Launch of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity & Expression (SOGIE) Monitor

 

The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) at the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality has announced the launch of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity & Expression (SOGIE) Monitor.

“The SOGIE Monitor is a unified online documentation tool between organizations working on gender and sexuality, with a focus on LGBT populations.”

This online  platform has been created to document and classify cases of human rights violations on the basis of gender identity & expression and sexual orientation. Marsa Sexual Health Center, Helem (Lebanese Protection for LGBT), LebMASH (Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health), and MOSAIC (MENA Organization for Services, Advocacy, Integration and Capacity Building) are Part of It! Hat off to the 3 Organisations!!!!

“The aim is to allow individuals as well as service providers to document cases of violations via a secure interface and to provide the necessary follow-up and referral for violation cases. Filling this information gap will also allow for the publication of regular reports of the different violations, to be used as an important tool for advocacy and lobbying.”

For more information, here is the  website in Arabic: www.thesogiemonitor.org

Again Hat off for such a wonderful Initiative!!

Rita Chemaly

here is the link 

https://thesogiemonitor.org/

 

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Hello Parents !!! مرحبا إلكن

Hello Parents !!! مرحبا إلكن.

 

une tres tres belle video (en arabe ou anglais) relatant un dialogue entre une maman libanaise et son fils emigre aux etats-unis pour travailler.

Elle essaye de lui dire de trouver une femme et construire une famille avec des enfants, il lui cache gentiment son orientation sexuelle.

A voir!!!!

Rita Chemaly

 

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#Lebanese official arrests & harasses #gay & #transgender people in #Beirut #suburb

One of the most Horrible action against #human rights and human #dignity without talking about the freedom of choice,

the story as it has been prepared by NOW, is below for your information,

in both english and arabic.

rita

 

“I was standing outside the nightclub with my friends when I was ordered by [municipality] police to get into the car, with no legal order” one of the transgender revelers harassed Saturday night at Dekwaneh club Ghost told NOW, on condition of anonymity. She said she was taken into a room where she was abused both verbally and sexually by municipality head Antoine Chakhtoura’s deputies.

“They hit me and pushed me around and insulted me by using derogatory terms like ‘faggot’ and ‘half-a-man,’ then they asked demeaning questions such as how much do I make per hour and whether I enjoy ‘sucking on it,’ then asked me to strip naked and then took photographs of me.”

Lebanese activists and experts believe Chakhtoura’s actions have set a dangerous precedent whereby the Lebanese official can apply his own conception of justice as Lebanese law.

Among those who were arrested late night Saturday were three gay men and a transgender person. Each were forced to undress in front of Chakhtoura’s policemen, under his order, so they could determine their gender.

Following Saturday’s events, in an interview with the Lebanese television station LBC, Chakhtoura admitted that the detained were undressed, saying “Of course we made them take off their clothes, we saw a scandalous situation and we had to know what these people were. Is it a woman or a man? It turned out to be a half-woman and half-man and I do not accept this in my Dekwaneh.”

In an interview with NOW, Chakhtoura defended his actions saying “It is not my business what gender they decide to be, but they were violating moral codes of conduct and were taking drugs and it is my duty to put an end to it.”

However, the transgender person emphasized that she had no drugs in her possession and has asked the forces to give her a blood test to check for the viability of the accusations. Her requests have gone unanswered.

As for the sealing of the night club, Chakhtoura stressed to NOW that he believes it endorses sexual activities inside and outside its premises, and promoted the trafficking of drugs and “drunken” behavior. He also claims that his actions are justified by Article 74 in the municipal law code.

Ghost nightclub’s management has condemned the municipality’s accusation, stressing to NOW that the accusations against them are false and that the raid had no prior warning.

The manager, who also preferred to remain anonymous, explained that Chakhtoura came to the location and accused him of drug trafficking and prostitution, and when he was given the freedom to look into his accusations Chakhtoura replied “No, I don’t want to check, I want this place to be shut down.”

“I refused to close down,” then he walked out saying “but you have gay men in here.” Soon after, twelve of Chakhtoura’s policemen entered the nightclub, bullied customers out, and turned the music off. As of Monday afternoon, Ghost nightclub was sealed by order of the municipality, a note visible on its door with the names of the 4 persons who had been detained.

Lawyer and human rights activist Nizar Saghieh explained that the head of the municipality, in his actions, surpassed the relevant legal institutions and should thus be held legally accountable.

“By law, he is only allowed to gather the information needed and file a complaint to the public prosecution office. He has no right to take the decision on his own. His raid is illegal,” stressed Saghieh.

Until now, the club’s management has not filed a law suit against Chakhtoura and is waiting for the prosecution office to issue its own order, because they strongly believe Chakhtoura’s case is personal.

“Clearly, he has personal issues with homosexual men because this is not the first time these harassments take place, his men have been detaining passersby for over 6 months now,” the manager added.

Charbel Maydaa, the director of Helem, an NGO whose mission is to defend gay rights, confirmed the above allegations and explained that the organization has been monitoring the nightclub since they learned of the recurrent harassment and abuse of gay men and transgender people. Maydaa told NOW that customers near the nightclub are frequently exposed to abuse because of their appearance, and that victims were taken to the police municipality in the trunks of police cars.

Saghieh added that the municipal police’s detainment of customers is also illegal and should be looked into urgently because it is a clear violation of the constitution.

“They have no right to question subjects in any case; it is the judicial police jurisdiction and that is, if there was a crime at hand, but there isn’t one, transsexuality is not a crime, there is no legal finding to support it anywhere.”

Saghieh emphasized that if the subjects decide not to pursue a case, then it is  the lebanese civil society’s duty to address the issue as quickly as possible.

“This is a crime and Chakhtoura admitted to it publicly. Lebanese civil society should file a complaint against him at the public prosecution office.”

“This is very dangerous. He is forcing his own values, considering anything against them a crime, then punishing the wrong-doers. This should not be accepted,” said Saghieh.

SOURCE https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/transgender-club-victim-speaks-out

هذا ما حصل في ملهى المتحولين جنسياً في الدكوانة

رئيس بلدية يعتقل ويضايق مثليين ومتحوّلين جنسياً

“كنتُ أقف خارج الملهى الليلي مع أصدقائي عندما أمرتني شرطة البلدية بالدخول الى السيارة، دون أي مذكّرة قانونية” قالت لـ NOW واحدة من المشاركين في الحفلة الصاخبة الذين تعرضوا لمضايقات ليلة السبت الماضية في ملهى Ghost في الدكوانة، شرط عدم ذكر اسمها. قالت إنّها أدخلت الى غرفة حيث تعرّضت لأذى شفهي وجنسي من قبل مندوبي رئيس البلدية أنطوان شختورة.

“ضربوني وعاملوني بقسوة وأهانوني مستخدمين تعابير بذيئة مثل “مخنّث” و”نصف رجل”، ومن ثم طرحوا عليّ أسئلة مهينة مثل كم هو أجري في الساعة وإذا ما كنتُ أستمتع بالأمر، ومن ثم طلبوا مني ان أخلع ثيابي والتقطوا لي صوراً”.

