Beirut, Lebanon: “Provincetown of the Middle East” - Not!

Westhampton, MA - August 5, 2009
Richard Ammon - GlobalGayz.com

I just finished reading (again) the lead article in the Sunday New York Times (August 2, 2009) travel section about Gay Beirut (Lebanon) entitled “Provincetown of the Middle East”.

My reaction is mixed. It’s affirming to see the nation’s leading ‘paper of record’ giving so much ink to the ‘homosexual lifestyle’. It wasn’t always so, even as recently as a decade ago. Today, the Times even prints announcements for same-gender marriages and commitment ceremonies.

Sunday’s story was a major spread about Beirut (and it environs) and the gay party-makers, local and foreign, who gathered for a theme party. True, there are some gay-friendly bars and discos scattered in and around the city where people can let their hair down, but that is a far cry from the pervasive gay life that infuses Provincetown. Healy’s theme story is about a Bear Arabia Mega Party - a half hour drive from Beirut - and his verbal portrait is some distance from the day-to-day truth.

“Inching out” is far more an apt description for Beirut than “Provincetown.” The majority of gays here only show themselves at night and are not out to their families. There certainly is nothing that resembles a "gay neighborhood". The popular Acid Nightclub is safely away from downtown. The original pre-war gay ‘community’ here was not from Lebanon, but Europe, from which people came for the beaches and winter relief.

The story mentions gays (mostly Arab) who like Beirut for the freedom of the nightlife, where they can remove for a few hours the mask of Islam they live behind for most of their lives. Lebanon is more tolerant than anywhere else in the Middle East except Israel. (Nevertheless, a visitor cannot travel directly from Israel to Lebanon; rather one must go through Jordan or another country, and cannot show an Israeli passport stamp.)

The story, earnestly written by Patrick Healy, a gay reporter on the Times staff, based on talks (and partying) with people from the gay unfriendly countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq as well as (slightly) more tolerant Turkey and Italy (moderately) to find friendship, sex and like-minded support.

Healy offered some comments about the human rights efforts of the gay group Helem in Beirut. But this was not the focus of the piece. It was about the party scene, meeting up and going out to dance and drink and hooking up at the chic and trendy watering holes in that city, and voting for Mr. Bear Arabia.

For most of the expansive three-full-pages (in a 12-page travel section of the Times) "gay" meant "party"; it meant "scene"; it meant looking good and hoping for Mr. Right Now.

Not Enough

To quote a song, ‘Is that all there is?’ What’s missing for me is substance.

There is a cultural vacuum in the story. Where is our substance, our meaning as a community? What core efforts and awareness are we instilling into our own community? If the New York Times readers and the Beirut party-goers finish reading and/or dancing without knowing about a single queer activist, or signing a petition, or donating money to help keep a gay rights organization such as Helem or Meem (a lesbian NGO) vital as a lobbying force against discrimination, then what real good has it done?

What’s missing in this and stories like this (i.e. Passport and OutTraveler magazines) is the connection between the late night titillation of sounds and lights and daytime private lives and the activism behind the scenes or in the halls of parliament. That is, between the colorful sweaty nights and the ‘realpolitik’ of persecuted LGBT individuals in the Middle East.

The Media has a responsibility to change stereotypes, to deepen understanding, to integrate different truths. Yes, there is a visually vibrant party scene, but not all gays participate, and many are also suffering isolation and live in fear of rejection or abuse.

The Times story was exclusively male, and predominantly middle class. But that is not who most LGBT people are. It is not how people identify, and to focus predominantly on that part of our community is not authentic. Where are the lesbians and bisexuals and trans people as the gay men dance the night away?

Such party-scene stories depoliticizes gender and sexuality in the name of journalistic simplicity and ‘fun’. It is dishonest and disingenuous because the homosexual presence in any culture is unavoidably political. Homosexuality in any society is a major litmus test of how it treats its minorities and in turn is a significant measure of how safe a culture is.

I think it is incumbent upon LGBT writers to create inclusive reports that raise awareness among ourselves (gay men, lesbians, trans and bisexuals) as well as the larger society. Mr. Healy is a skilled and politically aware writer who has written HALF of the story about gay Beirut. The other half, or the other three-fourths, about the uncomfortable reality of daylight homosexuality in Lebanon is still wanting.

