Interview with Brian Whitaker author of ‘Unspeakable Love’, by Shaghayegh Azimi. Published in The MIddle East in London, June 2006, Volume 3, No 1.

Brian Whitaker is Middle East editor of The Guardian Newspaper. His book, 'Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East' begins the courageous task of opening up the taboo subject of homosexuality in the Arab world. Published by Saqi Books, it combines interviews with young Arab gays and lesbians, with a look at homosexual representations in Arab literature and film, as well as comparative analysis of the various Islamic and Christian readings on sexuality. First launched in the Arab world and now in the UK, the following interview with the author highlights some of the intricate themes covered by this book, its broader message, and the many controversies that it faces. 

SA: What inspired you to write a book on gay and lesbian life in the Arab world?

BW: One of the irritating things about being a Middle East correspondent is that people usually assume you are a war correspondent. I am not. I like to write about other issues, because I believe there is a need to give readers a variety of perspectives on the region, apart from death and destruction. Since I started covering the Middle East for Guardian, six years ago, I decided that if I was going to write a book it would not be about Palestine, Iraq, or the usual issues. In 2001, I wrote a couple of newspaper articles about the Queen Boat case [when Egyptian police raided a floating night club on the River Nile which was frequented by homosexual men]. 

When I started talking to people about the case I found there were a lot of unexplored issues relating to homosexuality more generally in the Middle East and thought it could make an interesting book. There are a few other books that look at the subject in an anthropological or historical way, but no one had really looked at it as a contemporary social issue — with the religious and political implications it carries. 

SA: What would you say are the major themes of the book?

BW: Along with all the issues about gay rights and human rights, the book points to serious problems at a personal level, connected with the system of arranged marriages in the Middle East. When gay and lesbian young people come under pressure from their families to get married they face a very difficult choice. Should they tell their families about their sexuality or keep quiet and give in to their family’s wishes? If they “come out”, families can respond very negatively and sometimes violently. I was not really aware of this problem before I started the research for the book.

Two things come together in my book. One is the specific issue of homosexuality and the other, its implications for the wider question of reform. Throughout the Middle East there are many people who believe in reform, yet the way gay and lesbian people are treated is avoided in this debate. It’s a taboo subject but I’m trying to open it up for discussion. In the last chapter of the book I argue that this issue must be on the agenda if there is to be any chance of real reform. 

SA: In the conclusion you mention a brief quote from Joseph Massad of Columbia University in which he suggests that inciting discourse about homosexuals, leads to ‘hetrosexualizing’ them and forcing a ‘Western binary’ world view. Could you discuss your stance on this view?

BW: It is true that sexuality in the Middle East if often undefined, but it is also true that an increasing number of young people regard themselves as gay or lesbian. I don’t think you can accuse the west of “heterosexualising” the Middle East when local laws and religious teaching already treat heterosexuality as the norm and forbid homosexuality. There are also many jokes in the region about supposedly gay towns, stretching from Kandahar in Afghanistan to Idlib in Syria, and one I believe in Iran, called Qazvin. These jokes probably date back centuries.

Although the term “homosexuality” does not exist in classical Arabic, the concept is still there, though there has been a tendency to deny its existence. Sexual orientation, as a concept, is still not widely accepted in the region but it is spreading, particularly because of young people being able to look on the internet and find explanations of their sexual feelings. 

The attitudes we find today in the Middle East are not unique to Arab or Muslim culture. In Britain, homosexual acts between men were punishable by death until 1861, and they remained illegal until 1967. Even more recently than that, gay politicians would often enter into marriages of convenience (or “white” marriages) for the sake of public respectability.

SA: To what extent would you say that gay lifestyles in the Middle East are influenced by globalisation and/or are becoming similar to the Western model? 

BW: Globalization does have an affect, but there are still differences. I can’t imagine gay and lesbian Arabs becoming exactly the same as gay Americans or Europeans. Last year I visited a gay nightclub in Lebanon, where you had people in jeans and standard disco music playing until around 1am, when many of them disappeared to change their clothes. They were getting ready for the Arab music, and one came back in shimmering gold trousers. It was only when the Arab music started up that the dance floor really came to life. 

No matter how much globalisation there is, some aspects of Arab culture will always be there. A gay Egyptian told me in an interview: “We have to find Arab ways of being gay”. It hasn’t happened yet but, over time, I’m sure it will.

SA: Were there any aspects that you had difficulty obtaining information on?

BW: I think the lesbian aspect is very difficult for a man to penetrate and understand. I was very intrigued by the book, Menstruation [a controversial novel by Ammar Abdulhamid, written in English in which sex becomes a form of rebellion against religious and social constraints]. It is not uncommon to hear that married women have same-sex relations. Because husbands are only concerned if they are spending time with men, there is this amazing opportunity for them to get away with it. 

SA: Could you talk a little bit about your decision to first launch the book in Lebanon? And also what are some of the responses to your work in the Arab world both in the Middle East and here in the Diaspora? 

BW: Launching the book in Lebanon was a conscious decision. I even turned down an interview with CNN, because I wanted to do the first interviews with Arab publications. I wanted discussion of the book to start in the Middle East rather than Europe or the US because that is where it really matters. I did interviews with Al-Nahar, the Daily Star, and the new Time Out Beirut. The book is openly on sale in Lebanon and I’ve seen it in shop windows. There will also be an Arabic translation later this year.

As far as responses go, it’s still a bit early to know about the Middle East, though reactions from gay Muslims in Britain have been very positive. 

SA: What do you say to those that argue that the issue remain unspoken?

BW: You cannot protect gay and lesbian people against abuse and discrimination until the subject can be discussed in public. I think a lot of the fear of talking about it comes from a misunderstanding of culture. There is a popular idea that Arab culture is fixed, like some sort of fossil, and must never change. That is wrong. Cultures have to live and breathe. 

In Britain, we have enough confidence in our own culture not to worry about influences from outside. If we find something that is useful and beneficial then we adopt it or adapt it. In the Middle East people tend to reject new ideas simply because they are “foreign”. The real issue is not whether the ideas are foreign but whether they are useful. If modern concepts of sexual orientation help gay Arabs and their families to understand themselves better, then I ask, why not?

Brian Whitaker is Middle East editor of The Guardian Newspaper. He has travelled widely in the region and has a degree in Arabic studies. He also has a website devoted to Arab culture and politics (www.al-bab.com).