يعتقد الناشطون والخبراء اللبنانيون أنّ أعمال شختورة تفرض سابقة خطيرة حيث يمكن لمسؤول لبناني أن يطبّق مفهومه الخاص للعدالة على اعتبار أنّه قانون لبناني.

من بين أولئك الذين تمّ اعتقالهم ليل السبت الماضي كان ثلاثة مثليين وشخص متحوّل جنسياً. وكل واحد منهم أجبر على خلع ثيابه أمام رجال شرطة شختورة، بأمر منه، بحيث يتمكنون من تحديد هويتهم الجنسية.

بعد أحداث ليلة السبت، وفي مقابلة له مع محطة التلفزيون اللبنانية LBC، اعترف شختورة بأنّهم جعلوا المعتقلين يخلعون ثيابهم، قائلاً “بالطبع جعلناهم يخلعون ثيابهم،عندما رأينا وضعاً فاضحاً وكان علينا أن نعرف ما هم هؤلاء الأشخاص. رجال أو نساء؟ وبدا أنّهم أنصاف رجال وأنصاف نساء وأنا لا أقبل بمثل ذلك في الدكوانة التي أنتمي إليها”.

وفي مقابلة له مع NOW، دافع شختورة عن أفعاله قائلاً “ليس شأني أية هوية جنسية يريدون لأنفسهم، ولكنّهم كانوا ينتهكون قوانين السلوك الأخلاقية وكانوا يتعاطون المخدرات ومن واجبي وضع حد لذلك”.

غير أنّ المتحوّلة جنسياً أكّدت أنّه لم يكن بحوزتها مخدرات وطلبت من القوى [الأمنية] أن يُجرى لها فحص دم للتحقّق من صحة الاتهامات. ولم تتم الاستجابة لمطالبها.

وبالنسبة لختم الملهى الليلي بالشمع الأحمر، أكد شختورة أنّه يعتقد بأنّه يسمح بالنشاطات الجنسية داخل مبناه وخارجه، وأنّه يروّج لتجارة المخدرات ولسلوك السكيرين. وهو يزعم بأنّ أفعاله تبرّرها المادة 74 من قانون البلديات.

ومن جهتها أدانت إدارة ملهى “غوست” اتهام البلدية، مشدّدة لـ NOW على أنّ الاتهامات الموجهة لها باطلة وأنّ “الكبسة” على الملهي لم يسبقها أي تحذير.

وشرح مدير الملهى، الذي فضّل هو كذلك عدم الإفصاح عن هويته، أنّ شختورة جاء الى المكان واتهمه بتجارة المخدرات وبالدعارة، وعندما سُمح له بالتحقّق من صحة اتهاماته، أجاب شختورة “لا، لا أريد التحقّق، أريدُ إقفال هذا المكان”.

“رفضتُ الإقفال”، ومن ثم خرج قائلاً “ولكن لديكم مثليين هنا”. وبعد ذلك بقليل، دخل 12 من رجال شرطة شختورة الى الملهى، قاموا بالتنمير على الزبائن، وأطفأوا الموسيقى. ومنذ بعد ظهر يوم الإثنين الماضي، جرى إقفال ملهى غوست بالشمع الاحمر بأمر من البلدية، وتبدو ملاحظة عُلّقت على بابه بأسماء الأشخاص الأربعة الذين جرى اعتقالهم.

وفي هذا السياق، شرح المحامي والناشط في مجال حقوق الإنسان نزار صاغية أنّ رئيس البلدية تخطّى بهذه التصرّفات، المؤسسات القانونية المختصّة وبالتالي يجب أن يحاسب قانونياً على ذلك.

“كما ينص القانون، يُسمح له فقط بجمع المعلومات المطلوية ورفع شكوى الى مكتب المدعي العام. لا يحق له أن يتخّذ القرار بنفسه. إغارته على المكان غير قانونية” شدّد صاغية قائلاً.

حتى الآن، لم ترفع إدارة الملهى قضية على شختورة وهي بانتظار أن يُصدر مكتب الادعاء حكمه، لأنّهم يعتقدون اعتقاداً راسخاً بأنّ قضية شختورة قضية شخصية.

“من الواضح أنّ لديه مسائل شخصية حيال الرجال المثليين لأنّ هذه ليست المرة الأولى التي تحصل فيها هذه المضايقات، فمنذ أكثر من ستة أشهر يقوم رجاله باعتقال المارة”، أضاف المدير.

وبدوره أكّد شربل الميدع، المدير التنفيذي لجمعية “حلم” غير الحكومية التي تهتم بالدفاع عن حقوق المثليين، على الادعاءات السابقة وشرح أنّ الجمعية كانت تراقب الملهى الليلي منذ علموا بالمضايقات المتكرّرة وبالإساءة الى الرجال المثليين والأشخاص المتحولين جنسياً. وقال الميدع لـ NOW إنّ الزبائن قرب الملهى الليلي دائماً ما يتعرّضون للاعتداء بسبب مظهرهم، وأنّ ضحايا الأحد الماضي نُقلوا الى مقر شرطة البلدية في صناديق سيارات الشرطة.

وأضاف صاغية أنّ اعتقال الشرطة البلدية للزبائن هو أيضاً غير قانوني ويجب النظر فيه بأقصى سرعة لأنه مخالفة واضحة للدستور.

“ليس لديهم الحق باستجواب أي كان في أية قضية كانت؛ فهذا من اختصاص الشرطة القضائية، هذا في حال كانت هناك جريمة، ولكن لا توجد جريمة، التحوّل الجنسي ليس بجريمة، ليس هناك أي حيثية قانونية لدعمها في أي مكان”.

وشدّد صاغية على أنّه في حال قرّر المعنيون بالحادثة عدم رفع أي قضية، فمن واجب المجتمع المدني اللبناني معالجة المسألة بأسرع وقت ممكن.

“هذه جريمة وقد اعترف شختورة علناً باقترافها. على المجتمع المدني أن يرفع شكوى ضدّه لدى مكتب المدعي العام”.