One 'real' view of gay Beirut is through the eyes and work of Helem or Meem, which received scant or no mention in Healy’s story. Helem’s ‘invisible’ (non-partying) work is behind the scenes, contacting police, religious leaders, employers, even parents to resolve an endless stream of discrimination, abuse and rejection. “It's a delicate process, given the deep-seated taboo in Arab countries,” Helem says. The organization is also an award-winning Human Rights organization whose activists struggle against oppression and ignorance in Lebanon. (For more, see Gay Lebanon News and Reports on this site.) Meem is a support community in Lebanon for lesbian, gay and trans persons that has just published the first book of lesbian voices in the country: Bareed Mista3jil

As Rasha Moumneh of Human Rights Watch eloquently said at the recent OutGames Human Rights Conference in Copenhagen, “it is incumbent upon us, as LGBT activists, to know, to seek out information about the world we build our activism around, to understand its complexities and intersections and to create a progressive and inclusive politics of justice, because the lies we are fed come in so thick and so heavy that it takes energy and commitment to sift through them to get to our truths. And if we don’t, we do harm, to ourselves, to our communities, to the people we are standing in solidarity with, and to our movements for social justice. That, to me, is energy worth spending."

This story also raises the controversial journalistic problem of publishing the names and locations of gay-friendly venues in essentially unsafe societies. At a recent OutGames Human Rights Conference in Copenhagen this issue was discussed by journalists (including one from Helem) regarding responsible reporting of potentially risky material that puts people and places at risk. Even in relatively progressive societies, as the recent tragic killings at a gay youth center in Tel Aviv attest, 'safe havens' are only safe when they are not publicized in international media.

Beirut is not happy Provincetown; it is risky Beirut, in essentially homophobic Lebanon.
I would like to see Mr. Healy turn his journalistic hawk-eye in this direction and offer his readers a more authentic 'full-frontal view' of homosexuality in this country.

For further reading about homosexuality in a Muslim context:
GlobalGayz News & Reports
Bareed Mista3jil: A book of true-life lesbian stories (2009)
Desiring Arabs by Joseph Massad
Gay Travels in the Muslim World edited by Michael Luongo
Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East by Brian Whitaker
Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies by Arno Schmitt

(Purchases of books via these links helps support GlobalGayz.com)

Leading Spiritual Teacher in India Discusses Being Gay as it Applies to Spirituality

Copenhagen, Denmark - July 26, 2009
Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com

Many years ago, I attended a couple of seminars offered by this "guru" when he was little known. Today he is one of India's most respected spiritual teachers, and I came across an article about what he recently said about being gay.

So much has been written about homosexuality since the Delhi High Court judgment to strike down Section 377, which the British imposed on the Indian legal system in 1861. Here is what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had to say in a recent interview on the subject.

Question: The new Pontificate (Vatican) is expected to take a rigid stance on issues like those of gay relationships. What do ancient scriptures say about these matter?

Guruji: As far as the ancient scripture is concerned, there is neither mention nor prohibition of it. One thing the ancient scriptures say, as far as I know is that every human being is made up of both Mother and Father - half-female, half-male. The male tendency may be dominant; sometimes the female tendency may be dominant. It is a biological phenomenon. So if people are bound to have sunch tendencies, they should acknowledge it.

Question: Are you approving of gay marriages? Would you conduct gay marraiges?

Answer: Conducting marriages is not part of spirituality at all. It is a religious thing. Spirituality simply makes you aware that you are spirit and it uplifts you from all tendencies, whether you are for, or against, or paranoid about the sexuality of other people. All this is not concerned with spirituality. Spirituality makes you realize that you are not just flesh. You are light. So there is a gender equality in spirituality. Religion will not give you gender equality, whereas in spirituality, whether you are a mother, or father, it doesn't matter - you are equal.

Question: But here we are not talking about parenthood.

Answer: I am talking about the male and female tendencies in a person. Depending on whatever tendencies are strongest in the system, biologically, this will accordingly reflect in one's life and sexuality. So, I think, one should see that one is not just flesh because it's a temporary thing. Tendencies are temporary, but the spirit is much more than tendencies. You are the spirit, which is all light, all love, wisdom and knowledge. Your identification must shift from gender to spirit... and this is exactly what spirituality means - to rise above the tendencies that are impermanent.

We have seen that many straight people "get" gay tendencies, sometimes... and this creates fear in them. They are so scared about what is happening to them. When they start meditating, they rise above this, and become natural and loving. Even people, who brand themselves as being gay, suddenly find themselves being attracted to opposite sex... and it creates big confusion. This is why I say that you should not label yourself. You are much more than your tendencies. You are the beautiful spirit, and if that is also a label, it is better to have this label, than any other.

As a gay person, this is lovely to read. But it certainly is not new insight. Living inside the skin and spirit of the gay psyche, virtually all LGBT people feel the essential "purity" of their sentient self. (I'm not talking about closeted or self-hating homosexuals who deny their truth.) Different as our sexual orientation may be from the majority of people, we are not living in any "separate reality". We are all far more similar than different as human beings. What Guru Shankar is talking about is human essence, not human psychology or human behavior.

When we allow our minds to go into a higher level of awareness, sexual orientation becomes irrelevant. Ram Dass spoke about the experience of coming from a higher plain of awareness as well. Using tantric yoga breathing techniques infuses the body with an energy that offers a lighter view of sexuality that is neither maleness or femaleness. It is "is-ness", and I think this is what Shankar is talking about, not carnal issues or gay identity or sexual orientation.

