Showing posts with label Activism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Activism. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2012

Someone had to say it. You can read the original post on CLDH facebook group in English or Arabic
Press release (I received it by email)
We are all Ali Mahfouz!

On March 8, 2012, the LBCI television channel broadcast shocking footage of the young Ethiopian woman, Alem Dechasa-Desisa, as she lays on the ground in front of her country's embassy, weeping and saying that she does not want to return to Ethiopia. A man is then filmed dragging her forcefully into a car. We later learned that the woman in question had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and that Ali Mahfouz, her employer, had been charged. Finally, we learned that she had committed suicide on March 14 by hanging herself.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

عن خطورة "تسييح" القضية

Original link


عن خطورة "تسييح" القضية

بعد أسبوع من هلّق بيوصلوا جماعة إيغلتا للبنان. وقبل ما نحكي عن أسباب امتعاضنا من الحدث خلّينا نقول، ومن كل كل كل قلبنا، ١٠٠ أهلا وسهلا بكل واحد من إيغلتا. طول عمرنا منستقبل ناس من مجموعاتنا ولّا مش من مجموعاتنا لمّا يجوا عالبلد، ومنرحّب فيُن كضيوف وأهل البيت بالتبنّي. والله والله ما عنّا مشكلة معن ولا مع رغبتن إنن يعملوا سياحة وينبسطوا ويحبّوا وينحبّوا ويعيشوا ويصرفوا المصاري اللّي مطلعينن من عرق جبينن.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Crossposting: عن الذاكرة الذكورية والنسوية الحلزونية

 Brief: Even while talking about women's rights and feminism in the Arab world, we only mention/remember names of men, even though there were many women whose works are worth remembering

“لماذا عندما نتحدث عن حركات الإصلاح الفكرية، خاصة تلك التي تتعلق بتحرير المرأة، لا يكاد يتبادر إلى ذهننا إلاّ محمد عبده، قاسم أمين، الطاهر الحداد، لطفي السيد، والأفغاني، وغيرهم..”

هيك بتفتتح حياة الرايس مقالها “هل الذاكرة العربية ذاكرة ذكورية؟” المنشور بأوّل نيسان عام ٢٠٠١ بجريدة الشرق الأوسط، وهلّق بعد مرور ٩ سنين على نشر المقال، بعده صحيح بشكل موجع.

بمقالتها، بتطرح حياة أسامي لنسويات ما حدا سامع فيهن. أنا صراحة كتير أثار فيي هالمقال الرغبة بإنّو إشتري وإقرا كتابات هالنساء اللّي كتبوا تاريخي من زمان وبحياتي ما قدرت أوصلن، تاريخي أنا، هينة أوصل لكتب نسوية غربية، سيمون دو بوفوار مثلاً مشهورة. وحتّى إنّو أنا شخصياً بفتّش على التعبير الأدبي عن هويتي بكتب توني موريسن وأنجلا دايفس وأليس والكر وغيرن من النساء الأفريقيات الأميريكيات اللّي بيكتبوا عن المرا والتمييز الجندري/الطبقي، وعن التاريخ المسروق والهوية المتفككة وأهميّة الذكرى.

بس، للأسف بيصعب عليّي لاقي كتب ومقاطع أدبية بقلم نساء عربيات عن النساء العربيات. واللّي بينكتب عن الثقافة العربية الشمولية (بمعنى اللّي ما بتستثني النساء) بيجي بإطار تقارير مترجمة ومقالات إخبارية عن مرا انقتلت أو زوجة تطلّقت وإلى ما هنالك.

والأسوأ من هالخرف الأدبي الثقافي هوّي إنّو لمّا بتطلع على المنشورات النسوية/النسائية، ان كانت من ١٠ سنين ولّا من ١٥٠ سنة (عائشة التيمورية مثلاً عاشت من الـ١٨٤٠ للـ١٩٠٢)، بحس كأنّو عم بئرا عن نفس المجتمع، عن الجدل القائم بين ضرورة إحترام حكمة الله من خلال الرضوخ للإذلال ولّا  إحترام حكمة الله بإجلال المرأة، يلّي خلقها الله وظلمها الإنسان. أوقات حتّى بحس إنّو النسوية العربية بعدها بنت زغيرة قاعدة عالشط وناطرة تكبر وتبلغ، وبالـ١٠٠ سنة اللّي قطعوا ما كبرت.