“هذا أمر شديد الخطورة. إنّه يفرض قيمه الخاصة، معتبراً أي شيء يعارض هذه القيم جريمة، ومن ثمّ يعاقب الآثمين الذين ارتكبوها. لا يجب القبول بذلك”، قال صاغية

Source:

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/ar/nowspecialar/%D9%87%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%AD%D8%B5%D9%84-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%84%D9%87%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%83%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A9

 

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#adoption familles homoparentales distinction entre #amour et #sexe un #droit

une bonne reponse sur la polemique concernant l’adoption par les familles homoparentales : 
Si on distinguait amour et sexe, je ne vois pas pourquoi la religion, l’État ou toute autre structure sociale condamnerait la famille homoparentale. Je ne vois pas pourquoi non plus on ne laisserait pas s’unir deux personnes qui s’aiment et qui sont du même sexe. En 1995, l’archevêque de Canterbury défendait les homosexuels en disant que deux personnes qui s’aiment sur terre, quel que soit leur sexe, « expérimentent ici-bas ce que sera leur jouissance céleste lorsqu’ils seront auprès de Dieu ».

voila une partie de l’article paru dans L’orient le jour au Liban sur le sujet, pour ceux qui sont interesses, je reprends l’article ci-dessous. encore plus l’identification vient selon le psychanaliste des fonctions de meres et peres, et non de leur sexualite.

bon a vous l’article

Rita Chemaly

Mariage gay : Chawki Azouri met les Français sur le divan

« Ce que craignent les gens de droite, c’est la contagion par l’homosexualité de leurs convictions maritales »

On ne saura jamais qui a vraiment fait quoi. Et dans quelles proportions. Une chose est sûre pourtant : l’UMP (flanquée presque honteuse du Front national) s’est jetée comme la misère sur le peuple sur les manifestations antimariage pour tous. Y voyant, intelligemment cela dit, un levier de pression particulièrement efficace, puisque détourné, contre François Hollande, son gouvernement et sa politique. Surtout que le vote de la loi Taubira coïncide (il n’y a pas de hasards…) avec l’engluement très Charybde et Scylla du locataire de l’Élysée dans cent et un scandales. Dans cent et une crises. Dans des sondages abyssaux, aussi…

En réalité, savoir à quel point les manifestants antimariage pour tous ont été instrumentalisés et leurs revendications politisées ne changerait rien à la donne. Ne changerait rien à un constat, une évidence assez inquiétants : rarement un sujet aura à ce point divisé un pays pourtant connu dans le monde entier pour son obsession des mots en té : liberté, égalité, fraternité, etc. Une division qui ressemble parfois à une véritable fracture : l’homophobie, ou du moins ses manifestations publiques, visibles, ont décuplé en France.

François Hollande doit être réellement soulagé de la fin de ce ramdam plus mélo turc que tragi-comédie shakespearienne et qui faisait se gausser beaucoup d’Européens, jamais avares quand il s’agit de critiquer les Français, de se moquer d’eux. Des 60 clauses de son contrat nuptial avec ses compatriotes, le président doit sans doute être fier du n° 31, qui lui aura permis de vivre à fond son quart d’heure mitterrandien. Sauf que ce même président serait fort embêté, au bout de son mandant, s’il ne réussissait que ce point-là. Et que tout le reste de ses promesses aille se fracasser contre les murs (de la conjoncture, de l’incompétence de tel ou telle, de la mauvaise volonté des citoyens, etc.)…

Il n’en reste pas moins qu’à cause de cette loi (ou grâce à cette loi, peut-être…), le clivage des Français a été recraché au grand jour. Dans toute sa crudité, son indignité et, souvent, son horreur.
Psychanalyste et psychiatre franco-libanais dont plus personne ou presque n’ignore la maestria chirurgicale à placer le bon mot (ou la bonne phrase) au bon endroit et au bon moment, Chawki Azouri connaît très bien la France. Et les Français. Il a répondu aux questions de L’Orient-Le Jour, succinctement mais avec une force d’impact météorique. La preuve par 9…

L’OLJ : Comment expliquer cette férocité, cette détermination des Français antimariage pour tous ? Cette opposition est différente de toutes celles que les pays européens qui ont légalisé le mariage gay ont connues, à commencer par l’Espagne, pourtant bien plus catholique que la France…
C.A. : Ce n’est pas le catholicisme qui est en jeu en France, mais paradoxalement l’esprit révolutionnaire. Non pas que ce sont les gens de gauche qui sont contre, au contraire : c’est la gauche qui a fait passer la loi ; mais plutôt un esprit révolutionnaire qui ne veut pas que les homosexuels, marginaux de fait, soient désireux de se ranger – le mariage étant par excellence un signe de normalité sociale. Ce que craignent les gens de droite, c’est la contagion par l’homosexualité de leurs convictions maritales.

Y a-t-il des relents de guerre civile (morale, psychologique, de valeurs…) ?
On peut comparer cela à une guerre civile, en témoigne l’empoignade des manifestations pour et anti. C’est une question de valeurs en premier, morale ensuite et enfin psychologique.
Certains se battent pour des questions de valeurs : ceux qui sont embrigadés dans l’idée que le mariage est un sacrement. D’autres se battent pour une question de morale : ceux qui par exemple condamnent l’homosexualité comme étant « contre nature ». Enfin ceux qui se battent pour des questions pseudo-psychologiques, soit ceux qui s’appuient par exemple sur l’identification : comment vont s’identifier le garçon et la fille s’ils ont deux parents du même sexe.
La réponse est simple. Dans un couple, c’est la fonction qui est déterminante pour les identifications, non pas l’anatomie. Par exemple, la fonction de mère n’est pas nécessairement à remplir par la femme, de même la fonction paternelle n’est pas nécessairement à remplir par l’homme.

En quoi le mariage gay serait-il une menace pour les hétérosexuels ? Y a-t-il de la peur ? Qu’est-ce qui justifie le retour tonitruant de paroles et surtout d’actes homophobes ? Y avait-il une homophobie d’État que cette loi a dynamitée ?
Il n’y a aucune différence quant aux valeurs entre l’hétérosexuel(le) et l’homosexuel(le). C’est une projection maladive de la part des hétérosexuels homophobes qui se vantent d’avoir des valeurs que l’homosexuel(le) n’aurait pas. L’homosexualité est présente en nous depuis le début de l’humanité sur le plan phylogénétique et sur le plan ontologique depuis la découverte de la différence des sexes. L’horreur de la différence des sexes est commune à tous vers l’âge de trois/quatre ans. Elle sera dépassée progressivement jusqu’à l’acceptation de la différence. C’est surtout l’absence de pénis chez la fille qui horrifie autant le petit garçon que la petite fille.
À partir de là, les enfants se rabattent sur leur propre sexe comme valeur narcissique. Ceux qui restent dans cette position auront tendance à choisir inconsciemment un partenaire du même sexe. Il n’y a aucune anormalité sur ce point, sauf chez ceux qui veulent combattre cela en étant homophobe. Leur homophobie est en fait une défense contre leur homosexualité inconsciente.
Quant à l’homophobie d’État, elle ressemble à toute discrimination que la société génère contre tout genre de marginalité. Oui, cette loi l’a dynamitée.

C’est « liberté, égalité, fraternité » vs mariage gay ?
Non, je dirais « liberté, égalité, fraternité » et mariage gay.

Quid de l’adoption ? Des familles homoparentales ?
Si on distinguait amour et sexe, je ne vois pas pourquoi la religion, l’État ou toute autre structure sociale condamnerait la famille homoparentale. Je ne vois pas pourquoi non plus on ne laisserait pas s’unir deux personnes qui s’aiment et qui sont du même sexe. En 1995, l’archevêque de Canterbury défendait les homosexuels en disant que deux personnes qui s’aiment sur terre, quel que soit leur sexe, « expérimentent ici-bas ce que sera leur jouissance céleste lorsqu’ils seront auprès de Dieu ».

