Activists from more than 30 LGBT organisations from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are gathering in Lebanon for the 5th NEDWA conference this weekend.
US: Middle Eastern LGBTQs Underrepresented in Health Research — And That’s a Problem
While the demand for a more intersectional approach to LGBTQ activism is heartening, as an Arab American I can’t help but feel that the voices LGBTQ people of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) origin are not being heard at a time when anti-Arab, anti-refugee, and Islamophobic sentiment is at an all-time high.
Meet “M-Coalition” The First Arab Coalition on MSM and HIV
While the common understanding is that Arab countries are considered to have a low prevalence of HIV, available epidemiological data show that men who have sex with men (MSM) bear a disproportionate burden of HIV infection.
MSM in Arab countries are 50 to 130 times more likely to be exposed to HIV than the general population.During the past decade, few Arab countries have started implementing activities targeting key affected populations at higher risk of HIV infection, including MSM. However, the coverage and the impact of such activities remain insufficient to meet existing needs. Read More
Online activists spur change in Middle East, China, world
Online LGBT activism and community-building are the focus of Quorum's eighth discussion of international LGBTI issues. Moderated by Andre Banks (All Out), media activists Xiaogang Wei of China and Suzan of Egypt reflect on their experiences in working to connect LGBTQ folks through each of their online platforms.
Xiaogang Wei explained the progress of the Chinese LGBT movement: “Things are changing,” he said. “We are building this language. We are building this identify. People know how to use the right language to fight back.”
Suzan focused on how LGBT Westerners can support and understand their Middle Eastern counterparts, instead of acting as though they have the wisdom and the right to tell queer activists in the Middle East how to think and act. Read More or watch the discussion here
Middle East funds Gambia as EU cuts aid over human rights concerns
The European Union has withdrawn millions of euros of funding for Gambia due to its poor human rights record, and after Jammeh signed into law an act that would imprison homosexuals for life. The Muslim West African nation will now rely increasingly on donors from the Middle East for development projects. The shift in soft power is of concern to Western governments in a region where Islamist militancy in northern Nigeria and northern Mali is fuelling instability, diplomatic sources said.
"West Africa has a large, impressionable youth population that have no access to jobs. Their loyalty might be bought through aid, sometimes by those sympathetic to the Islamification of the region," said one diplomat. Read More
The Closeted Continent
38 out of 55 African nations have laws punishing sodomy. And things may get worse before they get better.
The progress for LGBT equality has been powered by an increasingly potent global gay rights movement driven by major international organizations like Human Rights Campaign and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, as well as smaller grassroots gay groups that have sprouted up (or, in some cases, chosen to work underground for fear of activists' safety) in many dozens of countries worldwide.
Elsewhere in the world, though, signs of momentum in the global gay rights struggle are fueling a determined effort to slam the closet door though legal measures, harassment, and violence. Read More