On the evening of 18/11/2022, we received a surprising phone call from the management of the Royal Tulip hotel in Ashrafieh, informing us that official security agencies had contacted them to prevent them from hosting an event there that Helem was in the process of organizing, based on a new decision issued by caretakerMinister of Interior and Municipalities Bassam Mawlawi. In this new decision, he calls to shut down what he described as “a conference that tackles the subject of homosexuality.” It later turned out that the Minister had also issued a general ban on holding “street gatherings related to the phenomenon of homosexuality” and reaffirmed his previous decision to ban gatherings and assemblies “aimed at promoting sexual perversion,” issued on 24/6/2022. It is worthy to note that the latter was suspended by an official court decision issued by the State Shura Council on 1/11/2022, following the appeal filed by the Helem and Legal Agenda.

With reference to the above, it is important to clarify the following:

1) The Minister of Interior’s latest directives completely disregard the State ShuraCouncil’s decision issued on 1/11/2022, which suspended his first decision issued on 24/6/2022 that banned all gatherings related to homosexuality —violating judicial authority, the principle of separation of powers, and the rule of law.

2) All of the Minister’s subsequent decisions violate Article 13 of the LebaneseConstitution, which legitimizes freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression, in addition to Article 20 of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, which stipulates the right of individuals to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

3) The Minister’s approach negates the Lebanese government’s acceptance to respect the LGBTQ community’s right to peaceful assembly. This was announced before the UN Human Rights Council (HCR) at the UniversalPeriodic Review (UPR) for Lebanon in 2020.

4) Mr, Mawlawi’s official position as Minister does not allow him to issue decisions based on his personal views and convictions. He is the Minister of Interior for all Lebanese citizens of different affiliations and identities, not the minister ofa specific group with whom he shares similar values.

5) Contrary to the Minister’s claim, Helem was not organizing a conference on homosexuality — nor any other topic in connection to sexuality or gender.Rather, Helem was organizing a closed capacity-building workshop as part of our longstanding work to support marginalized groups, which we have been doing continuously ever since our founding. The workshop was successfully and effectively completed after being relocated to another venue, with all the necessary measures taken to ensure the safety and security of the participants and trainers.

6) In response to the above, Helem filed a new appeal on 7/12/2022 before theState Shura Council against the decision of the Minister of Interior issued on18/11/2022, requesting them to stop and invalidate the implementation of this decision as it violates judicial decisions and constitutional freedoms. This new appeal stems from our belief in the importance of referring to competent judicial authorities as they hold a crucial role in protecting fundamental rights and freedoms, which would ultimately be threatened in case they are flouted in much the same way that the Minister of the Interior did.

Helem denounces the Interior Minister’s anti-LGBTQ+ decisions and holds him fully responsible for any attack or violations targeting members of the LGBTQ+community due to his incitement, which has not stopped since the start of his attacks in June 2022. The Minister’s decisions are a threat to social safety and cohesion, especially during these exceptional times that ultimately call for more adherence to the core principles of unity and social solidarity.

We call on the Minister not to exploit marginalized groups and the LGBTQ+community in particular as scapegoats to divert the public’s attention from problems suffered by all citizens and residents of Lebanon.

We also reaffirm that the organization’s work is ongoing and will continue under the auspices of the rule of law, the Constitution, and the judicial system, while upholding the values on which the Lebanese state was founded — as a place of diversity, pluralism, and permanent refuge for those seeking equality and freedom from persecution.

Finally, we would like to thank all organizations, media representatives, and individuals who rushed to help us find greater support, which we received from various societal forces who rejected the Minister’s dangerous approach. This support indeed promises better days for the members of the LGBTQ+ community in Lebanon as well as other marginalized groups and society at large.

Helem,