Source: http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/812246/mariage-gay-chawki-azouri-met-les-francais-sur-le-divan.html

 

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what is happening in #Syria is #horrible #Human basic #Fundamental #rights have been forgotten by all parties!

what is happening in #Syria is #horrible #Human basic & #Fundamental #rights have been forgotten by all parties!

I cannot look at the feed of my Facebook page, without being afraid of watching the horrific images coming from Syria!

I love this country, when I visited for the first time in 2005, i found the cultural heritage they have, and that syrian people are not protecting now. How can they be interested in their cultural heritage, when the life of Innocents are taken without any conscience???

all Parties in Syria should Stop violating Human rights, Children Rights, Women Rights.

I won’t re-post the shocking pictures of guys  handling the heads of the people they just killed!! this is an abomination!!!

in a war, (And in LEBANON) we have lived numerous ones, atrocities happen, but keeping quiet is an ABOMINATION!!!

The basic Human rights should be Respected!!!!!!

People and Innocents should be Protected!!!!

Khalass , Enough to Atrocities!!

yes for the implementation of basic rights even during war!

Rita!

here are recent articles describing the war crimes happening in Syria our neighbor country

U.N. lists Syrian army and militias as sex predators
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Apr-17/214104-un-lists-syrian-army-and-militias-as-sex-predators.ashx#ixzz2Rt7sWovW

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l’Homosexualite au Liban dans l’attente d’une décriminalisation et d’une acceptation dans un pays ou les normes patriarcales et religieuses priment par Rita Chemaly

Le nouveau Special de Septembre est en vente dans les librairies avec dans ce numéro, un dossier spécial sur l’homosexualité au Liban, par Rita Chemaly.  Un sujet qui reste dans l’attente d’une décriminalisation et d’une acceptation dans un pays ou les normes patriarcales et religieuses priment.

“Si dans ses poèmes Abou el Nouwas célèbre l’homosexualité, dans la réalité, le sujet au Liban reste un tabou, pire le sujet est criminalisé par les lois pénales, et religieuses. A la lumière des lois et pratiques en vigueur, les homosexuels au Liban comme dans les pays arabes sont stigmatisés par les communautés religieuses, les groups de pairs, leur collègues au travail, les medias et surtout leur famille. D’ailleurs le mot arabe « chazz » « déviant » très longtemps utilisé par les medias, souligne la discrimination à laquelle font face les homosexuels dans la société.

Sur le plan des lois, au Liban, le Code Pénal libanais datant de 1943, stipule dans son article 534 que “les relations sexuelles contre nature sont punies d’emprisonnement pour une durée entre un mois et un an, et d’une amende entre 200 000 et un million de livres libanaises”. Dans les textes l’homophobie au Liban est pénalisée et surtout criminalisée, dans la pratique sociale, même parmi les étudiants, l’homophobie fait rage ;….”

Pour continuer à lire l’article n’hésitez pas à lire le Special du Mois de Septembre 2012, en vente dans les librairies….

Le célèbre ouvrage « Bareed Mista3jil », « Courrier urgent » préparé pendant 3 ans par MEEM, une organisation qui apporte son soutien aux lesbiennes et transsexuelles du Liban.

Une manifestation de soutien a eu lieu le samedi 11 août 2012 devant le palais de la Justice. Une centaine de jeunes activistes, se sont virulemment opposés aux tests de virginités encore appliqués dans certains cas sur des femmes, et contre les tests annaux.

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Advocacy group Helem protests tasteless lyrics…

 The gay rights group Helem has successfully petitioned to prevent Lebanese singer Mohamed Eskandar from performing songs they consider homophobic at a concert in Canada. Eskandar is due to perform in Montreal Saturday night, and in Ottawa the next evening.

A Lebanese-Canadian gay rights group, Helem (Dream), works toward the abolition of Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code which, in effect, outlaws homosexuality.

In an open letter condemning the invitation of Eskandar to perform in Canada, the group lobbied the owners of each venue – both of whom have promised in writing that the singer-songwriter would not perform two songs which the group deems offensive, “Dod al-Enef” and “Joumhoureyet Qalbi.”

“Dod al-Enef,” which literally translates to “Against Violence” is, according to Helem, “a slogan commonly used by the LGBT [Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender] community in its advocacy against discrimination.

“The title was purposely used to ridicule the LGBT cause and advocacy efforts. The song starts by depicting two parents fighting because of their son’s sexual orientation and blaming the gay son for the disputes and separation of his parents.”

The song, and video, goes on to mock men who are not masculine. “Without jealousy and real masculinity, women are in trouble,” the lyrics read. “Ever since the military service stopped, half [the] men became plagued by the disease of femininity.”

In his “Joumhoureyet Qalbi” (“The Republic of My Heart”), the Baalbek native encourages women to stay at home, rather than find a job.

“We have no girls here that work with their degrees,” Eskandar sings. “Our girls are pampered. Everything she wants is at her service …

“Assuming I agree that you work,” the song continues, “what would we do about your beauty? Your job is taking care of my heart … it’s enough that you’re the republic of my heart.”

When “Joumhoureyet Qalbi” was released in 2010, a protest was held by women’s rights activists in Beirut.

In the open letter, Helem writes, “Mr. Eskandar has a long-standing record of homophobic slurs and behavior. Helem Montreal condemns in the strongest possible terms the invitation for Mr. Eskandar to sing at a concert in Canada. Mr. Eskandar’s offensive art contradicts Canadian values and amounts to hate speech.”

According to the Ottawa Citizen daily, Elie Abou Assi, the son of the owner of Ottawa’s El Mazaj Restaurant (where Eskandar is scheduled to perform), said he wasn’t familiar with “Dod al-Enef” before he was contacted by Helem. He added that when he had booked the act, he’d done so with an eye to the popularity of the performer.

“All we cared about was doing our business, and we know what our customers want and we know who they want to watch. So we just bring them, whoever they want,” he told the paper. But he said he understood Helem’s concern: “I can see their point of view.”

The Ottawa Citizen reported that Sam Khoury, president of Helem in Montreal, said that had the owners not agreed to request that Eskandar not perform the two songs, the group had planned to protest outside the venues.

“We just wanted to make sure these songs this guy was singing in particular would not be sung,” he said, calling the tunes and their accompanying videos “gross” and “beyond acceptable.”

The group would prefer to educate than to make enemies, Khoury said. “We demystify homosexuality within these groups and communities.”

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on August 31, 2012, on page 16.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Performance/2012/Aug-31/186193-advocacy-group-helem-protests-tasteless-lyrics.ashx#ixzz25A3Eg9y2
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

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Human rights are Sacred and in Lebanon Human Dignity is not preserved… we have to act against the rape in police stations

Civil society is asked to act this saturday in Front of the House of the physicians, to denounce the physicians taking part in the horrific tests, that are practiced against people that are thought of being gay, in police stations in Lebanon; Abolish the examinations of Shame is the title of the event that is open to all !!