فاليوم، ومن هالمنبر الكريم بدعي كل الأخوات ونفسي، لنستحصل ونقرا ونتناقل ونناقش كل الكتب المكتوبة من قبل نساء ونسويات عربيات كتبوا بالعربي عن المجتمع العربي، بدءاً من:
عائشة التيمورية
ملك حفني
هدى شعراوي
سهير القلماوي
مي زيادة
نبوية موسى
وردة اليازجي
زينب فواز
نظيرة زين الدين


مين بعد؟

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Crossposting - وقفت غلامة وقالت

Brief: On how discussing Gay Rights should not include the discussion of personal life, sexual practices or psychological history of LGBT individuals. This post was inspired by an incident which took place during a cultural exchange program in which I participated. From: وقفت غلامة وقالت


غلامة راحت مشوار برات البلد بسياق برنامج تبادل ثقافي، بالرغم من تحفظاتها على مبادرات التبادل الثقافي والمؤتمرات الشبابية، حملت غلامة غلمنتها وراحت تشوف بلاد الله الواسعة.

وبالرغم من غايدار غلامة الرديء، لاحظت من اليوم الأوّل إنها مش الإنسانة الوحيدة ذات الميول و/أو الهوية غير التقليدية. طبيعي، نحنا جزء لا يتجزأ من المجتمع الصحي. بس الفرق ما بين غلامة وسائر ذوي/ات الهوية والميول غير التقليدية بهالمؤتمر، كان إنها الوحيدة اللي فعلياً دخلت عالم المناصرة من باب الحرية الجندرية والجنسية.

بس مش هيدا هوي الموضوع، الموضوع  هوي إنّو بنهار كان في محاضرة عن حقوق الإنسان وشموليتها، وكان  النشاط إنّو نتقسّم لمجموعات وكل مجموعة بتحصل على مقال بيناقش جانب من جوانب حقوق الإنسان. المجموعة تبعنا حصلت على مقال بيناقش ديباجة الحجاب بأوروبا. بس كان في مجموعتان طلعلهن مقال عن القس السويدي اللي قال إنّو المثليين سرطان عم  يتفشّى بالمجتمع (بوقتها هيدا القسّ انجرّ عالمحكمة بتهمة الدعوة للعنف). بالتالي، النقاش بالمبدأ كان مفروض يكون عن ما إذا كان التصريح دعوة للعنف ولّا ممارسة مشروعة لحريّة التعبير.

لمّا إجا وقت العرض، يعني لمّا كل مجموعة بتعرض للبقية نتائج الحوار الداخلي، تفاجأت لمّا سمعت إنّو حصيلة الحوار بالفريق الأوّل كان  إنّو بتفرق إذا كانت “الحالة” “مسيّرة” أو “مخيّرة”، بمعنى إنّو في فرق إذا الإنسان اختار يكون مثلي يمّا إذا كانت هيدي طبيعته اللي ما ممكن يغيّرا!

أمّا الفريق التاني، وهون العزّ والرزّ،  فكانت حصيلة مناقشاته إنّو هنّي ما عندن مشكل مع “هودي العالم”، بالنهاية، “أنا عندي كتير رفقة غايز ولزبيانز. بس ما بدّي إبني يشوف شبّين عم بيبوسوا بعض بالشارع”. بطبيعة الحال حسّيت بالإهانة، مش أوّل مرّا بواجه هيك موقف بس كل مرّا بحسّا متل أوّل مرّا.

ما تنسوا إنّو غلامة مش مثلية، غلامة شاذة، غلامة فيها تكون مع شب، بشرط هيدا الشب ما يعاملها على إنّها بنت، وبالتالي غلامة “مخيّرة” ومش “مسيّرة”. من ناحية تانية غلامة ما دخلت غمار النشاط والمناصرة كرمال تحصل على الحق بممارسة الجنس مع بنت تانية بالسّر، بعيد عن نظرات الناس اللي ما بتحب تشوف شبّين عم بيبوسوا بعض.
والفكرة مش بس إنّو أنا شخصياً عندي مشكلة بالحديث اللّي صار ولكن أيضاً، إذا بتطلّعوا على تاريخ الحركة المثلية حول العالم بتلاقوا إنّو بمعظم الأحيان المثليين بينحبسوا بالأدوار اللي بيعتبروها الأكتر قبولاً بالمجتمع. منلاقي مثلاً إنّو الحركة المثلية البيضا صارعت لعقود ت تبرهن إنّو الإنسان بيخلق مثلي. وبعدهن لهلّق مرضى رهاب المثلية مش مصدقين ومصرّين إنّو الواحد بيصير مثلي لأنّو حدا اعتدى عليه ع زغر، أو من ورا المخدرات، أو التلفزيون، أو بسبب الخجل المفترض، وأكيد دايماً في شي من البعد عن الله اللي بيخلّينا “نعمل بحالنا هيك”.

