Fun Fast Facts
- First Arab country to host an organised Pride parade
- One year jail sentence is still possible
- Beirut cinema–police performed 36 anal probes on LGBT suspects (Human Rights Watch orders a stop)
- LGBT organisation Helem is starting a homophobia monitor
LGBT organisation: Helem
- First LGBT group in the Arabic world
- Non-governmental, non-profit organization (since 2004)
- Primary goal is the annulment of article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code which punishes “unnatural sexual intercourse”
- Also working to counter the AIDS epidemic and other sexually transmitted diseases
- Name means “dream”; working towards peaceful liberation
W3JOY interviewed: Simin, a Helem social worker
I think it [acceptance] is an image, but it’s not the true reality…Lebanon is a tourist country and it’s important to have tourist image of an open mind.
Always look at things from the inside-out and not the outside-in. I know there have been big promotions about how Lebanon is a safe haven for LGBT, but that’s not very true.
People go to the police officers for something else [like theft]. The police officers think they are feminine or something and do that [arrest] the victim.
It’s not safe. The people who are transgendered are the most vulnerable.
Published on: Aug 21, 2012 @ 9:32
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:15 — 27.7MB)