Homosexuel? des tests de la honte au Liban… https://ritachemaly.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/homosexuel-des-tests-de-la-honte-au-liban/

the article of Al Akhbar highlighting the dilemma : نقيب الأطبّاء يوقف «فحص المثليّة» والنيابة العامة التمييزية تشرّعه

أصدر نقيب الأطباء شرف أبو شرف، اليوم، تعميماً طلب فيه من الأطباء الشرعيين عدم القيام بالفحوصات الشرجية لإثبات المثلية الجنسية، تحت طائلة الملاحقة المسلكية، وذلك بالاستناد الى المادة 30 من قانون الآداب الطبية. وجاء في تعميم أبو شرف «ورد إلى نقابة الأطباء أن بعض الزملاء، ولا سيما من الأطباء الشرعيين، يقومون بإجراء فحوصات شرجية لإثبات المثلية الجنسية بناءً على طلب الضابطة العدلية وإشارة النيابة العامة المعنية».

وأضاف: «من الثابت علمياً أن هذا الإجراء لا يتصف حتى بالفحص التجريبي، ولا يعطي النتيجة المطلوبة ويشكل انتهاكاً جسيماً لحقوق الأشخاص الذين يتم اخضاعهم له من دون موافقتهم، وممارسة مهينة ومحطة من قدرهم وتعذيباً بمفهوم معاهدة مناهضة التعذيب. وطلب النقيب في تعميمه من جميع الأطباء المنتسبين الى النقابة، ولا سيما الأطباء الشرعيين «عدم القيام بأي إجراء من هذا النوع تحت طائلة الملاحقة المسلكية». في المقابل، نشرت جمعية «المفكرة القانونية» التعميم الصادر عن النائب العام التمييزي سعيد ميرزا في 9/7/2012 حول «الفحوصات الطبية لمثليّي الجنس» ليتبين أن مضمونه لا ينسجم مع ما أعلنه وزير العدل شكيب قرطباوي في تصريح سابق لـ«الأخبار» من أن التعميم يطلب من النيابات العامة «التوقف عن إجازة إجراء الفحوصات الشرجية بشكل عشوائي». وجاء في تعميم القاضي ميرزا «نطلب من النيابات العامة في حالة الاشتباه بواقعة مثليي الجنس إعطاء التعليمات الواضحة للطبيب المختص وعناصر الضابطة العدلية بأن ينفذوا هذا الإجراء بموافقة المشتبه فيه ووفقاً لقواعد الأصول الطبية بشكل لا يفضي الى ضرر هام. وفي حال رفض المشتبه فيه الإذعان لهذا الإجراء، إفهامه أنه يستخلص من رفضه قرينة على صحة الواقعة المطلوب إثباتها». وعلقت «المفكرة القانونية» على هذا التعميم عبر موقعها الإلكتروني بالقول: « ببساطة إذاً، ومن دون الاستطالة في التعليق، التعميم لم يؤل الى التشديد في إجراء الفحص، بل الى تشريعه وتعميمه كلما حصل اشتباه. والخيار المعطى للشخص برفضه (وهو يبدو الأمر الوحيد الذي قدمه التعميم) تبطله بالطبع النتيجة التي يرتّبها على رفضه: فإما أن يرضى بالفحص (وله عار) أو لا يرضى فتعلن مثليته ويعاقب على هذا الأساس… وبذلك، يكون التعميم قد كرس إحدى الوظائف الأساسية لتدخل الطبيب والتي هي السعي الى تخويف المشتبه فيه وإذلاله، على نحو يسهم ربما في انتزاع اعترافه ويمسّ في مطلق الأحوال بقرينة البراءة». وكان المدعي العام التمييزي بالإنابة القاضي سمير حمود قد أعاد توزيع مذكرة ميرزا حول الفحوصات الطبية لإثبات المثلية الجنسية، وتالياً المجامعة خلافاً للطبيعة وفق تفسير النيابات العامة للمادة 534 من قانون العقوبات. ولقد أثارت مسألة «فحوصات المثلية» استياءً واسعاً الأسبوع الماضي على خلفية حادثة «سينما بلازا» والتي تم على أثرها توقيف 36 شاباً أخضعوا لهذه الفحوصات، الأمر الذي أثار جملة من الانتقادات من قبل جمعيات حقوق الإنسان ومناهضة التعذيب ورهاب المثلية وتعزيز استقلالية القضاء. ويطالب نشطاء حقوق الإنسان بالمنع النهائي لهذه الفحوصات بعدما ثبت بشهادات من أطباء شرعيين ومحامين أنها غير مجدية طبياً، عدا كونها مخالفة لحقوق الإنسان، وهي ترقى الى التعذيب والممارسات الحاطّة من الكرامة الإنسانية. ودعت جمعية «حلم ـــ حماية لبنانية للمثليين» الى تظاهرة أمام وزارة العدل عند العاشرة من صباح يوم السبت المقبل للمطالبة بوقف «فحوصات العار مهبليّة كانت أو شرجيّة».

(الأخبار)

below is the facebook invitation :

Since human rights are one and the same for all human beings
Since the law, and institutions charged with upholding it, including the medical profession, are required to protect human dignity, not to test it,
And since Lebanon officially adheres to all the principles mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including those concerned with personal freedoms,
You are all invited to participate in the sit-in outside “Beit Al Tabib” (Order of Physicians) – Furn el-Chebbak, to protest against its endorsement of physicians’ participation in such violations, which amount to rape
Saturday, August 11th, at 10am

إن حقوق الإنسان، كلّ إنسان، هي واحدة لا تتجزّأ، ولأن القانون، والأجهزة المولجة تطبيقه والمؤتمنة عليه، بما فيها الطبّي، إنّما وجد ليصون قيمة وكرامة الإنسان، ولأنّ لبنان وطن الحقوق والحريّات يأخذ بشرعة حقوق الإنسان والمواثيق الدولية التي تعنى بالحريّات الشخصيّة للأفراد، ولمّا كانت الفحوص التي تطال الأعضاء الجنسيّة، الفحوص المهبلية لكشف العذرية والفحوص الشرجية للتثبّت من المثلية الجنسية، تضرب عرض الحائط بكلّ هذه المبادئ والمواثيق، ندعوكم جميعاً، ناشطين وناشطات، أفراداً وجمعيّات، للوقوف ضدّ هذه الممارسات الظلام…

ية، التي تعد شكلاً من أشكال الاغتصاب، وذلك أمام “بيت الطبيب” – فرن الشباك، احتجاجاً على مشاركة نقابة الأطباء في هذه الممارسات. التجمّع يوم السبت ١١ آب ٢٠١٢، في الساعة العاشرة صباحاً

Abolish the examination of Shame in Lebanon!!!!!! this is rape!!!

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Homosexuel? des tests de la honte au Liban…

Dans l’austérité des casernes de police, après qu’on leur a intimé l’ordre de se déshabiller puis de se pencher en avant ou de s’accroupir, ils sont contraints de soumettre leurs parties anales à l’examen d’un médecin pour déterminer leur orientation sexuelle. Ils ? Des individus suspectés d’homosexualité, punie par la loi au Liban, pourtant jugé plus tolérant que d’autres pays arabes.