أكيد ما فينا ننكر إنّو المثليين البيض قطعوا شوط كبير بصراعهن. بس المشكلة إنن أسّسوا لشبه تقبّل للمثلية كـ”حالة” (ت ما نقول مرض) ما ممكن تتغيّر، وما بتعدي (إجمالاً). ومع إنّو في نسبة كبيرة من المثليين بينطبق عليهن هيدا الوصف للمثلية، في كتير ناس غير. في كتير ناس مزدوجي الجنس، وفي ناس ترانس، وفي ناس ما عرفوا عن عدم مطابقة ميولهن وهويّتن للقوالب الإجتماعية إلا ع كبر.

من ناحية تانية، صحيح إنّو انخفضت بشكل كبير نسبة الناس اللي ممكن تقتل مثلي، أو تطردوا من وظيفته، الخ. بس بعدو الجزء الأكبر من المجتمع (إن كان مغاير ولّا مثلي ولّا ترانس)، بيعتبر عدم مطابقة القوالب الإجتماعية كوضع غير مستحب. ما منحب ولادنا تكون لا مثلية ولا متحوّلة، إذا شي ما بقا نضربن ت يطابقوا القوالب الإجتماعية، بس برضو، إذا فينا نتجنّب هل الكأس المرّة منتمنّى. بدليل إنّو بالولايات المتحدة، بكاليفورنيا بشكل خاص، لمّا صار في استفتاء على موضوع حق المثليين بالزواج والتبنّي، كان الجواب “لأ”.

أنا ما بدّعي إنّو أنا اللّي بعرف شو غلطة المثليين البيض، ولا بدّعي إنّو عندي الحل. كل اللّي بعرفوا إنّو لازم نجرّب استراتيجية غير “تشفّي رضى المغايرين”. برأيي، لمّا نحكي عن حقوق المثليين لازم نرفض نناقش نظرية “الطبيعة”، أو “الدّين”، أو حتى “اللياقة الإجتماعية”، بدنا نكون حازمين إنّو حقوقنا ما بتتغيّر بغض النظر عن الهوية، الميول والثقافة. ولمّا أيّ شخص بدو يناقشني عن المثلية برفض إنّو يتم ذكر كيف وليش بحس اللي بحسه، أو بنجذب للّي بنجذبله/ا.
أنا إنسانة بلبنان، حروب لبنان بتعلق فوق راسي وضرايب لبنان بدفعها متلي متل غيري، ما حدا بيناقش أهلية اللبنانيي المغايرين على تربية ولادن، ما حدا بيناقش صحّة ممارساتهن الجنسية. ليش أنا بدّن يشرّحوا حياتي ومشاعري وتاريخي ودرجة طبيعيتي وعلاقتي بالله، كل ما بدّن يناقشوا حقوقي الإنسانية؟

هيدا اللّي كنت حابّة قولوا بهيدي المحاضرة، بس الوقت ما سمحلنا، لأنّو ما كان معنا وقت نناقش استنتاجات الفرق الأخرى. وبالفعل، اللي كنت خايفة منه صار، حس بعض العالم (المغايرين عفكرة) بالإهانة لمّا سمعوا تصريحات الفريق التاني، ونظراً لضيق الوقت وقلّة براعتهن النقاشية، صاروا يعيّطوا بوجّ ممثّلة الفريق التاني (يلّي كانت بكل بساطة عم تنقل الأفكار اللي طرحت أثناء النقاش)، واتهموها بالعنصرية والهوموفوبيا. وبطبيعة الحال، كانت ردة فعلها دفاعية وقالتلهن “إي أنا عنصرية، شو إلكن معي؟”

طيّب شو العمل يا غلامة؟ غلامة قرّرت تحط النقط عالحروف. حضّرت خطابها باللّيل وكتبت على ورقة زغيرة الإشيا اللي بتعتبرن حقوقها الإنسانية الطبيعية وهي كالتالي:

الحق بالوجود
الحق بالحياة
الحق بالإحترام
الحق بالخصوصية
الحق بالإيمان
الحق بالزواج
الحق بتربية الأطفال

