As part of our Queer in SWANA: Voices Heard series, LevantX spoke to members of SWANA Kings, a group founded for drag kings in Lebanon with members from different places. Check out their stories below, what they do and how they started

In the covid lockdown in Morroco, gay men faced the new threat of forced outings after Instagram influencer Sofia Talouni called on legions of cyberbullies to take to apps like Grindr, Planet Romeo and Hornet and expose them to their families. Victims of these outings faced a wave of anti-LGBT violence, resulting in suicides, homelesness and mental health crises. Vincent Sterel explores this topic, writing on the motivations for Talouni and the reaction of social media giants

[Queer characters in video games] are a reminder that queer people exist, deserve representation, and deserve equity, especially when it comes down to games that are based in historical fiction. As Rick Riordan once tweeted:
”If the reader is wondering why I put gender fluidity in a Norse Mythology story...that reader does not know much about Norse Mythology”.  

هناك تحدٍ يكمن في التأكيد على إتاحة الفرصة لمتحدثي اللغة العربية عن فهم الأشخاص المنتمين لمجتمع الميم، ويوضح إيّان "في العالم العربي، إن لم تكن متقناً للغة الإنجليزيّة، قد تظن أنك شخص مريض للأبد

“In the Arabic world, if you don’t speak English, you think you’re a sick person forever. You won’t have access to information on LGBT issues. So many people still don’t understand what being ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ means.”

At that stage, I felt like I was a real criminal, and that it is time for me now to tell my story of how I killed someone or stole a huge amount of money. My only crime was going to a Turkish bathhouse.

A minority within a minority... but it gets better. Growing up female, black, an Arab immigrant, an apostate, and queer, is as difficult as you can imagine.

LevantX would like to bring attention to hateful speech that has been directed at the Collective for Black Arabs and Black Saudis.

“I am scared. I am scared a lot.”
Ester Wamgui sits on a dirt-stained mattress lying on the street outside the Kenyan Consulate of Beirut. She cradles her son Jame in her arms while she seeks shelter from the August sun in the shade of a nearby building. Her daughter Judy sits next to her drawing on a scrap of paper with a yellow highlighter.

We still have, until today, secret prisons where Moroccans and non-Moroccans are being tortured day and night. Yes… the U.S. has recently admitted to subcontracting torture in Morocco (Temara). They send ‘bad people’ to us and we ‘take care’ of them.

At that time, I would have not thought twice about investing all my time, energy, and future in building my homeland. But after 9 years, I have finally realized that so much more is needed to change a country ridden with such tyranny, corruption, injustice, and oppression.

As the pandemic of COVID-19 still continues to affect communities around the globe, there is still work to be done in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

For many patriotic Lebanese, national holidays are usually a big deal. It allows us to reconnect with our country on a day of joy and celebration amidst all the accumulated problems that it is currently facing, and learn about our rich - albeit sometimes turbulent - history. But as we commemorate Lebanon’s Independence Day this year, probably for the first time ever, the last thing I feel like doing is celebrating.

So what happens now for President Erdogan and his ‘new Turkey’. In terms of the new US President, they are left in a tricky situation. Criticized and praised in roughly equal measure by the previous President, they cannot rely on the old ‘enemy-of-my-enemy’ tactic.