Helem’s theme for this year’s IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) is ‘Ana Shaz’ (I’m Queer). The word itself can be very controversial and upsets many people, but we have chosen to support all those who are considered queer/deviant by the governmental aspects of society. The queer community in Lebanon has chosen to stand in solidarity and on the side of sexual freedom in Lebanon.

The discrimination directed against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual persons reflects society’s rejection of all what is different from the apparent ‘majority’. Our society is governed by people who act like they have the total freedom to make and enforce rules that oppose all forms of differences in order to fight for and preserve intellectual, social, moral, and economic categories that on the surface oppose each other, but are identical in the discrimination and repression they experience. Therefore, these groups are united in their interests.

10 years since the first public attempts to organize in this struggle, queers continue to choose to be different from this social system and the racism and exploitation it represents, simply because we are “different” in a society ruled by sectarianism, sexism, classism, racism, and discrimination based on occupation and social status. We express our rejection of everything represented by a heteronormative society that is biased towards heterosexuality, patriarchy, and a sole form of family.

All enforced roles alienate equally, thus discrimination against LGBTIQ persons is similar to that against women, foreign workers, persons with low wages, people with special needs, sex workers, and even heterosexuals who choose to have a sex-life outside the framework of marriage or religious confession. We are struggling together for freedom, for rights, and for a society that does not judge persons based on these criteria.

Our work today is not separate from other groups that are considered "queer" and who are raising their voices for liberty, equality and justice. Throughout our opposition to homophobia and transphobia, we realize how interlinked all of our rights are; leading us to work in solidarity and in a joint struggle to achieve the implementation of all marginalized rights, and through a common ground that unifies and strengthens our efforts,

To our friends and allies in demanding equality and justice: discrimination and oppression against us all have common foundations. Let us rid ourselves of all labels that we did not make for ourselves but were instead imposed on us. Let us unite against discrimination, its tools, and its roots.

To those that are responsible for leading this society, we say that we are proud of our deviance from the rules that they have written for us, and we are working in solidarity in order to:

* Abolish Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code 534, that punishes ‘sexual intercourse contrary to nature’, and is used to criminalize same-sex and encourages habitual violation of human rights in a culture of impunity; to guarantee a legal framework that protects the personal freedoms of individuals and does not interfere in them.
* End discrimination against LGBTIQ individuals in schools and universities and to remove books and academic references that promote hatred.
* Put pressure on public, for profit, and non-profit medical service providers to respect the privacy of all their patients/clients, especially those who face social stigma (such as people living with HIV); furthermore, to stop discrimination against LGBTIQ individuals in health services and to make those services available to everyone equally, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, or socioeconomic status.
* Eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, including their the right to pass their nationality to their children; end domestic violence, violence in workplaces, and prevent using women’s bodies for commercial purposes in advertising.
* Separate religion from the affairs of the state and the lives of people, create a civil personal status law outside of the control of religious institutions, introducing comprehensive sex education in school curricula from the age of eleven, and respecting sexual freedoms and the freedom to choose one’s sexual or romantic partner.
* Increase the minimum wage to contribute to bettering the situations of working women and other economically marginalized groups, enforcing equal pay for men and women in all positions, and forbidding discrimination in salaries based on race, gender, sex, sexuality, nationality, etc…
* Implement Law 220 concerning people with special needs, the elimination of all forms of discrimination against them, and increasing accessibility in schools, streets, public, and private spaces.
* End discrimination against foreign workers, including but not limited to domestic workers, and respecting and treating them like humans with rights before anything else; ending violence and sexual harassment against them, and allowing them paid vacation time. Additionally, shutting down the foreigner’s prison in Adlieh where the worst types of torture occur, without rule of law, specifically towards people from the global south and developing countries (non-Lebanese passport holders).
* End the criminalization of male and female sex workers, allowing them the right to organize, as well as providing them access to non-judgmental medical and social services.
* Decriminalize the act of drug using and providing non-judgmental rehabilitation services for addicts instead of sending them to prison.
* End the stereotyping of the image of women, men, and marginalized social groups and accepting differences in appearance, weight, height, eye color, dress style, lifestyle, etc…
* Enforce protective environmentally friendly policies; on the basis of saving the environment over profit.

The road to achieve these goals is long, yet we affirm that we are going to achieve them, hand in hand with our friends and allies via all democratic means available. We also affirm our commitment to work relentlessly to achieve social justice and human rights for all.