وتاني يوم الصبح طلبت الحق بالكلام أمام المجموعة كلّا سوا. قلتلّن إنّو بعتبر الحديث اللّي صار مبارح كان مرفوض، وحتّى إنّو كان دعوة للعنف، لأنّو تكفير الإنسان (إعتبار إنّو هويته أو ميوله أو ممارساته منافية لقوانين الله) هوي نوع من أنواع حل الدّم وإباحة القتل. وشرحتلّن إنّو لمّا بيحكوا عن “هيدولي الناس” بيكونوا عم يحكوا عنّي أنا، أنا من “هيدولي الناس”. ووضّحتلّهن إنّو لمّا بدّن يناقشوا حقوقي الإنسانية مش مقبولة إنّن يناقشوا جنسانيتي أو درجة طبيعيتي أو علاقتي بالله. وبالنهاية دعيت أي شخص بيحب يناقش أي حق من حقوقي الطبيعية إنّو يجي يحكيني بالموضوع من عشية.

متل العادة غلامة كانت مفتكرة إنّو كل الناس كانت عارفة إنّها شاذة، بس لأ، كان في ناس ما لاحظوا.
هلّق أكيد أنا توقّعت بعض العالم ما تعجبن الفكرة، وبالفعل الشخص الوحيد يلّي عن جد ما حب الفكرة كان شب كان إلو يومين عم يعبطني بالقوة ويوشوشني إنّو هوي كتير بيحبني ويسألني شو رأيي بفكرة “الحب والغرام” بيناتنا. هيدا الشخص صار شوي عدائي معي وبعدين كفّى عم يطحش عليي متل العادة.

بس من ناحية تانية كان في كتير مفاجآت إيجابية، هيدي المواجهة مثلاً فتحت المجال لعدد من العالم يجوا يحكوني ويسألوني أسئلة حشرية. في شب محافظ مثلاً قلّي بكل بساطة إنّو أنا أوّل شخص أل جي بي تي بيتعرّف عليه، وإنّو كتير بيهنّيني على شجاعتي وكتير بيحبني. وبناءً على هالحديث حكاني أحد المثليين بالمؤتمر عن حاله، وعن صعوبة حياته ببلده، وكيف ما عنده أصدقاء مثليين.

أكيد أنا حسّيت حالي غلط، عادة أنا بتجنّب إحكي عن مثليتي بالمؤتمرات ت ما صير ممثّلة المثلية العربية، بالنهاية أنا ما بمثّل إلّا نفسي، وأصلاً أوقات بتمنّى لو الناس بتشوفني كإنسانة، فقط لا غير. بس ما بندم إنّي وقفت وقلت اللّي قلته، في ناس قالولي إنّو كتير كنت عدائية، ويمكن معهن حق، بس بصراحة لو لقيت حالي بنفس الموقف مرّة تانية، ما بغيّر ولا كلمة قلتها، أنا عندي حق ومش رح إترجّا العالم تحبني!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Specially designed office for "Servants' sale"

In my daily search for an apartment in Beirut I come across the weirdest shit ever. But just when you think that you've seen it all already, there is always something more...


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Crossposting - السوق “المثلي”: أموالنا مقابل ماذا؟

Originally posted in Bekhsoos


مش كل مين أخد أمي صرنا نقلّه عمّي، ومش كل مين بني مصلحته على مصريات المثليين صار مقام لمثلية أو محب للمثليين. وانما بظل الظروف الاجتماعية الصعبة اللي بيعيشها المثليين كثار مستعدين يدفعوا اللي فوقن واللي تحتن تيشتريوا وهم القبول. واللي بيزيد الطين بلّة، التواطؤ الحكومي.
أولا في الترانسفوبيا بالاماكن المثلية او القابلة للمثلية، بالنهاية المراة الترانس بتروح على مطارح ما بيروح عليها المثليين/ات، والاماكن المثلية بتفتش على حجة تتشحط النساء الترانس. ليش؟ إذا منشوف قشور الموضوع منقول انو النساء الترانس عندن صيت انن لما بيضهروا بيكونوا رايحين يلقّطوا زبونات.


Saturday, April 17, 2010

A Tad Bit More Lebanese Racism

Photocredit: Farfahinne's photostream


I was coming back from the office today... omg! the latest work updates are totally gossip material, but not in this post... so it's and the bus, taking out Maya Agelou's The Heart of Woman. And before I get the book out of my overcharged lovely backpack, I notice a scribble on the back of the seat in front of me: Don't sleep with Black you have AIDS

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I am a 24/7er are you?