Cette pratique humiliante, connue dans les milieux homosexuels mais ignorée du grand public, vient d’être dénoncée par plusieurs associations libanaises. “Nous avons brisé le silence”, dit Nizar Saghieh, avocat engagé dans de nombreux combats de la société civile et fondateur de l’ONG L’Agenda juridique, à l’origine de la conférence organisée fin mai à Beyrouth sur ces “examens de la honte”.

Tout est parti, raconte l’avocat, du calvaire de trois jeunes hommes interpellés en avril près du domicile beyrouthin d’un leader politique libanais. Espions, comploteurs, militants politiques ? Rien de cela, révèle l’interrogatoire. L’affaire aurait dû s’arrêter là. Seulement, l’un des suspects est jugé efféminé par les forces de sécurité. Les trois camarades sont donc conduits à un autre poste de police de la capitale, spécialisé dans les affaires de moeurs, et soumis à un test anal pour déterminer leur homosexualité – après une nuit en garde à vue. “Ces jeunes hommes n’avaient rien fait de suspect, ce qui souligne le caractère aberrant de cette méthode”, note M. Saghieh.

D’autant que les tests, qui ne peuvent en théorie être effectués que sur autorisation du procureur, n’ont aucune valeur scientifique. “Les médecins légistes reconnaissent que la forme de l’anus ne constitue pas une preuve déterminante ni suffisante [d’homosexualité]. Selon eux, seule la présence de sperme dans ces parties peut prouver l’acte [sexuel] ; or cela suppose une pénétration non protégée. Dans les faits, les médecins se contentent de prendre des photos de l’anus, ce qui rend leur expertise d’une incertitude totale, tout en constituant une atteinte aussi inutile qu’immorale”, poursuit l’avocat.

Alors, pourquoi maintenir ces tests si, outre leur caractère dégradant, ils n’ont aucune valeur ? “Il y a quelque chose de pervers, une jouissance malsaine à soumettre de présumés homosexuels à de tels examens”, estime Alexandre Paulikevitch, artiste et activiste de la société civile. Selon lui, les efforts pour dénoncer les pratiques qui ont cours dans les casernes de police doivent “aller plus loin. D’autres techniques d’humiliation sont utilisées pour briser les homosexuels, au-delà des tests anaux”.

On cherche à avilir, mais aussi à intimider : c’est l’accusation portée par les différentes associations qui ont pris part à la conférence sur les “examens de la honte”. Pour Human Rights Watch, qui a documenté des sévices similaires infligés en Egypte après des arrestations massives dans une boîte de nuit gay en 2001, les tests anaux équivalent à des “actes de torture”. M. Saghieh met en cause les pressions exercées : “La police veut donner l’impression qu’elle a les moyens de savoir. L’expertise du médecin sert principalement à intimider le suspect et à l’amener à avouer, en faisant valoir que, si l’homosexualité est découverte lors de l’examen, la sanction encourue sera plus sévère.”

Pour L’Agenda juridique, la campagne de mobilisation ne s’arrête pas là. Fin juin, c’est sur les tests de virginité que l’ONG veut porter la lumière. Leurs principales victimes ? Les femmes soupçonnées de prostitution. Ils sont aussi réalisés lors de plaintes, quand un homme est accusé d’avoir eu une relation sexuelle avec une jeune femme non mariée, “la plupart du temps à l’initiative de la famille de celle-ci, pour lancer une poursuite en cas de promesse de mariage non tenue, explique Nizar Saghieh. Dans les deux cas, tests de virginité ou tests pour déterminer l’homosexualité, il y a une grave atteinte à l’intimité et à l’intégrité physique de la personne et… aucune preuve”.

Si l’homophobie reste répandue au Liban, les révélations sur les “examens de la honte” ont suscité de nombreuses réactions d’indignation, notamment sur les réseaux sociaux. Les autorités, elles, sont restées silencieuses. Le tollé provoqué permettra-t-il d’ouvrir le débat sur la validité de l’article 534 relatif à l’homosexualité, qui punit les “relations sexuelles contre nature” ? “Il serait temps, considère Alexandre Paulikevitch. Les autres pays de la région font la révolution, et nous, au Liban, nous restons à discuter du maintien en vigueur de l’article 534.”

Laure Stéphan

source : http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2012/06/10/au-liban-les-examens-de-la-honte_1715656_3232.html

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round of reading here and there: tannoura maxi, Zogheib new adv, article on Homosexuality and religions in Kif el Chabeb

Excellent de Humus Nation

“تخلف” ماكسي

a vous de lire tout l’article ici 

عطفاً على ما تناقلته وسائل الإعلام حول موضوع فيلم “تنورة ماكسي” الذي يعرض في دور السينما وتدور احداثه حول قصة حب بين كاهن وفتاة أبان الحرب الأهلية سنة ١٩٨٢، والهلوسة والإستنكار والشجب وهزة البدن الذي رافقاه بحجة أنه يشوه الديانة المسيحية، يهم وكالة الأنباء الرسمية توضيح التالي:

أولاً، ليس كل فيلم تتداخل في قصته ديانة أياً كانت، بحاجة لصك براءة من الطوائف ال-١٢٥٤٦ المعترف بها رسمياً في البلد حتى يعرض في دور السينما. وعلى فكرة، تلفن القرن الثامن عشر وقال إنو “محاكم التفتيش” خلصت من زمان وترك خبر للذين ما زالوا مؤمنين بها ضرورة “قرص” الذات ليتأكدوا أنهم في القرن ال-٢١.

ثانياً، يا ليت ينتفض ممثلو الطوائف على الفقر والأمية والجهل والبطالة والهجرة المستمرة للشباب والنهب المتواصل لمقومات البلد والرشوة والفساد قبل أن ينتفض عنفوانهم على فيلم. عفواً، إنو ما في شي تاني تعملوا خالو؟! عملوا شي إلو طعمة وشو بدكن بالأفلام! استرو شي عيلة فقيرة مثلاً، بتحسوا حالكن “مليون دولار”! عن جد جربوها ما بتندمو.

Suite sur “تخلف” ماكسي

Tannoura Maxi to be banned in Lebanon?

from the http://news.beiruter.com/node/99739

It was the summer of 82, when a priest, about to be ordered, was exhausted by temptations and an arrogant girl felt passionately in love… A sifted memory and a personal history of a narrator who tells with nostalgia and poetry the meeting of his parents until their marriage. [IMDb]
The Church apparently didn’t like Joe Bou Eid’s movie and saw it offending to priests and Christianity. It’s simple though: If you don’t like it, don’t go watch it because banning it will not get more people to Church.