Jordanian Publisher Puts Muslim Gays at Risk with Botched Book Title Translation

Westhampton, MA - July 12, 2009
Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com

Gay Muslim book translates into possible trouble. GlobalGayz protests "perverted" book title used for Arab translation of book about gay Muslims

Today's New York Post carried the following story about the newly published book Gay Travels in the Muslim World. The book is a collection of articles by traveled writers familiar with homosexuality in the world of Islam. It was edited by veteran journalist Michael Luongo of New York. It seems that the Jordanian publisher that put out the Arab-language translation used an old Arabic word that translates into "pervert", which was once commonly used to describe gay people. Considering that there is already a pervasive and largely hostile attitude about gays in Muslim countries, this is bound to make life MORE difficult for gay people in these countries.

GlobalGayz writer and owner Richard Ammon contributed a chapter to this book, based on the tragic experience of a friend's murder in Morocco. Ammon met the deceased, George Waldo, several years ago and interviewed him for story about gay life in Morocco. (See Gay Morocco story)

In Gay Travels in the Muslim World, the violent incident is described in its various complexities of culture, sexuality, money, religion, fantasy and betrayal.

Said Ammon, "It is doubly regretful for me to have this book, an honest testimony of gay Muslim life, have its title mistranslated with the use of a pejorative term that demeans gays. It is regretful that we have come so far in the struggle for gay rights and recognition only to be publicly smeared by a single unaware Jordanian publisher. It's doubly regretful that a dear friend and sophisticated gentleman's life be included in such an unjustly labeled book. George deserves much better than this."

Luongo said he has protested the mis-title and demanded a more modern and accurate title be used.

Read the complete New York Post story here.

Gays in the military: we are here and queer - get over it!

Westhampton, MA - July 12, 2009
Richard Ammon, GlobalGayz.com

US Secretary of Defense Gates said yesterday one possible modification to "Don't Ask Don't Tell" might be to consider the circumstances under which a service member is 'outed' in determining whether or not he or she must leave the military.

Gates offered as an example, "When we're given information from someone with vengeance in mind or blackmail, somebody who has been jilted. If somebody is outed by a third party, does that force us to take action?" he said. "That's the kind of thing we're looking at - seeing if there's a more humane way to apply the law until it gets changed."

For chrissake when will we grow up!? Parsing a blatantly vicious and discriminatory policy does nothing to change it. You can't partially suture up a gaping wound that bleeding. Highly skilled service people are being ripped from their careers this minute and they deserve better than a bigoted prejudicial reason for their discharge.

Dan Choi, a native of California and an Army Lieutenant (photo right), was dismissed from his commission last week. This is a immoral crime and an offense to all manner of integrity. It makes a mockery of our posturing about democratic rule of law and freedom and liberty.

What do Israel, Denmark, Holland, France, UK and other EU countries, who let gays serve in the military, know that we don't? Probably the simple truth that it doesn't matter. Sexual orientation is not an issue in the armed services of any country. Competence and loyalty matter most.

Unbelievable for modern progressive times, the top brass and congress absurdly let freakish religious homophobia influence military decision making. What next--chariots of fire instead of humvees?!

There are rare intelligent exceptions, however, as one fortunate "outed" gay soldier wrote, "They could have kicked me out when someone told. But my commanders weighed loss to the service against the benefit of me staying. They gave me a chance and I gave them everything I had. I served with pride not prejudice."

This fine testimony gives the hypocritical lie to the DADT policy: thousands of LGB (T?) people are serving (secretly) in the armed forces at this very moment--from high ranking Navy Admirals to new Air Force recruits. Is unit cohesion disturbed? Is 'homosexual recruiting' going on? Are the showers a risky place? Is there sneaky activity in the bunks at night? Are gay personnel flirting with battalion leaders?

How ridiculous even to ask. What sensible volunteer military person is going to risk their career and reputation on inappropriate behavior--gay or straight. The hysterical knee-jerk homophobic thought that went into making the DADT policy, based on ignorant stereotypical thinking, is far removed from reality. Gay men and women officers have as much integrity and self-respect and self-discipline as any straight officer to conduct their professional and personal lives in a proper manner. Gay and lesbian recruits are no different: they are in the service to serve not to cruise.

And I must add, from my personal experience across several decades of observing humanity, that, far from the typical straight presumption that we gay men are out to seduce every child, boy and man--I find that 98% of other males on this planet are decidedly NOT appealing to my eye and do not merit a second look. It's no different in military life. Do straight congressmen find every woman attractive? Again, it's ridiculous to ask. So wake up to the truth about gays and reflect it in military policy.

Call President Obama and Secretary Gates and let them know how you feel on the issue. The time for positive change is NOW.

Pentagon Communications Office: 703-428-0711

White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111