I have just received the final version of the call to action for the 24/7 Campaign, which is a campaign to demand better working conditions for migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. I leave you the pleasure of reading the details in the call to action itself.

You can already see that I added the 24/7 badge to my blog, so I am a 24/7er, Yalla join us! ;)




Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Commencing Operation Cross-posting - عن الصدور النسوية و”السوتيان” الذكورية

I am sure you've all been wondering what I've been up to lately, right? no? Ok fine. To make it short, I just wanted to drop by and say that starting from today, I will make an active effort to cross-post everything I publish elsewhere, first and foremost because I don't want to leave this blog so lonely at so many occasions, but also to archive my work.

And to start, please welcome my first contribution to Bekhsoos.com: عن الصدور النسوية و”السوتيان” الذكورية

Friday, February 19, 2010

It's time for some life updates

That's what we bloggers do best, or at least we Lebanese bloggers do best... Say "sorry guys, I was too busy to blog." Most of the time, we also like to add a long list of everything that have kept us busy lately, but usually we are too busy to tell our followers that we are busy.

So I started writing at 9:57PM, February 13, 2010. I am sitting at starbucks cafe (yeah yeah, I know a true leftist elistists, Queer Lebanese should be too proud to sit at starbucks and sip her coffee... Bite me. It is valentine's eve, in other words, it's my birthday. Today I turned 25 years old. I celebrated my birthday by cleaning all day, trust me, cleaning, masturbating, cooking, drinking, and smoking are the greatest pleasures in life.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Google, Gmail, security and China

So other than the tragic earthquake last night in Haiti, I started work today with the war that Google launched against China. In fact, I first read about it in the Guardian's "Google sends a shockwave through the Chinese internet" by Charles Arthur. I was not satisfied with Arthur's analysis, so I went to one of the links provided to Google's official blog, in which they provided their position in a blogpost titled "A new approach to China." And I thought that would be it for the rest of the day, since we would have to wait for a while to see what would happen. But then, oddly enough I stumble upon another blogpost by Google, this time the Gmail blog, "Default https access to Gmail" where the giant declares that gmail correspondence will be encrypted by default from now on. Though personally I am not sure if this is whole thing is an actual war or just a Media stunt used by Google.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Three years in prison for sexual harassment in the work place

When it comes to sexual harassment, Pakistan seems to be the place to look at for lessons. Last week, the work of a group of activists finally paid off, when the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Law and Justice recommended a draft law which punishes sexual harassment in the work place with up to three years in Prison.

Sexual harassment is a global problem. No matter where you go, you will find women struggling with sexual harassment. The burden becomes easier to tolerate when women get to speak up about it. Unfortunately, women are rarely encouraged to do so, most of the time, the "don't ask, don't tell" strategy seems to be the preferred option.

Not that society doesn't know, in fact sexual harassment is such a common fact in a woman's life that parents often advise their daughters not to go around at any time, to avoid harassment, and husbands believe their wives should work only if that is a necessity, to avoid sexual harassment in the work place.

In Egypt, a pioneer study was made a few years ago, by the Egyptian Center for Women Rights. Where they surveyed 2500 women (Egyptian or not) and men in the streets. The result was a report stating that about 98% of women in Egypt have been victims of Street Harassment. Now the situation in Egypt tends to be extreme, but if you look at the situation in the rest of the Arab World (at least the Arab world that I know), it isn't any better.

No one can really tell why sexual harassment is very frequent in one area and not the other. There are certainly some obvious theories. The first argument presented by most Arabs is that "the girl's outfit was provocative. The first argument that is repeated in the west is "sexual frustration". Sometimes feminists scream "OBJECTIFICATION". Parents on the other hand, often just shake their heads "it's just the way things are, we have to deal with it". A disturbingly common answer I've heard over and over again from sexual predators (and just because the name hints that they may be an awkward minority, in fact they are the majority) is that the girl wants it, she enjoys it.

It scares me to think of all these theories. Street harassment is very complicated and difficult. But still Egyptian sisters managed to make a breakthrough by pushing mainstream media to talk about it. And now Pakistani sisters have managed to at least make the first step to introducing a law that protects from sexual harassment at work. As far as I know, that is a first for most countries in the region.

It kind of makes me dream of the day when my little Lebanon will make its breakthrough also.

