The Lebanese society, still very much influenced by religion and old mores, considers homosexuality as a deviation from normal. Stories about gays and lesbians battling for their rights and facing great danger are always reported in the local and international press.

The printed press
"The Daily Star" and "L'Orient-Le Jour" newspapers have published many articles about the battle for acceptance and the price that LGBT people pay in Lebanon. They have interviewed many gays and lesbians, and the common conclusion was that homosexuality is often not tolerated and that LGBT people regularly endured physical and emotional abuse owing to this lack of tolerance towards their sexual orientation.

Despite rare and daring attempts to demystify homosexuality in al-Kifah al-Arabi, an-Nahar and as-Safir, these as well as other Arabic language newspapers often refer to LGBT people as 'perverts', 'deviants' and 'sodomites'. It's also worth mentioning that the words 'perversion' and 'deviance' are also used to designate pedophilia and bestiality, thus putting homosexual acts among consenting adults in the same category as these two crimes.

Religion and non-state agents
In Lebanon, religious leaders have great power and respect within their respective communities. More often than not, they do not tolerate homosexuality. On the 30th of August 2003, leading Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah has emphasized the importance of the death penalty in deterring criminals and pacifying societies. When counting the 3 cases where, according to Islam, the death penalty should be imposed, he included homosexuality as the 3rd one, stating that it has a negative impact on a "normal" relationship between a man and a woman, and consequently, on society at large.

In May 2003, Hezbollah kidnapped five suspected gay men and handed them over to the police who arrested the suspects.

The Lebanese Christian TV channel "T�l� Lumi�re" triggered a state-led crusade against alleged devil worshippers in 2003. This witch hunt also targeted gay and Lesbian party-goers while homosexual acts were repeatedly mentioned as being inherent to satanic rituals, further fuelling homophobia.

Domestic and societal violence
This message of intolerance is very dangerous, especially in a country like Lebanon where people still commit "honor killings" and where stigmatization has a direct bearing on one's physical integrity, as well as on his/her personal and professional life.

In December 2002, Helem recorded the testimony of a gay Lebanese young man who was insulted by his entire family and repeatedly beaten up and threatened to be killed by his brothers and his father for "tarnishing his family's honor". His testimony was then taped by the human rights non-governmental organization (NGO) Hurriyat Khasa (Personal Freedoms) and shown during the conference entitled "Human dignity in the penal code" (May 2003).

There were at least 2 reported murders of gay men in 2003, multiple accounts of physical and verbal violence, death threats and ostracism by family members, accounts of beating, stone-throwing, spitting and insults by neighborhood youth or intolerant passers-by, as well as in one case at least, the rape of a gay inmate.

Corporate homophobia
Dunkin' Donuts is another example of the discrimination that LGBT people face. Its policy at the Downtown Beirut and Ashrafieh franchises in 2002 and 2003 was to randomly ask "gay looking" men to leave the premises because, in the management's view, these clients' external appearance can compromise the place's family environment. These customers have also been regarded as "trouble-makers".

Lay-offs attributed to one's sexual orientation have been also reported: Helem was informed by two gay school teachers in two separate incidents in 2002 and 2003 that they were fired upon knowledge of their sexual orientation.

Human rights organizations
The human rights community is just starting to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its agenda, thanks to the NGOs MIRSAD which first broke the silence and Hurriyat Khasa which is actively lobbying for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Lebanon.

MIRSAD is the first human rights NGO on record to advocate for the human rights of the LGBT community in Lebanon by defending freedom of expression in the case of the website gaylebanon.com in 2000.

Hurriyat Khasa is now spearheading the "Human Dignity in the Penal Code" Forum which aims for, among other amendments, the annulment of article 534. Hurriyat Khasa started by including gay rights in its own objectives in 2002. In 2003, the NGO submitted its plan of action to civil society at large which now adopted them in the shape of recommendations for the reform of the Penal Code. These recommendations have been endorsed by 15 Lebanese NGOs so far. Thanks to Hurriyat Khasa, gay rights are now part of a national agenda for the implementation of human rights in Lebanon. Helem works closely with Hurriyat Khasa in planning and executing events related to the Human Dignity Campaign, as well as in investigating arrests of gays and lesbians.

The Lebanese chapters of Amnesty International are also pioneers in terms of human rights since they introduced the notions of respect and tolerance towards gays and lesbians in their human rights and peace education youth camp in the summer of 2003. This activity was co-organized by Amnesty International and a number of Lebanese NGOs, including Helem.

Other human rights NGOs have also supported gay rights, be it directly or indirectly: League of Lebanese democratic women, Mouvement social, Nouveaux droits de l'homme, Foundation for human and humanitarian rights, Lebanese association for human rights, Rassemblement canadien pour le Liban...

Quotes from other human rights reports
• Human Dignity Forum
"The Forum tackled the issue of incriminating against nature sexual relations - that Justice interprets as homosexual relations - and the one year imprisonment sentence related to these acts. It also underlined the wide scope of the amendment proposal in incriminating homosexual relations; if the current text sentences for unnatural sexual intercourse, the amendment text sentences for any sexual relation that is against nature, which means that it covers now all sexual acts between all homosexuals - men or women. Therefore, the Forum concluded the following:
- the lack of scientific evidence for considering homosexual relations to be against nature;
- the incrimination of homosexual relations is unacceptable for the sake of privacy protection and avoiding social marginalization;
- therefore, the amendment proposal is rejected for being contradictory to the development trend occurred during the last decades;
- the annulment of Article 534 of the Penal Code."
(Recommendations of the Forum on "Human Dignity in the Penal Code", May 2003, Beirut. The forum includes Hurriyat Khasa/Personal Freedoms, League of Lebanese Democratic Women, Lebanese Association for Human Rights, Amnesty International/Local Chapters)

• Rassemblement Canadien Pour le Liban
"... For homosexual individuals to live in peace, without fear of harassment, arrest or threat to their life, article 534 should be changed. Also a higher level of social and cultural tolerance towards homosexuals is needed. Tolerance can be increased through the support of non-governmental organizations oriented toward public education. Interviews with Lebanese citizens requesting refugee status in Canada showed evidence about serious risks on their life as well as on their family..." (Synthesis of events in 2002, Human Rights Division, RCPL, Canada)

• Nouveaux Droits de l'homme
"Homosexuality is a crime in Lebanon. Homosexuals are not allowed to create an association and are pursued by the vice squad." (2002 Human Rights Report, NDH, Lebanon)

• Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights
"The gay and lesbian community is still harassed by the police and the laws of Lebanon. Homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment regardless of age and circumstances. It is imperative that the Penal Code be amended to restrict punishment to acts involving a minor and exercised in public." (The State of Human Rights in Lebanon, 1999: An Overview. FHHR, Lebanon)

A Long Way To Go
The LGBT community is increasingly visible in Lebanon and sometimes tolerated, mainly in Beirut where a vibrant underground gay scene is concentrated, where a few sympathetic articles have been published and where some rare and daring public statements have been made. However, this timid tolerance neither applies to most Lebanese households, Christian and Moslem alike, nor rules out the ever-roaming threat of state persecution which regularly enforces article 534 of the penal code all over the country.

State and societal persecution have already pushed scores of Lebanese LGBT into exile while those who remain in Lebanon lead a daily struggle to survive in the absence of any kind of protection.

The only ray of hope in this bleak situation is the unwavering will of a number of Lebanese NGOs not to compromise on basic values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although there's much to de done so that lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders be treated with dignity in Lebanon, the work has begun.