1. Could you tell us about yourself and the work of your organisation?
My name is Tarek Zeidan and I am the Executive Director of Helem, the first LGBTQ rights organisation in the Arab world founded in Beirut, Lebanon in 2001. Our mission is to lead a peaceful struggle for the liberation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Intersex, Transgendered, Queer (LGBTIQ+) and other persons with non-conforming sexualities and/or gender identities in Lebanon and the MENA region from all sorts of violations of their individual and collective civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.
“Our mission is to lead a peaceful struggle for the liberation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Intersex, Transgendered, Queer (LGBTIQ+) and other persons.”
-Tarek, Helem
2. Can you point to some key moments or people that have influenced LGBTQI history in your region?
The history of the LGBTQ community and its contribution to the rich tapestry of Arab and MENA history has largely been compromised by entrenched homophobic and transphobic attitudes that have risen sharply in modern history and particularly in the aftermath of the fall of the Ottoman Empire with the advent of colonialism, imperialism, and the rise of religious fundamentalism. Much of that history is purposefully obscured and not enough academic or empirical research is dedicated to unearth the legacy of the past.
However, in more contemporary times, there have been multiple individuals whose stories have risen to be celebrated and revered by queer communities in the region. Some of the most impactful individuals in this regard include Hanan El Tawil (1966-2004), the first ever openly transgender Arab actress on the Egyptian screen, Etel Adnan (1925-2021) and Rabih Alameddine (1959-) two openly gay Lebanese American authors whose poetry and novels chronicled the queer Arab experience.
“The history of the LGBTQ community and its contribution to the rich tapestry of Arab and MENA history has largely been compromised by entrenched homophobic and transphobic attitudes that have risen sharply in modern history.”
– Tarek, Helem
However, the modern LGBTQ rights movement was also heavily influenced by landmark events such as the Egyptian Queen Boat incident, also known as the Cairo 52, which was the first high profile arrest and torture of 52 gay men on a boat in the Nile River, initiating severe global backlash and influencing the first known formal mobilisations of queer communities in the region, most notably in Beirut where the incident was a determining factor in the establishment of Helem.
Another notable incident involved the public coming out of Hamed Sinno, the lead singer of the popular Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila whose concert in Egypt in 2017 led to the largest wave of LGBTQ persecution in modern Arab history. Concert goers waved the rainbow flag which triggered immediate government backlash and led to multiple arrests as well as the intensified vilification of LGBTQ Egyptians in the eyes of the media and the public. One of those concert goers was activist Sara Hegazi who was arrested, tortured, and exiled from Egypt to Canada. Sara committed suicide in 2020, in large part due to the violence and mistreatment she had experienced in Egypt, and her death sparked a region-wide conversation and confrontation on social media propelling the issue of LGBTQ rights further into the mainstream.
Finally, the Lebanese Revolution of 2019 was also a landmark moment in the history of the movement as it featured unprecedented levels of queer Lebanese mobilisation, visibility, and leadership in the protests which raged for almost half a year and constituted the first ever mass public gathering of LGBTQ individuals calling for equality and liberation.
“It is extremely important to be aware of the different estuaries of the global LGBTQ rights movement because many of our social, economic, and cultural contexts share a similar history.”
-Tarek, Helem
3. Why is it important to learn about LGBTQI history from other regions globally?
It is extremely important to be aware of the different estuaries of the global LGBTQ rights movement because many of our social, economic, and cultural contexts share a similar history and many of us activists working on the ground are fighting against the very same injustices and inequalities. The sharing of resources, insight, strategy, and solidarity is key in us being able to utilise international solutions to local problems and vice versa. The effective use of boomerang effects, public mobilisation, emergency support, and shared public narratives is key to not only keeping activists effective but in many cases, keeping them alive.
It is also important that each region and each country or people have a unique and rich queer history which has been lost, and therefore it is assumed that queer history must have begun with certain events and individuals that have received the most visibility and attention – when in fact there have been pioneering heroes and lost histories that have opened the door for modern progress. This is especially true for countries in the global south whose queer history was buried under the attempted social and cultural re-engineering of colonial powers who actively sought to eradicate sexual and gender diversity under the banner of moral and religious dogmas. If we do not know where we came from, we cannot expect to know where to go.
4. From the history in your region, what are some key lessons that can be applied to future generations of LGBTQI people?
It is crucial for future generations of queer people to know that it was not always this way, that history hides in its chapters a time and space where we thrived and were an intrinsic part of the fabric of our societies and made immeasurable contributions to art, literature, and science as both creator and subject. Perhaps the most important lesson is to remember that history is cyclical not linear, and that what happened before shall happen again. This is a comforting lesson for us who are working to re-establish our presence in contemporary society with full equality and dignity, but it is also a stark reminder that we can never ever put our suitcase down and declare mission accomplished. As intensely as we have fought for our hard-earned rights, we must remember that there will always be someone who will try to take them away. Constant struggle is the only thing that keeps us free.