Excellent de Hachem :

رأي خاص- مجوهرات زغيب تهين وتحتقر ملهمة مصمميها … والمرأة ضحّية من جديد

سنسمح لأنفسنا اليوم بأن نعرض عليكم اعلاناً لمجوهرات زغيب مجاناً مع العلم اننا عادة “ما منعملها” لأي كان مجاناُ الا حين يكون الاعلان لأهداف اجتماعية وانسانية واحياناً ثقافية ، ان كان يستحق الحدث الثقافي دعمنا ،
ولكن لفتني هذا الاعلان كثيراً لأنه يروّج لتصميم جديد لعقد من الماس في حين تظهر المرأة بطلة الاعلان من “الزنّار ونازل” …مع علمنا بأن عقود الماس توضع عادة حول الاعناق وليس حول “السيقان”، الاّ ان كانت الموضة قد تغيّرت وتبدّلت سنة2012،

a vous de lire la suite sur Bisara7a

la zakaran wala ounssa

Pity to read such articles in a medium  intended for youth,

instead of being used as an awareness tool for diversity, respect of human beings, the words used are shameful “pity” “shafaka”, “tachwih”,  “raza2el” bad things, and last but not least comparing homosexuality to drugs! hein!? I still believe in a church (=mass of people) who can truly and without exceptions believe in the image of God… we are all at his image, if “you” like it or not…

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=102728723198926&set=a.102674229871042.3795.100003853956909&type=3&theater

instead of importing diversity, respect, the article use the word “shame”, “pity” and morals to make from homosexuality a sort of “decease” .

Christianity and other religions

this articles is one that in my opinion is nice! in the same issue of Kif Chabab el youm, Previously (booed, and shamed).

rita

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un nouveau blog Homo est ne au liban…. nice initiative #alloush et #zouzou

En passant en revue mon twitter timeline je tombe sur un blog tout en Couleurs!! enfin des personnes libanaises osent raconter leur vie, de leur point de vue,

voila le blog de Alloush et Zouzou , qui se veut un blog de deux meilleurs amis  homosexuels qui racontent leur “simple” vie de tous les jours au “liban”.

Homoslibani = homosexuels au Liban ou plutot Pois chiche libanais?? 🙂 http://homoslibnani.wordpress.com/

Les profils des deux jeunes gens sont les suivants, je les reprends tels quels ils expliquent si clairement ce qu’ils veulent de leur blog et se decrivent tres bien:

” Zouzou

Beirut

Former teenager, I’m new in this adult world. Hitting the university life hard, I tweet, I study, I party and then I tweet some more. It took a huge load of drama to make me who I am today. I’m an extremist. I get addicted too easily. I’m sure we have already messaged each other on manjam 😛 Never take Alloushi too seriously before he has a drink or two! LOL” le profile est accompagne par une tres belle photo avec le celebre Homos ( puree de pois chiche libanaise).

quant à Alloush, il a choisi le celebre symbole, le drapeau arc- en -ciel tout en couleur comme photo, et voila sa bio:

“Alloush

Beirut

I’m a gay guy living in Beirut. Very discreet about my sexuality and only recently started dating guys because I wasn’t very comfortable with who I am. I’m in my 20s and I have to admit that I lack experience. I’m settle quickly into a commitment when I find a decent guy because I don’t like the Lebanese gay scene at all. Zouzou is my best friend, and no, we haven’t slept together. He’s always been there for me and he’s more than a brother to me. We are total opposites, but maybe that’s why we are so close.”

Pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, une loi obsolete au Liban continue a “Criminaliser” condamner et punir les relations homosexuelles : des relations qualifiees encore dans nos textes de lois notamment par l’article 534 de notre Code Penal comme “contre nature”. Pour ceux qui veulent en savoir plus un article intitlé Liban : statut juridique des homosexuels; traitement des homosexuels par les autorités et la population (2005 – octobre 2007) a ete preparé par le UNHCR.

Bref, dans une societe patriarchale, sectaire et communautaire comme la societe libanaise, (Ouf, je suis mechante aujourd’hui, peut-etre que je suis excedée par les blagues sur foufou et nounou et les remarques obscenes et le qualificatif  “chazz” (deviant)  que j’entends tout le temps) les deputes, representants de la nation devraient commencer par amender le code penal, pour amener notre societe a avancer dans les moeurs et donner a chacun et chacune son Droit Fondamental! Quant a ceux et celles qui se moquent de foufou et nounou et ce qu’ils ou elles considerent “Chazz”, ouvrez les yeux et vos coeurs, votre fils, fille,  frere, soeur, oncle, tante,  cousin et cousine, sont des foufous et nounous nes! sont -ils des “chazz” a  criminaliser et tagger???!!!

bon, je reviens a mon sujet de depart, bienvenue dans la blogosphere libanaise chers alloush et zouzou, bonne continuation, et j’ai hate de lire vos aventures et vos journees!

Rita, simple citoyenne, qui adore exprimer sur son blog tout ce qui l’excede et saluer les initiatives interessantes!

screen shot de homoslibnani

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“What is a Citizen?”

To read!!