Monday, July 20, 2009

International Gay and Lesbian Rights Commission Expresses Outrage at Human Rights Abuses After Military Coup

As someone involved in LGBTQ activism in a homophobic environment such as the Middle East, the issue of "International intervention" is always... well, an issue.

It is not that we don't cooperate with International organizations, or that we don't want to cooperate with others. Now some activists on controversial topics are often afraid to shake hands with internationals. It's always safer not to, just pretend that you don't know them.

And really it is the safest thing to do. After all, International LGBT organizations will not take a bullet for you. They will just wait for you to die and then lament your death or wave their american fingers in the face of your government. And then your beloved government will go giggle with your murderers (if it didn't kill you in the first place). And no, I am not exaggerating.

I always was the devil's advocate and thus, in my Lebanese LGBT community I was the one that would defend the "international aid efforts" after all we do need to cooperate with them so why not give them credit for it?

Until one day, I was cornered. I was indirectly involved with a case of un-official assylum. Lebanon does not provide political assylum to anyone (it usually usually exports war criminals to enjoy a nice asylum life in Europe). But an Arab LGBT activist was threatened with death among other things. So we, as individuals helped her leave her home to come to Lebanon and then to go somewhere else.

Of course she asked for help from "International organizations", be it organizations that specialize in LGBT rights, emergency cases, or both. They didn't move a finger. Not only did they not attempt to garantee an asylum case to some place where thugs didn't run after her to kill her. They also "ignored" our calls for financial aid to help her leave the country and get settled anywhere else.

Nothing I tell you!

That is what I know of "international help". It's more like "please die so we feast on your corpse" kind of thing. This woman's story will be forgotten, she doesn't want to be remembered though she was a pioneer in her own country and region. She will be forgotten, because she did not give "internationals" the media attention that they wanted. She preffered to save her own life instead.

A similar thing happened with the case of gays in Iraq. Reporters have been covering "heart breaking" stories about the poor effeminate iraqis that are just waiting to get kiled by virtually anyone on the streets of Iraq. And then what? Yes, of course the Human Rights Watch sent a commission their and published a report. Thank you very much, we will glue that to their corpses, right next the famous hate messages that the murderers carved on their skin.

Which brings me to the latest invention, of IGLHR's outrage that was expressed over the transphobic attacks on LGBT individuals in Honduras. Oh wow, thanks, I bet that was so painful to write, and oh so dangerous! I salute your courage, looking for people struggling for their existence in order to write reports about them that not many people read and don't inspire the few who read them to move a finger.

Wait there's more. IGLHRC even allowed themselves to preach about democracy. Of course they know who has been elected fairly and who wasn't. Ah, the label of democracy, it can justify anything. Of course, IGLHRC knows what's best, they live in a democratic world after all. We the LGBTs of third world countries wouldn't know shit about it. Even if we invented "democracy" as it is applied today a few thousand years ago, but still we are not as democratic as people writing their outrage in NYC.

Thank you very much, when we published Bareed Mistajil, you were on our minds, when we ran from one hospital to another to get treatment for those who tried to kill themselves, you were on our minds, when we organize parties to pay for someone's ticket, we'll be thinking of you, when our mothers cry their eyeballs out when we make our glorious coming outs, we'll be thinking of you. Really you make our miserable lives worth living :)

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Egypt 'torturing HIV sufferers'

I am usually very skeptical when International media is suddenly interested in the “poor Middle East’s“ suffering. I am against selective support for human causes which is in fact nothing but an international abuse of our struggle for human rights.

But I am above all against the abuse that we suffer from in our own societies, international media might be insulting in the way they take advantage of us, but our own people TORTURE and PERSECUTE us, for no reason, be it apparent or not.

But I speak of discrimination because of this case where an Egyptian guy states that he is HIV positive, a sort of social crime in our society exactly like lesbianism is, as we all know. So… notice the chain of events:
1. The police arrests him
2. Arrests the male friend that was with him
3. Handcuffs both of them 23h/day on the hospital bed
4. subjected to anal tests to "prove" their homosexual conduct (against their will)
5. beaten for refusing to sign statements written by the police
6. Two others were arrested when police found their photographs and contact numbers in the wallets of those detained
7. Then four others in November when police raided the flat of one of those being held, which had been placed under surveillance



Now the first four are being convicted of "habitual debauchery"… Which is one of several ways an Egyptians could be legally punished for being Homosexual, other pretexts may include obscenity or prostitution…

What is sad and pathetic and heart breaking is that these people, may or may not be Homosexuals, the only thing that is known for a fact is that one of them is HIV positive… A person that is not even sick but the requires and might require in future medical assistance and support, I guess being tortured and inhumanly treated will force them not only to snap out of homosexuality but also snap out of HIV, right?



