Key Leaders in Lebanon Launch Crackdown on LGBTQ+ Community

Key leaders in Lebanon have begun to target books, movies and events that they claim “promote homosexuality.” This crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community has been spurred from Lebanese politicians, religious leaders and extremist groups alike. 

Earlier in August, the nation’s culture minister, Mohammad Mortada, requested that the General Security Directorate ban the movie Barbie. Mortada said that the film was found to “contradict values of faith and morality” and “promote homosexuality and the sexual transformation.” Although the Directorate has ruled that the blockbuster is permitted, other key figures in Lebanese politics have enforced further bans on what they perceive as symbols of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Lebanon’s education minister recently banned the game Chutes and Ladders because it was decorated with rainbows. The game was recently distributed to schools as part of a USAID project. 

Key figures in both Muslim and Christian circles have also launched a campaign against the wider queer community in Lebanon. The Islamic Cultural Center submitted a request to the public prosecutors to shut down Helem, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in Lebanon and the Arab World. Religious figures flexed their political influence to further their agenda. Following meetings with the head of the Maronite Church, Cardinal Beshara Rai, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, told reporters that “there is unanimity to abide by moral Lebanese and family values.” 

The Mikati Government’s tacit approval of anti-LGBTQ policy has come in the wake of rising political tensions and a culture war brought on by hard-line extremists; mirroring the rise in anti-queer rhetoric we have observed in the U.S. 

Last month, several dozen men from a Christian extremist group called the Soldiers of God vandalized a club in Beirut that was hosting a drag show. The group assaulted several patrons, causing some to hide in the venue’s restrooms. “This is the venue of Satan! Promoting homosexuality is not allowed! “This is just the beginning,” yelled one of the members, who filmed the attack from his mobile phone.

Lebanese law does not explicitly ban same-gender acts; however, Article 534 of their penal code, which prohibits sexual relations that “contradict the laws of nature,” increasingly has been used to crack down on the LGBTQ+ community. 

While Lebanon has never been openly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, the current state of affairs is a departure from the nation’s recent trajectory. Five years ago, Lebanon had a reputation for being one of the most accepting Arab nations when it came to LGBTQ+ rights, and activists were optimistic that Article 534 would be voted down. That all changed following a financial crisis in Lebanon in 2019, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion.

Now, as the Israeli Government and key religious figures have made Israel more hostile to queer folks, the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the Middle East has become increasingly dire.