Unspeakable Love: Notes to Chapter 4

1. http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html. The Arab contribution to the document is often overlooked: one of the key figures involved in the drafting process was Charles Malik, a Lebanese Christian. See ‘A conversation with Habib Malik’ http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1098/ijdp/habib.htm

2. ‘The louder we will sing’, Amnesty International, 1999. http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGACT790031999

3. For full text of the Brazilian draft see http://www.thegully.com/essays/gaymundo/030422_UN_res_lgbt_br.html. The ILGA supported the resolution but suggested it should refer to “gender identity” as well as sexual orientation.

4. ‘Commission on human rights approves measures on promotion and protection of human rights, other issues’. UN press release, April 24, 2003. http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/4C24CE534B31644BC1256D1300257B62?opendocument

5. ‘UN rights body postpones attempt to tackle gay rights amid anger from Muslim countries’, Associated Press, April 25, 2003. See also ‘Muslim states block UN move on sexual orientation’, Reuters, April 25, 2003 and Osborn, Andrew: ‘Muslim alliance derails UN’s gay rights resolution’, The Guardian, April 25, 2003 http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,943116,00.html

6. The Islamic Conference Organisation is is the main international Muslim body operating at government level.

7. UN press release, op cit.

8. Those supporting the Pakistani move were: Algeria, Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Congo, Gabon, India, Kenya, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Those opposing it were: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Six countries abstained – Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Russian Federation, South Africa, and Thailand – and two of the 53-member commission were absent.

9. The countries listed by ILGA are Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, plus possibly Chechnya and the United Arab Emirates. See http://www.ilga.info/Information/Legal_survey/Summary%20information/death_penalty_for_homosexual_act.htm

10. In these countries there may nevertheless be strong social taboos or prosecutions under more general “immorality” laws. The Arab countries not listed by ILGA are Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine (Palestinian Authority) and Somalia.

11. Executions also took place in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, though the current practice is unclear. In some of the other countries, the death penalty for same-sex offences appears not to be applied. Executions reported in Yemen in recent years have all been for murder, though reporting is erratic.

12. It is worth noting that in Arab countries with large Christian minorities, such as Egypt and Lebanon, the views of church leaders on homosexuality do not differ substantially from those of their Muslim compatriots.

13. The total in 1mode: line"952 was made up of 670 prosecutions for sodomy; 3,087 for attempted sodomy or indecent assault; and 1,686 for gross indecency. See http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/wolfenden_report.html. The total for 1939 was 1,276. See http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/united_kingdom/uknews24.htm

14. ‘The 1950s Great Purge’. http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/~stafflag/purge1950s.html. Peter Wildeblood later described his arrest and imprisonment in a book, Against the Law. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1955. Re-published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, with an introduction by Matthew Parris, in 1999.

15. Stewart, Graham: ‘mode: line"The accidental legacy of a homophobic humanitarian’. The Times, October 2, 2000. Reproduced at http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/united_kingdom/uknews24.htm

16. Parris, Matthew: ‘mode: line"Heroic in perversity’, The Times, November 20, 1999. Reproduced at http://www.indegayforum.org/authors/parris/parris1.html. See also http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/~stafflag/wolfenden.html

17. This was higher than the age of consent for heterosexual sex. The report also said legalisation should not apply to members of the armed forces and merchant navy.

18. Stewart, op cit.

19. For a concise account of the Wolfenden report, and the circumstances surrounding it, see: mode: line"http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/wolfenden_report.html

20. These four elements of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) – fiqh al-kitab, fiqh al-sunna, qiyas and ijmaa – were set out by the famous scholar Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafii (767-820). For a concise account of the development of Islamic law see: “Islamic jurisprudence and its sources”. http://www.steinigung.org/artikel/islamic_jurisprudence.htm

21. The Shia branch is dominant in Iran. Among the Arab countries, it is important in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrain.

22. Esposito, John (ed): The Oxford History of Islam, Oxford, 1999. p 95.

23. Kugle, Scott Siraj al-Hajj. ‘Sexuality, diversity, and ethics in the agenda of progressive Muslims’, in Progressive Muslims, ed. Omid Safi. Oneworld, Oxford, 2003. p 220.

24. Kugle (op cit, p 221) cites two examples: “Whomever you find doing the act of the people of Lut, kill the active and the passive participant” (rejected by aI-Jassas on the grounds that one of its transmitters, Amr ibn Abi Amr, is weak and unreliable). “The one practising the act of the people of Lut, stone the one on top and the one of the bottom, stone them both together” (rejected by aI-Jassas on the grounds that one of its transmitters, Asim ibn Amr, is also weak and unreliable). Kugle adds: “Despite these critiques, the hadith continue to circulate and are frequently put to rhetorical and even legal use.”

25. Kugle, op cit, note 68, p 233.

26. Arguments equating anal sex between men with zina can be disputed. The act is physically different, as are its possible consequences. In zina, the lack of a contractual relationship is an important element because of concerns about the possibility of illegitimate children, problems in establishing parentage, inheritance rights, etc – issues that do not arise in the case of same-sex acts.

27. Tatchell, Peter: ‘Islamic fundamentalism in Britain.’ http://www.petertatchell.net/religion/islamic.htm

28. Sofer, Jehoeda: “Sodomy in the law of Muslim states”. Chapter in Schmitt, A, and Sofer J: Sexuality and eroticism among males in Moslem societies. Harrington Park Press, Binghamton, NY, 1992.

29. This ambiguity is discussed by Sofer, op cit, p 144.

30. www.sodomylaws.org. Slightly different information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory.

31. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_rights_in_Iraq

32. ‘Yemeni villagers shoot dead teenager after rape’. Agence France Presse, May 13, 1999

33. The absence of reports from the other countries that have the death penalty does not necessarily mean no executions have taken place. It is probable there have been none in the UAE and Yemen, though the picture in Mauritania and Sudan is unclear. It is also possible that in Saudi Arabia the reported executions have not been the only ones.

34. ‘Executions in Saudi Arabia.’ Planet Out, July 11, 2000. Reproduced at http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/saudi_arabia/saudinews04.htm

35. Krisberg, Kim: ‘Saudis beheaded for sodomy.’ The Washington Blade, January 4, 2002. Reproduced at http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/saudi_arabia/saudinews15.htm

36. The province was also home to several of the September 11 hijackers.

37. ‘Iran: Two More Executions for Homosexual Conduct.’ Press release from Human Rights Watch, New York, November 22, 2005. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/21/iran12072.htm

38. ibid.

39. ‘Gay blackmailer hanged in Iran.’ News24.com, April 30, 2005. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1697953,00.html

40. ‘Iran: Two More Executions for Homosexual Conduct.’ Press release from Human Rights Watch, New York, November 22, 2005. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/21/iran12072.htm

41. ibid.

42. ‘Iran executes gay teenagers’, OutRage press release, July 21, 2005. http://www.outrage.org.uk/pressrelease.asp?ID=302

43. ‘Iran: End Juvenile Executions’, Human Rights Watch press release, July 27, 2005. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/07/27/iran11486.htm

44. Wockner, Rex: ‘Full story behind “Iran gay hangings” mired in controversy’. 365Gay.com, August 3, 2005. http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/08/080305iranFolo.htm

45. ‘Iran's execution of gays part of ethnic repression’, British Ahwazi Friendship Society, July 24, 2005. http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2005/07/irans-execution-of-gays-part-of-ethnic.html

46. Raban, Jonathan: Arabia Through the Looking Glass. Fontana/Collins, 1980, p 243.

47. Abu Nawas/Nuwas was a poet of the Abbasid period, famous for his penchant for young men.

48. Human Rights Watch, op cit, footnote 52, p 24.

49. ‘Saudi Youth Faces Death for Rape and Murder’. Arab News, October 4, 2003. The passge quoted here is an English-language version of the account published by Okaz in Arabic on the previous day.

50. ‘Nine Saudi transvestites jailed’. Associated Press, April 16, 2000

51. Human Rights Watch, op cit. The discussion of Egyptian law that follows is drawn mainly from this report, pp 129-143.

52. Originally promulgated in 1951 as Law no. 68/1951 on Combating Prostitution, it was reintroduced with minor changes during Egypt’s ill-fated union with Syria (in order to apply to Syria as well as Egypt) and now known as Law 10/1961.

53. Appendix 21, minutes of session no. 34 of the House of Representatives, June 26, 1949, p. 2099. Cited by Human Rights Watch, op cit, p 133.

54. Appendix 202, minutes of session no. 22 of the Senate, April 2, 1951, p. 1680. Cited by Human Rights Watch, op cit, p 133.

55. Human Rights Watch, op cit, p 133.

56. ibid.

57. ibid.

58. Appendix 202, minutes of session no. 22 of the Senate, 2 April 1951, p. 1681. Cited by Human Rights Watch, op cit, p 133.

59. Edwar Ghali al-Dahabi, al-Jaraa’im al-Jenseya [Sexual Crimes] (Cairo: Maktabat Gharib, 1988), p. 183. Cited by Human Rights Watch, op cit, p 135.

60. Article 9 (c) of Law 10/1961

61. Article 14 of Law 10/1961

62. Egyptian Criminal Code, article 178

63. Egyptian Criminal Code, article 278

64. Egyptian Criminal Code, article 269 bis

65. This particular account is from an arrest report by Muqaddam Ahmed Salem, filed at Qasr al-Nil Court of Misdemeanors, but Human Rights Watch (op cit, p 140) says many other examples could be cited and adds: “The anonymous third party is always immediately released, though he is the only witness to the ‘crime’. All victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch called this incident a fiction.”

66. The Arabic phrase used in article 534 is: “kul majaama’a ‘ala khilaaf al-tabia’a”. “Mujaama’a” comes from a verbal root which conveys notions of joining together. The third form of the verb, from which “mujaama’a” is derived, is defined in Hans Wehr’s dictionary as meaning “to have sexual intercourse”.

67. Author’s interview, June 2004.

68. ‘Two Lesbians arrested for “unnatural” sex’. Daily Star, August 23, 2002.

69. 'Interpretation of Homosexuality in Lebanese Society.' Helem website. http://www.helem.net/page.zn?id=1

70. ‘Law enforcement agents’ practices’. Helem website. http://www.helem.net/page.zn?id=3

71. ibid.

72. Mirsad is an acronym for “Multi-Initiative on Rights: Search, Assist, Defend”.

73. For more detailed accounts of the Batal-Mughraby case, see: ‘Internet, gay rights targeted’, press release by Human Rights Watch, September 23, 2000; ‘GayLebanon.com: a miscarriage of justice?’ Daily Star, March 16, 2001; ‘Appeals court overturns conviction of defendants in GayLebanon case’, Daily Star, July 19, 2001.

74. ‘Law enforcement agents’ practices’. Helem website. http://www.helem.net/page.zn?id=3

75. Human Rights Watch, op cit, p1.

76. ‘New raid on homosexuals in Qatar’, ArabicNews website, October 23, 1997. http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/971023/1997102308.html. ‘Bahrain deporting 2,000 gays from RP’, Manila Standard, July 11, 2002. http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/bahrain/banews002.htm. “Bahrain cracks down on gay migrant workers”, Manila Times, July 11, 2002. http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/bahrain/banews001.htm

77. Berg, Charles: Fear, punishment, anxiety and the Wolfenden Report. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1959. p 16.