Sources:

BBC News: Egypt 'torturing HIV sufferers'
PinkNews: Egypt accused of criminalising HIV positive gay men

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Thank God for the rain

I am not sure if it is just God that I should be thanking, afterall, it’s the global warming effect. Whatever it is, Lebanon has been struggling with a powerful storm, with a lot of wind and even more thunder. The reason I am thankful for this storm is that it seems to have calmed the spirits of the people burning tires and killing each other.
I bet you’ve all seen it all a million time on TV. What’s funny about it is that personally I was in a retreat, organized by IndyAct in order to put a five years plan to save the world, one way or the other… No wait WAIT! Don’t close the window just yet. You see, The retreat started on Friday and ended on Sunday.
On Friday morning I was gracefully sleeping in my bed, I planned to wake up early that day, I had a course at 10. However, at 9:55 I wake up at the sound of a powerful blast that actually pressured my ears. Taking in consideration the fact that I have miraculously never been close to any explosion, I was consumed by the frightening idea that the explosion was right next to me or something. I was shocked that my room is safe and everything. I jumped to the window in the living room to see where the explosion came from. I certainly didn’t jump to the bedroom’s window cause that one gives a view on the Dahieh, no explosion ever takes place there.
What I see is a column of smoke going up. It was obviously not as close as I had feared, I took a couple of picture for memory purposes! Then the news came on TV and that’s when I really started to get scared. My whole family uses that road to go to work, including my father, two of my uncles, and three of my cousins, not to mention my dad’s cousin! Slowly I was ensured that they were all ok!
A few hours later I was in a small residence in a touristic area. And peace reigned for 48 hours, then in the final meeting on Sunday I get a call from my ex, she’s panicking begging me not to go home to Beirut and go instead to jounieh. She was yelling at me telling me my hometown is in turmoil or something. And before I hung up I receive another call from another close friend of mine repeating the same shit! Then it was my uncle’s turn and the whole family. By the time we were done with the meeting we turned the TV on and no shock was waiting for us. Just a bunch of young men acting like total jerks, burning tires and running around riding small mobilettes…
Then there were shooting and then there were chaos…

Friday, January 04, 2008

October, November, December … and January the come back

October, November, December … and January the come back
As it is the case everytime I disappear, though I never intend to disappear in the first place, I do have a lot going on with my life. Yes on October the winter depression did come back and it’s been difficult to shake it off. But that’s not all, my social life has been more active, and again that’s not all. By the start of this year I broke my dating hymen and dated for the first time in my life! Don’t ask me for details, all I can say is that it was a very happy phase of my life but it is over now and I don’t want to talk about it. Meeming (that’s the verb deriving from meem) has been going very well, we celebrated our first year anniversary and we have many plans. My lab plan didn’t take off yet, because the more I know, the more I know I am lacking, now I am focused on studying how to commercialize and advertize my plan. Plus I need to narrow my project to a very concrete level… Still a lot of brainstorming to do!
But I missed writing not that I wasn’t writing anything. So starting today I will link on this blog everything I write anywhere else on the web and just to keep you folks updated, I have written a few things on the meem blog:

Plus there are entries from all the girls, from all styles and with all sorts of talk… Check them out they are interesting. Et merci Nomade pour avoir pris le temps de le voir. And to avoid any misunderstanding the comments are monitored by the lady in charge of the blog, Shant, any comment is welcome but the first time a person makes a comment, it won’t appear till Shant approves the IP address of the author. So it might take some time.’
Other than this I have been working on a new website: Biologus. It has been a long time I have been working on it, but didn’t have the time to properly take care of it, it’s still under construction, and I will also gradually move some of my science work posted here to that website, the point of the website is to be… a website! Not a blog, in addition to the fact that I have the intention to put its address on my CV so I want to work on it to gradually turn it into a professional website. SO far I have uploaded five articles to it:

