nas
For "women who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender,
and/or queer".
Arab Lesbian Women & Allies Network (ALWAAN)
Alwan is an online community for Arab lesbians, gay men, bisexual men and women, transgender persons and those who are interested in building bridges with the LGBT Arab community and participating in a progressive dialogue.
Alwaan also has a blog.
Bekhsoos
A feminist and queer Arab magazine
Barra magazine
Kifkif
"A community of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in
Morocco." Website in Arabic, French and Spanish.
Gay and
Lesbian Arabic Society (GLAS)
US-based organisation which aims "to promote positive images of
gays and lesbians in Arab communities worldwide, in addition to
combating negative portrayals of Arabs within the gay and lesbian
community".
Ahbab
News, information, articles.
Positive
terminology
Suggested Arabic equivalents for "gay", "bisexual",
etc. (Bint el Nas)
"The
louder we will sing"
A handbook produced by Amnesty International for promoting and defending
the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.
Also in PDF
format.
Crimes
of hate, conspiracy of silence
Amnesty International report on torture and ill-treatment based on
sexual identity in various countries
International
Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Useful website documenting abuse and discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation around the world.
Gay
rights in the Middle East
Wikipedia articles on: Bahrain,
Egypt,
Iraq,
Israel,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
Morocco,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
Tunisia,
and the UAE.
Government
disorientation
Does government repression of homosexuality in the Middle East stem from
outdated ideas about the role of the state? (Guardian Unlimited, 29
April 2003).
Unspeakable
Love
Links to articles and reviews of the book.
Cross-dressing
in Middle Eastern dance
(shira.net)
Married Gay
Although not specifically focused on the Middle East, this website
provides useful information for married people who feel that they may be
gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Distorting
desire
'Desiring Arabs' by Joseph Massad (University of Chicago Press, 2007).
Reviewed by Brian Whitaker
Arab
sexualities
'Desiring Arabs' by Joseph Massad (University of Chicago Press, 2007).
Reviewed by Peter Drucker. Alternative
site.
Interview
with Abdellah Taia
The Moroccan writer talks about his book, Salvation Army.
The Gay Electronic Intifada of Lebanon
by Rita El-Haddad. Monthly Review, 27 August 2009
My.Kali.magazine
The first Jordanian LGBT magazine. See Youtube
video.
Gay/lesbian blogs
Send an email
to add new blogs to this list
Alaa
Jarban
A blog from Yemen
A of
Arabia Uncut
"An undercover queer blog somewhere in the Middle East"
L'Algerie
en Rose
By a gay Algerian, in French
Arab Lesbian Women & Allies Network
(ALWAAN)
Beirut
Boy
Beirut
Diary
by Gavin Hallier
Beirut Gay
Blogs
bE
LeBnAN!
"Just another Lebanese LGBT blog but in Arabic"
Cz I Cant Tell
Daily Voice of Reason
by Moussa Hassoun
Emraa
Methlya
Lesbian blog from Egypt (in Arabic)
Gay Boy
Weekly
Arabic/English, from Kuwait
Gay in
Beirut
G-AZZI
by Georges Azzi
Homos
Libnani
"Just one random gay guy from Beirut"
Kareem's
Diary
Kareem Azmi (mainly in Arabic)
Layla
"When women wake, mountains move"
Meem
Blog
Lesbian group blog from Lebanon
Mimitrans
"Human rights are not optional"
Raynbow
"Dispelling myths"
Sama
Says
Syrian blogger
Saudi
Gay Boy
In Arabic
The Queer Arabs Blog
"Rantings of angry sarcastic bitchy queer Arab Americans".
Unspeakable
Love
A blog about the book, 'Unspeakable Love', and related topics.
Twitter
Send an email
to add new Twitter users to this list
@lgbtARABS
@Saudi_LGBT
@UAELGBTR
@LGBT EGYPT
@LGBTJordan
@AswatGroup
@LebLGBTmonitor
@Helem_Lebanon
@BarraMagazine
@kifkifgroup
@LGBTAsylumNews
Religion
Imaan
A British-based support group "for Muslim lesbians, gays,
bisexuals, and transgendered people, as well as those questioning their
sexuality or gender identity, and their family, friends and
supporters". See article.
Queer
Jihad
A website that "condemns all forms of terrorism, including
prejudice and discrimination".
Safra Project
Project working on "issues relating to lesbian, bisexual and/or
transgender women who identify as Muslim religiously and/or
culturally"
Salaam
Canada
"The Queer Muslim Community of Toronto."
Sodom
and the Qur'an
By Raza Griffiths (Gay Times magazine).
Islamic
fundamentalism in Britain
Peter Tatchell argues that Muslim fundamentalists are a growing threat
to gay human rights in Britain.
An
Islamic revolutionary
Profile of Adnan Ali, Muslim gay activist living in Britain (Guardian,
30 August 2001).
Islamic
treatment of homosexuals
A report on gruesome punishments
Gay Druze
(Yahoo group)
Sex
and taboos in the Islamic world
by Amira El Ahl and Daniel Steinvorth (Spiegel magazine, 20 October
2006)
Asylum and
immigration
Lesbian
and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force
US-based organisation
UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration
Group
A charity providing information and advice on immigration rights for
same-sex couples and support for lesbian and gay asylum seekers.
HIV/AIDS
Arab
HIV
A website that aims "to reach out to members of Arab communities
worldwide who are affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic".
New
lease of life after AIDS death sentence
By Peter Speetjens (Daily Star, Lebanon, 6/3/98).
