{"id":858,"date":"2016-01-04T15:12:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T15:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=858"},"modified":"2016-01-04T15:12:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T15:12:34","slug":"mena-queerness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/01\/04\/mena-queerness\/","title":{"rendered":"The State of Queerness in the Middle East and North Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mashrou'<\/a>
Mashrou’ Leila performs in Paris. Photo by Hinda Zahra via femmesdetunisia.com. Click to read an interview with the band.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a contested space for queer folks. Persecution is common in Egypt, where gay men are continuously subjected to mass arrests<\/a>, and queer Palestinians are often blackmailed<\/a>. In contrast, Lebanon has led the LGBT*Q movement with a recent court ruling<\/a> that homosexuality is not \u201cunnatural or a crime. Celebrities like Hamed Sinno, the gay lead singer of Mashrou\u2019 Leila<\/a>, can even use music to address gender expression<\/a> and gay love<\/a> there. Research on the origins of queerness and homophobia in the region and why governments repress queer communities can help us understand such conflicting trends.<\/p>\n

Contrary to beliefs that queerness is un-MENA, un-Islamic, or un-African<\/a>, Abu Nawas (756-814) wrote uninhibited erotic poetry about men and, in the 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> centuries in Egypt, homosexual and homosocial relations were quite common. Lesbianism is documented in the 9th<\/sup> century throughout the region.<\/h5>\n