A group of Arabic-speaking LGBTQ activists from the Middle East and North Africa are speaking out in a brave new PSA titled “No Longer Alone.” They want to take control of their own narratives and show the world that they are more than victims.
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“We don’t want the image anymore of just being victims,” says Zoheir, a gay activist from Algeria. “We want to speak about reality, speak about violence, but also to [show what is] positive.”
Many of the people featured in the PSA live in countries where homosexuality is not just illegal, but, in places such as Egypt, they could face severe punishment from authorities for their sexuality.
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“Religious figures, the government, your parents–they all want to have a say in what you do,” says Rima, a bisexual from Lebanon. “I want to tell you it’s none of their business and that your body, your desires, and your ideas are yours alone.”
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According to Human Rights Watch and the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, which collaborated to produce the video, the activists are “defying state-sponsored repression and social stigma” to share their stories.
So proud of everyone involved in this video. Strength and solidarity ? https://t.co/99MnzH7Sc3
— Elias Jahshan (@Elias_Jahshan) April 17, 2018
Human Rights Watch says it hopes the PSA will empower young LGBTQ people around the world to not only fight for their rights, but to also access the support of organizations and activists in their regions.
Watch.
Related: Arab man talks about being fetishized for his race and for being a refugee
Vince
As long as they don’t say Muslim.
BCbreeze
Funny cause it’s true, lol
Kangol
I appreciate that they are speaking out. But are they criticizing their country’s governments? Or radical Islam? Or both? It’s unclear. Also, not all Arabs are Muslim; some are Christian (Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Iraqi Christians, etc.), Jewish (yes–believe it), etc. And the countries with the largest Muslim populations are Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria, none of which are predominantly Arab. Indonesia doesn’t federally criminalize same-sexual behavior (it was a Dutch colony), but all the others do (they were British colonies). I seems like something is missing from this article.
CastleSF
I appreciate your knowledge on the Muslim countries. For some reason I thought Indonesia is a Christian country and Buddhism is the main religion in Bangladesh.
DCguy
@Kangol
Except that the article stated clearly that this was a group of Arab men from the Middle east and North Africa. It didn’t say they were forming some group active in all Muslim countries.
kafir
Bill to criminalize gays in all parts of indonesia is before parliament and has backing of all parties , will soon be passed . Its not just ex British colonies its all so muslim countries .
mhoffman953
I have a feeling that this video is blocked in Muslim majority nations
Vince
I imagine it would for their own safety.
checkresults93
I just read your post and it is awesome and readability is cool.
Dubr1988
It is so Brave..
DCguy
Wow, so these people are brave, facing attacks, arrest, and maybe death, but we still get the anti-lgbt accounts on here that try to deflect the topic off of their bravery to use as an attack on “Those Muslims”.
I also think it’s funny that the SAME accounts that pretend to be so concerned with how strict Islamic governments treat lgbts NEVER seem to do anything but defend and excuse Mike Pence, NOM, the Family Research Council or ANY other non-Muslim group that attacks us.
Ohhhhh, right, because you AREN’T here to talk about LGBT issues, you’re here to defend bigotry and bigots as long as they are white and Christian.
As for these men. So brave, we had Stonewall, the Mattachine society, the Prop8 battle, etc… this is the path they are forging in their countries, and as we now have a Republican government that wants to roll back our protections we should be grateful for their bravery in standing up to the hate, bigotry, and violence where they are!
Vince
You cannot talk about Arab gays and not have a conversation about Muslims there too. Yes. Christians aren’t much better but at least they’re not actively trying to kill you.
sydboy007
Very brave what they’ve done. Sad it’s needed. Sadder still show flames in the West are crying about micro aggressions when there’s tens of millions of non straight people living in countries that happily torture, publicly cane and flog, murder non straights.
If you want to see what true systemic institutionalised racism / sexism / religious intolerance looks like, just pop over to your friendly Arab country.