Beirut artists interpret experience of nonconformance in Middle East
A comic book artist and a photographer/editor speak of the queer community in Lebanon, and how it has changed over time.
Beirut artists are at the forefront of the gender and sexual identity conversation in the Middle East, telling different stories of queer cultures that at times are tolerated but often repressed.
“Beirut is a microcosm for the complexities of homosexual relationships in contemporary Lebanon,” Sofian Merabet told Al-Monitor. Merabet’s book “Queer Beirut” examines the notion of "queer space" and the role that colonial history and religion have played in the story of Lebanese queer people.
The book, the product of 19 years of research, describes new queer spaces, including the remaking of Downtown Beirut and the seaside promenade called the corniche, as well as clubs, cafés and new forms of city nightlife, considered “safe spaces” for non-conforming people.
But this lively Beirut scene, unique in the Arab world and already threatened by the city’s rapid privatization and commercialization, was further damaged by the 2020 port explosion.
