Social position and economic status also determine “what it is like.” Individual experiences of LGBT people are varied and distinctive and cannot be generalized to an entire country, let alone a region.Ī better question would be: How do governments in the MENA region use anti-LGBT rhetoric to advance their political agendas? The answer to that question reveals the state-sponsored homophobia that negatively impacts the lives of LGBT people in the region. Sexual orientation and gender identity are only one aspect of experience. It assumes a uniform “gay experience” across the region, that does not align with reality. It is a question that cannot be answered. © 2019 Marwan Tahtah for Human Rights WatchĪs a researcher and advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, I am often asked: “What is it like to be gay in the Middle East?”
LGBTQ Rights graffiti spray-painted at a protest site in downtown Beirut.