Let me see… what else has happened? Well two of my articles have been published in the Beirut Marathon magazine, the first was titled “Running and evolution” (or something like that.. I know! I know! I suck! I should get a copy but I don’t have one) and the second was titled “Why running is better than a diet”. It must’ve been 6 articles by now, but the Marathon has been facing organizational problems and stuff… No problem.
And I have one article published in the Haigazian University Herald… Now that was funny thing, I was asked to give an article by a friend of mine, I presented three and gave her the choice. She chose one of them Titled “iro0n Maiden” and in it I talk about the… Iron Maiden! Not the band, but the torture device, pretty cool huh? And that’s not it, when I saw someone showed me the magazine I was shocked to see that I was the least qualified people who posted anything on that page, there were a woman from a famous newspaper in Lebanon ( I don’t remember the title of the magazine) and there were a University Professor and I don’t remember the third… When my friend wanted to write a couple of words under my name to introduce me she wrote “Bio Graduate from the Lebanese University”… She didn’t want to write “Just a no one that no one else than me knows”:P

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

We just believe…

We don’t know and we don’t claim that we do know. I don’t know if I ever gave the impression that I know how things will turn out in Lebanon if I take the decisions that I have taken and if others take the decision that they have taken. What I did, I did it because I believed this was the right thing to do, this was a step forward.
Did I know that people will die? I believe I did, because I repeated it for who ever was willing to listen, I told them that death is around the corner, and I believe they knew what I was talking about.
Do I believe that our struggle is worth the blood of our citizens? I am an adept of life, but I know that nothing will be given, all must be paid for.
Do I believe that’s it’s all right for people like Charles to die? No, but I am only given two choices:

  1. to accept and give in, thus accepting the death of all those who have died as a mistake made by our society against those who occupied us
  2. To refuse! And thus keep on resisting … but taking the chance of seeing more blood shed and horror

I refused and will there fore try to answer this call:






Friday, September 28, 2007

Meem and the new changes of my life


Well, I promised to keep you people updated on my situation so far. Well here’s what happened: When I stopped updating a while back, it was because the month was over and I had to pay the internet bill, but back then I had made the decision to move to another provider but needed an additional 75$ for installation and stuff, so I decided to wait a month and then register. Then by the end of the month I realized that there is no need, I could move to my uncles’ place by the start of winter and they already have internet connection.

No, I wouldn’t be moving just to get internet access (that would be funny). In fact I am planning to move for three reasons. The first and most compelling reason is that I have a plan to start a small biotechnology lab and I have so many ideas how to develop it and everything, but I need the space, since my home in Jounieh is too small hopefully my grandparent’s home in Beirut is a better option.

In addition, I have started writing articles in the Beirut Marathon magazine: Running Middle East. Though I have no direct contact with the administration being in Beirut will help me more than staying in Jounieh.

Finally, I have become active in a growing and active society in Lebanon, the LBTQ women society (LBTQ standing for Lesbian Bisexual Transexual and Queer). All our weekly meetings are help is private and secret places in Beirut which makes it much easier for me to move to Beirut.

Now about our LBTQ society… The seed of this activism had started blooming exactly one year ago with the help and support of the helem association (The association for the protection of homosexuals in Lebanon. Quickly our community grew in numbers and in projects. During this summer it finally resulted in the launch the very first Middle East community for Lesbian rights, active on an Arabic soil: Meem.

Meem being a symbolically feminine letter in Arabic, symbolizing everything that the woman is in our community from her identity to her suffering, we had decided that Meem would only have one public aspect, our website: Meemgroup.org. The website is still under construction but some of its main features are already up and running.

Now the community is certainly secretive and private for the obvious reasons, first of all the privacy of our members is a need, considering the difficult situation in which we live and plan on improving. Second, our first goal is not advocacy of Lesbian rights, it is the internal empowerment of the girls to help them overcome the scars of a sexually repressed and repressive environment. Not that we don’t believe in the need to educate the general public on what we are and what we are not, no! Our advocacy will mainly be channeled through our cooperation with supporting organizations such as Helem or Aswat (the Palestinian Gay Women).

In addition to our website and our blog we have been organizing weekly support groups dealing with our communities problems and issues. We do have many other projects summarized here.

Now Meem is still young, it has succeeded in a very short while to gather a significant number of ladies (around 129) who simply appreciate other ladies but in order to sustain the ongoing effort we do need support, though financial support is certainly needed we most of all need recognition inside Lebanon and outside to ensure additional protection and additional efficiency.

So if you are interested in supporting, helping, encouraging, bashing us feel free to contact either me in person on my gmail account: Xie.medusa.stheno @gmail.com or directly contact the big bosses on the email: meem@meemgroup.org. And spread the word for others that I cannot contact myself.