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: âGay Jordanian Now âGloriously Freeâ in Canadaâ. 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. âHonourâ 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: âGay Jordanianâ.
8. Interview in Egypt, April 2004. He said he chose the nickname Billy âbecause I like Billy Hollidayâ.
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 yearâs 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: âGoing Straightâ. 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 â also sometimes known as âBonbonâ â 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 (âthe mother of Aliâ), Abu Ali (âthe father of Aliâ), etc.
18. Interview in Beirut, April 2005.
19. Authorâs 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: âGay Times Lawâ. Gay Times website article, 14 April 2003. http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/gt/default.asp?topic=article&ID=9104&pub=2127.
23. Stonewall, âApplying for Asylum as a Refugeeâ. http://www.stonewall-immigration.org.uk/Asylum.htm.
24. ibid.
25. Sapsted, David: âGay Killed Himself over Asylum Failureâ. 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: âInquest finds Asylum Refusal was Motive for Gay Iranianâs Suicideâ, Independent Race and Refugee Network, 20 April 2005. http://www.irr.org.uk/2005/april/ha000014.html.
26. Athwal, âInquest finds Asylum Refusalâ.
27. Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force: âGay Men from China, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Romania, and Russia Win Asylumâ. http://www.lgirtf.org/newsletters/Summer96/SU3.html (no longer available).
28. Hansen, Kvore: âGay Asylum Seeker from Morocco not Allowed to Stayâ. Aftenposten, Norway, 15 June 2000. Reproduced at http://www.globalgayz.com/norway-news.html.
29. âGay Algerian granted Asylum in Franceâ, Behind the Mask (website on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa), undated article. http://www.mas...