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Lebanese celebrities star in powerful anti-homophobia video ahead of IDAHOT
LEBANESE not-for-profit group Proud Lebanon has released an online video featuring some of the country’s prominent names coming together to deliver a powerful anti-homophobia message ahead of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) on Sunday.
The promotional video urges the country to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to not discriminate against “those who are different”.
Along side activists, the video features people well-known in Lebanon and across the Arab world, including director Zeina Daccache and TV host Fouad Yammine (scroll down to watch the video, accompanied by an English translation).
While it is not yet known if the promotional video will also be aired on mainstream Lebanese TV, it has already been shared widely on social media.
According to its website, Proud Lebanon is a “is a non-profit, non-religious, non-political, non-partisan civil society” that works to “achieve protection, empowerment and equality to marginalised groups”. It lists Canada, The Netherlands and the European Endowment for Democracy as donors.
Lebanon does not have a law explicitly banning homosexual relationships or activity, but homophobia, transphobia and a lack of legal protections for LGBT Lebanese people are rife.
Article 534 is a legal foundation in the country which forbids sexual acts that “contradict the laws of nature”, but this has been dismissed and declared invalid by at least two judges in the past six years.
In January 2014, during the trial of an unnamed trans woman accused of having sex with a man, Judge Naji El Dahdah of Jdeide Court rejected the case.
“Gender identity is not only defined by the legal papers, the evolution of the person and his/her perception of his/her gender should be taken into consideration,” he said in his verdict.
“Homosexuality is an exception to the norms but not unnatural therefore Article 534 (which prohibits sexual relations that ‘contradict the laws of nature’) cannot be used against homosexuals, and therefore, technically, homosexuality is not illegal.”
El Dahdah’s verdict was based on a similar court ruling made by another judge in 2009.
Although Article 534 has not yet been completely repealed by the Lebanese government, in 2013 the Lebanese Psychiatric Society stated that homosexuality was not a mental disorder and did not need to be treated.
The organisation also ruled that “therapy” that sought to “convert” gay people into straight people had no scientific support.
Despite being largely unenforced by authorities — especially with a thriving gay bar scene in capital city Beirut — those who are convicted faced up to a year in prison, and violence fuelled by homophobia still occurs.
According to Beirut-based Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, Lebanese trans* people also still need a court order to legally change their gender, but only after the long process of gaining a report from three psychologists and a psychiatrist.
Source: www.starobserver.com.au