Basic information Gay Middle East
Country-by-country information, with recent gay-related news reports. 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. 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". 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. World legal survey The law relating to gays and lesbians in: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen. (Source: ILGA) Laws around the world
General information, plus more details - including press reports of recent cases - for the following countries in the Middle East: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia. (sodomylaws.org) Behind the Mask
A substantial website on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa, with special pages on: Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco (plus Western Sahara), Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia. GayArab.org
"An oasis for the gay Arab". Includes live chat. 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Does government repression of homosexuality in the Middle East stem from outdated ideas about the role of the state?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.
Blogs Middle East Gay Journal
"Analysis on gay politics in the Middle East. Based lovingly in Lebanon." The Queer Arabs Blog
"Rantings of angry sarcastic bitchy queer Arab Americans". Unspeakable Love
A blog about the book, 'Unspeakable Love', and related topics.
Gay and lesbian Muslims Al-Fatiha Foundation
An international organisation for Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning their sexual orientation Sex and the Umma
Discussion of gender and sexuality in the web magazine, Muslim Wakeup 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" Hurriyah
"A magazine for queer Muslims" Homosexuality and same-sex acts in Islam
An overview (al-Fatiha Foundation) Holy hatred
Anissa Helie examines the rights - or lack of them - for gays and lesbians in the Muslim world More fallout from the war
How the "war on terrorism" could provide some Muslim allies of the US with an opportunity to crack down on gay men and lesbians. By Mubarak Dahir (The Advocate, 20 November, 2001) Cyber Mecca
How Gay Muslims are organising on the internet. By Michelangelo Signorile (Advocate Magazine) Gay Muslims
Islam and homosexuality - a contradiction? By David Goldman (Southern Voice, 19 August, 1999) 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). Was I born to be this way?
Thoughts of a Muslim gay in an oppressed society, by Mel Ayu Reconciling God
By Shaffiq Essajee Out and Muslim in the United Kingdom
By Raza Griffiths (Pink Paper, September 1999) Islamic treatment of homosexuals
A report on gruesome punishments Muhsin Hendricks
Article about an Islamic scholar who is gay (Behind the Mask) Spanish Muslim calls for debate on same-sex marriages
IslamOnline, 6 April 2005 Muslim leader calls for gay marriage debate
gay.com, 7 April 2005 Gay marriage: a necessary freedom
by Ali Hasan of Muslims for America Muslim Canadian congress endorses gay marriage
Queer Day magazine, 13 February 2005
Asylum and immigration Asylum Documentation Program
Supports those seeking asylum due to persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV/AIDS status. Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force
US-based organisation
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).
Egypt GayEgypt.com A guide to gay life (and persecution) in Egypt In a time of torture
"The assault on justice in Egypt's crackdown on homosexual conduct." Report by Human Rights Watch, March 2004. Also in Arabic. One Man's Tale
A gay activist in Egypt describes the nightmare of the government's crackdown on homosexuality. By Josh Hammer (Newsweek, 16 June, 2002). Explaining Egypt's targeting of gays
By Hossam Bahgat (MERIP, 31 July, 2001) Gay films
Egyptian films with allusions to homosexuality or cross-dressing (gayegypt.com).
Iraq Iraqi LGBT-UK
"Supporting Iraqi LGBT people in Iraq and the UK" Gay Iraqis fear for their lives
BBC, 17 April 2006 Gay and Iraqi
A double life under Saddam Hussein (outuk.com)
Lebanon Helem
Gay and lesbian rights organisation. Its main goal at present is the abolition of article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code which punishes "unnatural sexual intercourse". Gay Lebanon
Website partly under construction. GayLebanon.com: a miscarriage of justice?
A human rights activist and an internet portal owner were found guilty of insulting the vice squad, yet no evidence was produced. By Warren Singh-Bartlett (Daily Star, 16 March, 2001) For some young Lebanese, staying means ‘life will be over’
Increasing numbers are fleeing homophobic persecution. By Warren Singh-Bartlett (Daily Star, 16 October, 2001)
Other countries Aswat
Organisation for Palestinian gay women al-Qaws
Palestinian LGBT project at Jerusalem Open House The burden of proof
Ismail Elshareef discusses the execution of men accused of homosexuality in Saudi Arabia (somah.com, 9 January, 2002) Refugee status
Gay Palestinians who dream of a better life in Israel.
Yossi Klein Halevi (New Republic, 19 August, 2002) Soul mates
The price of being gay in Somalia. By Afdhere Jama Gay Morocco
An information exchange Gay Palestine
Mailing list for gay/lesbian Palestinians. OUT There
A forum for Assyrian gays and lesbians Kelma
French-language site for the Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian communities in France. Sehakia
For Arab and North African lesbians Algerigay
For gay Algerians (in French)
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 Abdallah Taia (who is interviewed here in French)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. 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 ( 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 I Exist
A 56-minute documentary exploring the lives of lesbian and gay people of Middle Eastern cultures living in the United States Unlocking the Arab celluloid closet
An article by Garay Menicucci on homosexuality in Egyptian film. (MERIP, Issue 206). 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. 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). Mercedes
Yousri Nasrallah’s 1993 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. Group lobbies for basic rights Article about the campaigning organisation Hurriyat Khassa ("Private freedoms"). By May Farah (Daily Star, 12 June 2004) | 