On the surface, the question “What is a Citizen?” seems easy to answer. A citizen is a person who is endowed with legal rights by, and duties to, the country of which one is a citizen. Thus, a U.S. citizen is someone who is allowed to vote in U.S. state and federal elections, to serve in the U.S. armed forces, to pass that citizenship on to their spouse and/or children, is entitled to state and federal social services, and who must file state and federal taxes. Similarly, in Lebanon, a citizen must also pay taxes, is also allowed to vote, to run for public office, to serve in the armed forces, and is entitled to Lebanese social services. However, even more than being a legal relationship between a person, other people, and a particular legal regime, the condition of possibility for citizenship is the non-citizen. “We” are Lebanese citizens because others are not, because “we” have passports, because “we” can travel and work anywhere in this country without receiving special permission, and because “we” are not immigrants, migrant laborers, or foreign tourists. A Lebanese citizen is someone who is not a Palestinian, Iraqi, Kurdish, or Sudanese refugee, for example. The entire legal and ideological edifice of citizenship is erected upon this act of exclusion between individuals and populations. Thus, a U.S. citizen is someone who is not an illegal Mexican immigrant, is not an Iraqi refugee, and is not a person living in the United States on a tourist or work or business visa which must be periodically renewed and subject to revoking. Of course, not all citizenships are equal. On my U.S. passport, or “multipass” as my friends call it, I can – for the most part – travel the world freely and not have to worry about visas. I can choose to fly to Paris or to Cairo or to Bahrain and leave on the same day. On my Lebanese passport, I have to apply for a visa to all of these countries, and I may or may not receive it. This hierarchy of nationalities also permeates one’s sense of security and vulnerability. In 2006, the U.S. Embassy called my nuclear family and pleaded with us to “safely” leave our families and loved ones, who “only” have a Lebanese passport, behind and exposed to the Israeli war machine. Of course, we already know that being a citizen of the “First World” effectively means that your life is weighted differently than that of a Third World citizen. We need only flip through mainstream media coverage of occupied Iraq and Palestine, or terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Norway to see evidence of this. But there there are also institutionalized inequalities and exclusions between citizens of the same country. In fact, there is no universal subject that is the “citizen.” A citizen is always marked. There is a plurality of legal subject positions that citizens of one state are differentially produced through. Not all citizens are constituted as equal before the law, and not all citizens have the same rights and duties. For example, in the contemporary United States, gay citizens cannot give U.S. citizenship to their spouses or benefit from the myriad federal social services and tax benefits that married heterosexuals can benefit from. They are U.S. citizens, but they are constituted as less [legally] equal than their heterosexual counterparts. In fact, these legal exclusions are what constitute the difference between heterosexual and homosexual citizenship in the United States today. Increasingly, as the debate over federally recognized same sex marriage heats up, the fact that a citizen can legally marry and others cannot is becoming a constitutive aspect of heterosexual citizenship. In Lebanon, the legal discriminations between citizens are much more extreme. It has become common knowledge that in Lebanon citizens are legally differentiated according to sect and that, for example, a Maronite cannot become Prime Minister, a Shi’ite cannot become President of the Republic, and a Sunni cannot be Head of the Army. It is also well known that a Greek Orthodox, Druze, or a member of one of the other eleven officially recognized Lebanese sects has no chance of occupying any of the top posts within the Lebanese “troika” system. Still, despite the fact that on the surface, Lebanese citizenship seems to be differentiated along the axis of sect, I would suggest that in fact the most stubborn legal discrimination in Lebanon is between male and female citizens. Why am I insisting on the phrase “legal discrimination” as opposed to simply “discrimination?” Because there is a difference between the ways that law operates, as opposed to other technologies of power (such as class and race and gender privilege). For example, a gay U.S. citizen can saturate himself in the most gay-friendly social, economic, and political environment imaginable, but even that privileged, rich, white, and attractive gay man cannot give U.S .citizenship to his foreign boyfriend, a right that straight Americans from all classes, races, and political groups take for granted. Similarly, a Lebanese woman can insist on having only feminist friends, only spending money at feminist businesses, and only voting for feminist candidates, but even this woman, who could be rich, successful, and powerful, cannot prosecute her husband for raping her. This is because, according to the civil law that criminalizes rape in Lebanon, marital rape is legally unintelligible and thus, un-prosecutable. Such legal discriminations are immovable except through (other) acts of law. The majority of Lebanese citizens cannot grant citizenship to their spouses or children. This majority of citizens is diverse in terms of sect, income bracket, race, sexual orientation, religious belonging, and political affiliations. Despite all this diversity, they have one thing in common; the classification of their genitalia by the Lebanese state as “female.” Thus a Lebanese woman (or, to be more technically correct, a Lebanese citizen with a vagina) could, theoretically and legally, become the Prime Minister of Lebanon. But under the current legal system, Prime Minister Layla (let’s continue, for another sentence, to live in this fantasy Lebanon where a woman could become the leader of this country even though it is legally possible) would have to be married to a Lebanese man in order to have Lebanese children. Thus even a woman who occupies and operates the most political, social, and economic positions of privilege cannot practice a right that every Lebanese citizen with a penis takes for granted. Of course, there are notable exceptions to this rule. For example, Saudi prince al-Walid bin Talal has Lebanese citizenship through his mother, Mona el-Solh, who is the daughter of one of Lebanon’s founders and its first Prime Minister, Riad eh-Solh. Riad el-Solh had the misfortune of having only five daughters, and his daughters were granted the exceptional right to pass on Lebanese citizenship to their children. Yet even in this example, the exception granted to Riad el-Solh’s daughters stems from his role as both “patriarch” and midwife of Lebanon as a whole. This week in Beirut, a protest was organized demanding the amendment to the Nationality law to allow women to grant citizenship to their spouses and children. About 200 people marched from the Lebanese Ministry of the Interior to the foot of a statue of Riad el-Solh which faces the Parliament building. The irony of protestors demanding the rights of citizenship for all Lebanese women while standing under a statue of a man who had a role in drafting (or at the least, not amending) the current sexist and discriminatory nationality law yet whose daughters are considered an exception to it seemed to have been lost on all those present. A few weeks ago, I was at a nail salon getting a gendered tune-up. As I was being tweezed, plucked, painted and otherwise maintained, I was having a conversation about feminism with the woman who owns the business and her co-workers/employees. It so happened that on that day a group had called for all women to walk stop working and/or driving for ten minutes in order to protest the fact that the newly minted 30 member Lebanese cabinet did not contain any female ministers. Notably, the protest was not against the fact that no female or male minister who is active in the cause for gender equality has been appointed to the Lebanese cabinet in recent history. I was asking the women around me if they were going to stop their jobs (and if the owner was going to close down) for ten minutes at the allotted time. One of the women, who was completing an immaculate pedicure on my toes, told me, in all seriousness, that this kind of protest is only directed towards women who are employed in places “that matter”, such as banks, schools, law offices, or places of business. Who would care if we stopped working for ten minutes, she asked? Plus, her co-worker added, not everyone has the ability to risk their jobs by stopping for ten minutes. I asked them what part of the Lebanese feminist agenda they most identified with, and without pause they mentioned the need to amend the nationality law. I asked them why they chose this issue, rather than the question of domestic violence or marital rape (draft laws on both issues have also recently been presented to Parliament, spurring public debate) and the owner of the shop said that it was because this issue affects all women without exception. The woman who had just finished my pedicure added that the fact that Lebanese women are barred from passing on citizenship was a violation of their karama, or dignity The right to give citizenship to your spouse and children is no small thing. It means that if you marry a non-Lebanese man and live in Lebanon, your life is a bureaucratic and financial nightmare of residency and work permits. Practically, it means that the children of Lebanese women must have a visa to enter and/or reside in Lebanon, and a permit in order to work in Lebanon legally. Of course, if this hypothetical woman were married to a Lebanese man who was the biological father of these hypothetical children, this set of complications would magically disappear. On this level, it is more difficult for a Lebanese woman to marry a foreigner than it is for a Lebanese man. This added difficulty is coercive; Lebanese law actively discourages Lebanese women from marrying foreigners. In particular, the fear that allowing Lebanese women to grant citizenship is a back door to the naturalization of Palestinian refugees is often cited in public discourse around the nationality law today. But the same concern is never issued over the fact that Lebanese men have been marrying Palestinian refugees, and granting them citizenship, for generations. The contradiction over the “fear” of Lebanese women naturalizing their Palestinian husband and the nonchalance which the reality of Lebanese men naturalizing their Palestinian wives is met with speaks volumes as to the naturalization of legally gendered power relations in contemporary Lebanon. The fact that over half of the Lebanese population cannot transfer citizenship to their spouses and/or children is also an ideological statement. Female citizens, to put it simply, are conditionally incorporated into the state; they inherit citizenship from their father but cannot transfer this inheritance on to their children. They do not reproduce the state through producing citizens, but they do reproduce the gendered exclusion upon which current Lebanese nationality law is predicated. They are “female citizens” and they are constituted as such through legal acts of exclusion and institutionalized difference. They are the condition of possibility for “male citizens” and vice versa.

 

Author of the article:

Maya Mikdashi

 

source of the article:

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2243/what-is-a-citizen-%28or-what-if-layla-were-prime-min

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