Arab world gay day of the week

However, the modern Middle East views homosexuality differently, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center in Among the nearly 38, people polled in 39 countries, the Middle East saw the highest percentage of people who believed homosexuality should be rejected.

While Middle Eastern countries have different laws codifying these bans, HRW reported, "Almost all Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East and North Africa region criminalize forms of consensual adult sexual relations which can include sex between unmarried individuals, adultery, and same-sex relations.

Bonus fact: The word for pride in Hebrew is “ge’eh,” which was absorbed into the Hebrew vernacular because it sounds close to the English “gay” and is thus used in LGBTQ+ related terms. Escape your echo chamber. While many of these death penalties are carried out by countries under insurgency rule, there are reportedly a number of countries where the execution of homosexuals is state-sponsored.

As The Economist noted, there are a number of factors that led to Middle Easterners feeling this way. Let’s address the fabulous, rainbow-striped elephant in the room: Saudi Arabia is not the first destination that springs to mind when you think of “gay travel”!.

A article in The Economist documented how homosexuality was criminalized over the years. Lebanon this week becomes the first Arab country to celebrate gay pride but the opening event in a landmark run of festivities was canceled after Islamists threatened violence. Everyone is welcome.

In many of these countries, all sexual intercourse outside of marriage is illegal, including among heterosexual couples. That answer, once again, depends on the country and the crime in question. Inside, in a study bathed by the afternoon sunshine, Wael Hussein, a year-old gay man, is chatting with Naya, a transgender woman, ahead of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) on Thursday.

Much of the root cause could be traced to Islamic fundamentalism that arose in the s in countries like Iran. There is significant focus on Qatar due to the World Cup. Despite being one of the smallest countries in the region, Qatar, like many others around it, often continue to make life hard for its LGBTQ citizens.

As a condition of their release, HRW said Qatari security officials often forced these women to attend government-sponsored conversion therapy. Much of this involves harsh imprisonment, with the ILGA report particularly examining Iran — a country in which "those who are imprisoned are reportedly subjected to torture or otherwise dire conditions, with most gay and trans detainees As the ILGA report noted, this includes Iran, where their penal code can impose the death penalty for "sodomy," gay sex acts, lesbian sex acts, and more.

A separate report from HRW documented alleged beatings and mass incarceration, specifically among transgender women. Additionally, Khaled El-Rouayheb, an academic from Harvard University, told the outlet that "relative openness towards homosexual love used to be widespread in the Middle East," with gay and lesbian acts not being considered criminal in most Muslim courts.

Notably, the article reported that this was not the view of people in the region hundreds of years ago. Furthermore, Kuwait and Sudan prohibit sex between men, and Bahrain has passed laws allowing the detention of people who are even suspected of being homosexual.

However, the outlet additionally reported that European colonialism in the 19th century laid the foundation for this type of sentiment. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

HRW reported that the Northwest African country of Mauritania has even made "death by public stoning" legal for homosexual men. While there is no standard response, the answer to this question is — generally, pretty harshly. Here's everything you need to know:. The U. There are a number of Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority countries where same-sex activity is completely legal , including Israel, Lebanon , Turkey, and Jordan.

Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. Beirut hosted its first Pride event in , and it remains the only celebration of its type in the Arab world. However, Reuters noted that this experience was rare in Qatar, and many members of the LGBTQ community have reportedly been illegally detained as a result of their sexual orientation.

Laws in Qatar are similarly strict, and Reuters spoke to four gay men living in the country prior to the beginning of the World Cup. All four spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal, but said they were able to mostly live their lives — albeit in the shadows — due to their privileged status.

Libya even describes sex with a person out of wedlock as sexual assault. The Economist specifically cited a pair of 13th and 14th-century poets, Rumi and Hafiz, who lived in modern-day Iran and often wrote about homosexual relationships. Iran has reportedly "engaged in mass killing of gays and lesbians," with the Post previously reporting that up to 6, LGBTQ people have been executed since the Islamic Revolution.

But here I am, back from a week in Saudi Arabia with more dates (the fruit kind, obviously) than I’ve ever had on a Friday night in gay Berlin.