All entries by this author

Boy George-o-meter For Your Own Gay Assessment Purposes

Aug 30th, 2010 | By shant | Category: Opinion Pieces

Ah! The joys of reading articles in western newspapers, written by “Arab” journalists who assess our situation with their “find the homo” glasses.
On the 28th of august, I received an email which linked me to an article posted in the Guardian, written by Diamond Walid and titled “Gay, straight, or just Lebanese?”
To cut things short, [...]



Nasawiya: Celebrating A New Feminist Space in Beirut!

Aug 22nd, 2010 | By shant | Category: Lead Story

On Friday, August 20, 2010, an overjoyed crowd of feminists gathered at Nasawiya’s new space in Beirut to celebrate its much-anticipated inauguration.
During the evening, while many raised their glasses to bridge past initiatives with those to come, others played baby-foot, or indulged in tarot reading sessions. Nevertheless, the highlight of the evening was SoliRose’s intense and [...]



Mek Azg – One Nation

Jun 6th, 2010 | By shant | Category: Homophobe of the Month

Photo of the posters which reads:
“Say no to homosexuality, and to erotic websites”



An Interview with MC Tru Bloo

Apr 19th, 2010 | By shant | Category: Featured Articles

It all started in 2004 when Tru Bloo heard from a mutual friend that another Gay Lebanese MC was part of the SWANABAQ (South West Asian and North African Bay Area Queers) in San Francisco. Both of them were asked to perform at a fundraiser for Helem in 2004, free-styling until [...]



Notes on: Everybody’s Fine

Feb 28th, 2010 | By shant | Category: Featured Articles

“Everybody’s Fine” is a remake of the Giuseppe Tornatore film “Stanno Tutti Bene”. It is written and directed by Kirk Jones and stars Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale.
My point is not to write a critique of the film but merely to talk about one character, that of Drew Barrymore. It [...]



Cyber Queerness

Feb 1st, 2010 | By shant | Category: Bits

There is no denying the big role that the world wide web played in most of our LGBT activism escapades, coming outs, and falling head over heals.  Throughout the past decade, the tools that were mostly used were the following: ( I tried to put them in order of appearance )
1-ONElist that later became eGroups [...]



The Whore, the Mother, the Virgin

Dec 28th, 2009 | By shant | Category: Feminist Column

The land that is now known as the Middle East is most notable for bringing the worship of a mono-God to prominence. From this part of the world, the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam sprouted and spread. But before monotheism and patriarchy, there existed another mode of worship: that of the [...]



(Be)coming through Kara Lynch’s Lens

Nov 29th, 2009 | By shant | Category: Opinion Pieces

Kara Lynch’s “The Outing” short films were presented at Beirut’s Bardo’s Pub and Restaurant on Thursday, November 19th at 7 p.m. as part of their weekly movie night.
“Mi Companera”, a 12-minute experimental film shot on Hi-8 recreates a walk  along the shores of Colombia. Two women open up to each other, their voices are heard [...]



Queer Politics: Echoes from an Amnesty Conference in Brussels

Nov 8th, 2009 | By shant | Category: Reports

On Wednesday, November 4, 2009, I was invited to Brussels by Amnesty International to take part in a conference entitled “Activism in Dangerous Countries”.
I presented Meem and underlined how its structure and tools were different from mainstream LGBTQ activism. My main concern was to have the audience understand that our struggle is multi-lateral, that we [...]



Lebanese Women and Film

Oct 19th, 2009 | By shant | Category: Feminist Column

The history of Lebanese cinema remains a vast research subject as not all elements of its evolution are brought to light. The part played by Lebanese women in the evolution of this art is sometimes downplayed and sometimes not mentioned at all. It is only in the past five years that we have seen the [...]

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