Unspeakable Love

Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East

Brian Whitaker

• Publisher: Saqi Books
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780863564598
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: LGBT Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Homosexuality is a taboo subject in the Arab world. While cleri denounce it as a heinous sin, newspapers write cryptically of 'shameful acts' and 'deviant behaviour'. Amid the calls for reform in the Middle East, homosexuality is one issue that almost everyone in the region would prefer to ignore. In this absorbing account, Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker calls attention to the voices of men and women who are struggling with gay identities in societies where they are marginalized and persecuted by the authorities. He paints a disturbing picture of people who live secretive, fearful lives and who are often jailed, beaten, and ostracized by their families, or sent to be 'cured' by psychiatrists. Deeply informed and engagingly written, Unspeakable Love reveals that -- while deeply repressive prejudices and stereotypes still govern much thinking about homosexuality -- there are pockets of change and tolerance. Unspeakable Love was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award in 2006. This updated edition includes new material covering developments since the book's first publication. 'A must-read for anyone who believes in human rights' Rabih Alameddine 'Masterful -- incredibly balanced and thoughtful' Ben Summerskill 'Anyone interested in reform in the Arab world must read this book' Mai Yamani 'Wise and compassionate' Guardian 'Groundbreaking' Daily Star Lebanon 'Never before has such a comprehensive study of gay civil rights been published' The Middle East Gay Journal 'Boldly delves into one of the biggest taboos in modern Muslim societies with subtlety and sensitivity' Globe and Mail

Notes

For the convenience of readers who wish to look up the websites mentioned below, these notes are also available online with clickable links at: www.al-bab.com/unspeakablelove.

CHAPTER 1

1. Interview in Egypt, April 2004. Names of interviewees in this chapter have been changed; in some cases they assigned themselves a nickname.

2. Interview in Egypt, 2001. Ahmed himself later fled to the United States where he applied for political asylum.

3. Interview in Lebanon, June 2004. He spoke at length about his treatment. Because of the threats to his life, various details of his story that would make him easily identifiable have been omitted.

4. For example, a letter from a Sudanese man to gaymiddleeast.com told of a friend whose brother threatened to kill him after seeing him kiss another man. Three days later he was found stabbed to death. http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/news/article2.htm.

5. Jimenez, Marina: ‘Gay Jordanian Now “Gloriously Free” in Canada’. The Globe & Mail, Toronto, 20 May 2004. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/ LAC/20040520/GAY20/TPNational/TopStories. The documentary, Gloriously Free, was made by Filmblanc, a Canadian production company.

6. ‘Honour’ killings of women are common in Jordan and are also regarded by many as family matters. If the killers are prosecuted they usually receive very short sentences.

7. Jimenez: ‘Gay Jordanian’.

8. Interview in Egypt, April 2004. He said he chose the nickname Billy ‘because I like Billy Holliday’.

9. A typical psychiatric session costs 100 Egyptian pounds. Two sessions a week, spread over six months, makes a total of 5,000 pounds. This would be more than a year’s wages for the average Egyptian, though incomes vary hugely and for a middle-class family it would be a smaller proportion of their annual income. According to one interviewee, free treatment is sometimes available through charities.

10. Aitkenhead, Decca: ‘Going Straight’. Guardian, 3 April 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1183596,00.html. For further information about the concept of sexual orientation, and the debates about it, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_orientation.

11. The sources of information most frequently used by young Egyptians appear to be www.gay.com and www.planetout.com.

12. Interview in Egypt, April 2004.

13. Interview in Beirut, March 2005.

14. Interview in Egypt, April 2004. Adagio – also sometimes known as ‘Bonbon’ – had grown up with five sisters, which he suggested could be the reason for his homosexuality.

15. Interview, March 2005.

16. www.al-fatiha.org.

17. It is an old Arab custom, reflecting the importance of male lineage, for parents to be popularly known by the name of their first-born son: Umm Ali (‘the mother of Ali’), Abu Ali (‘the father of Ali’), etc.

18. Interview in Beirut, April 2005.

19. Author’s interview, 2007.

20. R v IAT ex parte Shah. House of Lords, 1999.

21. In 1994 the case of Toboso-Alfonso, 20 I&N Dec. 819 (Board of Immigration Appeals 1990), involving a gay Cuban refugee, was designated as a legal precedent.

22. Sanders, Clive: ‘Gay Times Law’. Gay Times website article, 14 April 2003. http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/gt/default.asp?topic=article&ID=9104&pub=2127.

23. Stonewall, ‘Applying for Asylum as a Refugee’. http://www.stonewall-immigration.org.uk/Asylum.htm.

24. ibid.

25. Sapsted, David: ‘Gay Killed Himself over Asylum Failure’. Daily Telegraph, 20 April 2005. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/20/nsuic20.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/20/ixhome.html; Athwal, Harmit: ‘Inquest finds Asylum Refusal was Motive for Gay Iranian’s Suicide’, Independent Race and Refugee Network, 20 April 2005. http://www.irr.org.uk/2005/april/ha000014.html.

26. Athwal, ‘Inquest finds Asylum Refusal’.

27. Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force: ‘Gay Men from China, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Romania, and Russia Win Asylum’. http://www.lgirtf.org/newsletters/Summer96/SU3.html (no longer available).

28. Hansen, Kvore: ‘Gay Asylum Seeker from Morocco not Allowed to Stay’. Aftenposten, Norway, 15 June 2000. Reproduced at http://www.globalgayz.com/norway-news.html.

29. ‘Gay Algerian granted Asylum in France’, Behind the Mask (website on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa), undated article. http://www.mas...