Visitors to Lebanon talk about a gay culture but what most of them see is just gay consumerism

By Diamond Walid:
guardian.co.uk, Monday 31 August 2009 14.00 BST

Beirut has been labelled the Paris, sometimes the Switzerland, of the Middle East. According to one recent New York Times article, it is now the region's Provincetown (the Cape Cod resort favoured by gay visitors). This ever-changing city seems to have become a mirror where people project their own fantasies.

In an article in the New York Times on August 2, 2009, entitled "Beirut, Provincetown of the Middle East," Patrick Healy details his personal encounters and experiences during a trip to Beirut. In this travel-style article, Healy not only narrates his endeavors in what he baptized the "party-capital of the Middle East," but also makes conclusions that incensed gays and gay rights activists in Beirut.

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.

he Advocate- Haneen Maikey, Jason Ritchie

On January 28, little more than a week after Israel concluded its brutal military campaign against the Gaza Strip, James Kirchick published the latest installment (www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid71844.asp) in his growing corpus of articles about tolerant, gay-friendly Israel and homophobic, "Islamofascist" Palestine. Although Kirchick has published essentially the same article under different titles -- "Palestine and Gay Rights" (www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid33587.asp) and "Palestinian Anti-Gay Atrocities Need Attention" (www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Op&article_code=783) -- and although he regurgitates the same flimsy, unsupported arguments in all of these articles, we do not write to question his intellectual prowess or journalistic qualifications. In fact, Kirchick’s diatribe against Palestinians and the "radical" gay activists who support them would not warrant a response if it did not, in our view, represent something much bigger and more dangerous.

by Cary Alan Johnson

Despite the global recession, the U.S. is promoting and aggressively selling a costly product overseas: homophobia. Uganda, one of America's closest partners in Africa, is currently home to vicious and violent attacks on its citizens based solely on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The high cost in terms of individual privacy and freedom of expression is mounting daily. Regrettably, much of the inspiration and call for these attacks is coming directly from these shores.

by Michael K. Lavers
National News Editor
Wednesday Apr 1, 2009

Gay Lebanese activist Georges Azzi never thought he would see the day a government official or entity would publicly call for the decriminalization of homosexuality. Yet the Lebanese Ministry of Health did just that late last year.

"Everything is possible," Azzi told EDGE in a recent interview. "If it’s possible in Lebanon, its possible anywhere."

Written By: Madian al Jazerah, co-owner of Books@Cafe

This is about where we stand in hypocrisy and bigotry…and where we will be if we remain quiet.

Books@Cafe and many other establishments have been closed this week. Here is what I witnessed and what happened to us at Books@Cafe:

The night before Ramadan, the police violently stormed into the café and asked us to close down. “This is the holy month of Ramadan!” they barked. Since we are officially licensed and they could provide no official papers, we refused to close.

The 23rd world conference of the International lesbian and gay association (ILGA), who fights for the recognition of LGBT rights in the whole world started last Thursday 30th of March, and will be held until Monday April 3rd at the international center of conferences of Geneva.