Sexual diversity in modern Arab fiction The
Stone of Laughter
By Hoda Barakat. The
first Arabic novel to feature a gay man as it central
character. Available from amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk The
Yacoubian Building
By Alaa Al Aswani.
The book portrays the ills of Egypt through the lives of
people living in a Cairo apartment block. Its characters
include a gay newspaper editor and his lover, a young
policeman. Available from amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk Moroccan
Slave
[PDF]
A short story by Moroccan writer Abdellah Taia (who is interviewed here in French)
Salvation Army
An autobiographical coming-of-age novel by Abdellah Taia (the "only gay man" in
Morocco). See al-bab's interview
with Taia. Read an excerpt from the book here.
Available from amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk.
Presence of the Absent Man
By Alia Mamdouh. Short story about lesbian encounter in a
street market. Published in a collection of Arab short
stories: Under the Naked Sky ( amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk).
Mamdouh's novel, Mothballs - also known in English as
Naphtalene (amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk)
includes a lesbian scene between the narrator’s two
aunts. Menstruation
By Ammar Abdulhamid. Includes a lesbian relationship
involving two Syrian women. The book was written in English
and has not been published in Arabic. Available from amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk. Women
of Sand and Myrrh
By Hanan al-Shayk. Four women struggling against a
patriarchal order. One of them embarks on a relationship
with another woman while insisting that this is only
temporary and her real attraction is towards men. Ana
Hiya Anti
By Elham Mansour. Possibly the only Arabic novel that
portrays lesbianism in its own right, rather than in
feminist terms as a substitute for unsatisfactory
relationships with men. (Not available in English.) For Bread Alone
Mohamed Choukri’s fictionalised autobiography includes an episode
where the impoverished young Moroccan narrator has oral sex in a car
with an elderly Spaniard for payment of 50 pesetas. The incident is
described in extremely crude terms obviously calculated to disgust.
(Available from amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk) Koolaids
By Rabih Alameddine. A book full of sex and black humour
which cross-cuts between the Lebanese civil war and the AIDS epidemic in the United States.
The author is from a Lebanese family but lives in the US and writes in English.
(Available from amazon.com
or amazon.co.uk) Homosexuality in the early novels of Nageeb
Mahfouz
An article by Nabil Matar, Journal of Homosexuality, Vol 26 (4),
1994. (Reprints available from Howarth
Press.)
Sexual diversity in films
Films by Youssef Chahine
Egypt’s greatest director depicts homosexuality in a positive, matter-of-fact
way in several of his films, including An
Egyptian Fairy Tale (“Hadduta Misriyya”, 1982) and Alexandria,
Why? (“Iskindiriyya Leeh?”, 1978). Other films allude to it indirectly,
for example Alexandria Again and
Again (“Iskindiriyya Kaman wi Kaman”, 1989).
Unlocking the Arab celluloid
closet
An article by Garay Menicucci on homosexuality in Egyptian film. (MERIP, Issue
206).
The
Beirut
Apartment (2007)
A film project about gay/lesbian life in Lebanon. Scheduled for relase in 2007.
A
Jihad for Love (2007)
"Filmed in twelve different countries and in nine languages, A Jihad for
Love is the first-ever feature-length documentary to explore
the complex global intersections of Islam and homosexuality." See also director's
blog and Wikipedia.
Toul Omri
("All My Life")
To be released shortly
The
Yacoubian Building (2006)
Film version of the popular novel by Alaa el Aswani. See wikipedia.
I
Exist (2003)
Documentary exploring the lives of lesbian and gay people from Middle Eastern
cultures living in the United States. See also: arabfilm.com.
Dangerous Living (2003)
Documentary on coming out in the developing world. See also IMDB.
Garden
(2003)
Story of a close friendship between two Arab male prostitutes.
Tarik el
Hob ("The Road to Love", 2001)
"A romantic tale of self-discovery that also offers a fascinating
historical take on homosexuality in northern Africa." See also: arabfilm.com.
Mercedes (1993)
Yousri Nasrallah’s film features a protagonist who has a
gay brother with a lover, and also a drug-addicted lesbian
aunt. See Nasrallah's interview
with L’Humanité, December 5, 2001 (in French).
Bezness
(1992)
Directed by Nouri Bouzid. A sex-with-foreigners tale – in this case gigolos
who sell their bodies to tourists of either gender. It is not really a film
about homosexuality; its basic theme is cultural schizophrenia among young Arabs
torn between east and west, between tradition and modernity.
Man of Ashes
(“Rih al-Sadd”, 1986)
Directed by Nouri Bouzid. A sensitive and ground-breaking portrait of young
Tunisian men grappling with doubts about their masculinity, but the film is
spoiled by blaming their identity crisis on a carpenter who sexually abused them
as children.
The Malatili Bath
(“Hamam al-Malatili”, 1973)
Directed by Salah Abu Saif. A homeless young man takes shelter in a bath house
and meets a gay artist. The film, which is shockingly homerotic by Egyptian
standards, makes a plea for sexual tolerance which does not entirely succeed.
Music
NaR
NaR is a queer Arab hip hop crew, featuring a girl-boy emcee duo. Both emcees
have roots in the mountains of Lebanon. Mazen was born there and moved to the
States as a political refugee at the age of five, fleeing the Israeli invasion.
Tru Bloo came up in Las Vegas, NV as a first-generation daughter of
Syrian-Lebanese immigrants. NaR means "fire" in Arabic and describes
our deep passion for social change and revolution ... Although we are the first
queer Arab hip hop crew, our lyrics focus primarily on greater political issues
- not merely the eradication of homophobia, although that is one of our many
struggles.
Juha
Queer Palestinian hip hop
Iambic Dream Project
(Wael K)
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