Unveiling Veiled Lives

My body is burning
with the shame of
not belonging. Home
spat me out, said
Warsan Shire, a
Somali-British poet,
while describing her
plight as a lesbian
refugee.

Battling unbeatable
odds and
abandoning all sense
of familiarity, thousands of LGBT individuals from the Arab countries apply for
resettlement overseas every year, in order to fix the broken pieces of their
puzzled lives. The United States of America, Canada, South-Africa, Australia,
New-Zealand and most parts of Europe are mercifully developing an attitude of
tolerance, whereas the Middle East moves precisely in the opposite direction.

While the entire Arab world detests Western ideology for running counter to their
beliefs, I would like to throw light on the evolution of the LGBT community in the
Middle East. The pre-colonial Arab world accepted same-sex relations, whereas
homosexual acts in Europe in the 19th and 20th century were punishable by
death. Colonialism introduced Western prudishness into Arab life, rendering it its
religious zeal and giving it a particular lens to view gender roles with. Hence, it is
safe to say that the sexuality war is not between Western and conservative
ideology. It never was. It has always been the interplay of politics, influence and
rebuke, the deleterious effects of which trickle down to haunt the lives of the
minority community.

In less than two centuries, the Arab world has gone from accepting
homosexuality to compelling homosexuals to exclaim We either want to leave,
or we want to die, so I prefer to leave. With a fervent hope in their hearts, they
flee over miles, but the prejudices against them do not stop at the border. The
assaults did not end for Ahmed, a 23 year old Syrian refugee. These refugees
tackle double discrimination in foreign countries; firstly, for being citizens of war-
torn countries and secondly, for belonging to the loathed community. Many
return disillusioned.

Linguistic and cultural obstacles are added to the problems that they are running
away from. This causes us to ask ourselves a simple question; what have they
done to deserve it? An amalgamation of genetic, hormonal and social factors
determines sexual orientation, thereby making the community helpless.
Occasionally, a voice speaks up for the voiceless, only to conveniently get killed
off with bullets.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has taken over vast swathes of the territory,
targeting the LGBT community in particular. At least thirty six homosexual men
have been killed brutally. Notorious for hypocrisy, ISIS pushed Abu Zaid; a fifteen
year old teenager, off a building, on the grounds of sodomy. The boy was raped
by a senior commander of the ISIS, who faced no such repercussions.

Islam is increasingly being used as a justification for arrest, detainment and even
the murder of homosexuals. Iraq being a death trap for gay men, caught and
killed around seven hundred homosexual men. Around two hundred homosexual
and transgender people have been arrested in Egypt. The Iranian President
mocked USA for bracing homosexuality, while asserting that Iran is devoid of gay
people. Our everyday headlines read these statements. However, efforts to
combat the phenomenon of homophobia are close to zilch. Hence, they flee to
unknown destinations and become a subject of contempt in foreign territory.

In a land where the political and the personal are intertwined, it is not surprising
that homosexuality faces a backlash. However, issues of conflict plague many of
these regions, causing thousands of people to flee their homeland daily. The
burning question is whether the same regions should allow homophobia to turn
into yet another monstrous entity that drives out its own people.

The fate of homosexuality is indefinite; it will either be widely accepted or it will

perish. It is not easy to determine whether a country, a religion or an individual is
on the correct path or is straying away from it. In this battle, however, peace is
more important than being right or wrong. One only hops on to a boat when the
waters are safer than the lands. If we stopped paying homage to homophobia
and gave these humans a home that they could belong to, a home that would
not spit them out, peace would not be a far cry from reality.