France 24
Reporters from France 24 visited Dr. Michel Nawfal and Dr. Chadi Ibrahim for an insight on prejudices faced by LGBT patients within health care providing institutions that are caused by societal, traditional, and religious pressures. To watch the report,
Media Monitoring Reports
The LGBT Health week 2019 media monitoring report and The Leader in LGBT Health Equity Award media monitoring report. For the LGBT Health week 2019 media monitoring report, Click here For the Leader in LGBT Health Equity Award media monitoring report, Click here
NGO Urges to Enforce Anal Test Ban
by Ellen Francis – The Daily Star BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam has yet to respond to a letter he received earlier this month from a sexual health organization urging him to put an end to unethical “anal tests” and other discriminatory measures used on those suspected of being homosexual, which is illegal under Lebanese…
For Pride Month, We Talked to Members of the Arab World’s LGBT Community
The month of June is celebrated by the LGBTQ community and its allies around the world as Pride Month. As the month comes to a close, we take a closer look at the LGBTQ community in the Arab world. While the typical Western narrative highlights this community as oppressed, abused and even killed due to…
Good Luck Getting Healthcare if You’re Queer in Lebanon
These organizations are advocating for change in a system that finds no shame in homophobia. “The minute the dermatologist heard he was gay, she was just certain he had HIV—despite him having safe sex with the same partner for the past eight months, nor receiving a blood transfusion or using IV drugs,” says Omar Fattal,…
In Search for Sex-Ed
The implementation of sexual education in Lebanon has had a turbulent history. It was first officially addressed in 1995, when a sex-ed curriculum, intended to be presented to eighth-grade (12 to 14-year-old) students, was crafted by United Nations institutions and a multitude of experts under the administration of the Educational Center for Research and Development.…
LGBT Health Week in the Media
التهميش مضر للصحة… حملة توعية لاحترام الإنسان كيف ما كان!Read on LBCgroup.tv مقابلة مع جاكلين شهوان على الشبكة العربية للاخبار عن الأسبوع الصحي الأوّل من نوعه في #لبنان و العالم العربي. تضََّمن الأسبوع مؤتمر طبي لمقدّمي/ات الخدمات الصحيّة والأطباء، ورش عمل للتلامذة في مجال الصحّة، مؤتمر صحفي وإطلاق ٣ فيديوهات توعية، محاضرات و ندوات، و…
Lebanese Gay Couple Not Prosecuted Under ‘Order of Nature’ Law
The Lebanese LGBT community celebrated a huge legal victory last week when Judge Rabih Maalouf failed to prosecute a gay couple for having sexual relations. Though homosexuality is illegal in Lebanon, there is no actual law prohibiting it. Instead, gay men are prosecuted under Article 534, which states that “any sexual intercourse contrary to the…
Report: Lebanon Court Rejects Anti-Gay Law
A court in Lebanon has ruled that homosexuality is natural and is not a criminal offense. [Contrary to an earlier version of this article, the ruling was not made by the Supreme Court in Lebanon.] For English-speakers, details of the ruling must await a translation of an Arabic-language account of the decision. But a dispatch from Human Rights…
4th Annual Fundraiser in NYC Breaks Previous Records
LebMASH 4th Annual Halloween Fundraising Event was held on Friday, October 28 2016 at the UnionSquare “BallRoom” in NYC and was a huge success. It was an incredible evening with a huge venue, dancing performance, and oriental music. The BallRoom was packed with around 160 people from all around USA (Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Houston,…
LGBT Syrians Lament Destruction of Aleppo
Originally written on Washington Blade Large swaths of the Syrian city of Aleppo had already been reduced to rubble by the time Ahmad decided to leave his hometown in the summer of 2015. The 26-year-old who lived in western Aleppo, which is a stronghold of President Bashar Assad, traveled to the Syrian capital of Damascus. Ahmad…
New MOPH Substance Use Strategy is LGBT Inclusive
The Ministry of Public Health just launched their new Substance Use Strategy 2016-2021 and it’s very inclusive of LGBT individuals. LebMASH had consulted with the MOPH earlier in 2015 on their mental health strategy and this is clearly showing in their new plan on strategic plan on substance use. The plan mentions positive court rulings…
Lebanon: The Quiet Sexual Health Revolution Through LebMASH
While we are bombarded day and night with hopeless, pessimistic news and violent images from the Arab world, in the Land of the Cedar, altruistic scientists are busy doing their bit towards building a tolerant and diverse society. Sadly, their wonderful work is often overlooked by the media. LebMASH (Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health), a Lebanese association, officially…
Kenyan Court OKs Forced Anal Exams
This past week a court in Kenya ruled that the use of anal probes could be used to determine a person’s sexuality. The ruling, which shocked human rights and LGBT activists both in Kenya and around the world, came after two young men challenged the legality of the evidence collected by these forced examinations. According…
LebMASH: Persecution and marginalization of LGBT people have serious consequences on health
On this International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH) would like to take the opportunity to remind government officials, Lebanese police and security forces, policy makers, health care professionals, and the public in general that persecution and marginalization of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people and other…
Lebanon appeal: LGBT sexuality isn’t ‘against nature’
An appeal for an end to persecution and marginalization of LGBT people in Lebanon comes with a useful twist: It argues that because “homosexuality is a natural variation of human sexuality,” it therefore should be exempt from Lebanon’s law against sexual intercourse “against nature.” The wording “against nature” is a common euphemism that many nations…
Animated short tackles Lebanese misconceptions of homosexuality
In Lebanon, as well as in many places around the world, a social stigma exists surrounding homosexuality. This stigma leads to numerous misconceptions, misinformation and general misunderstandings. Although the Lebanese Psychiatric Society released an official statement in 2013 saying that,”Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and does not need to be treated,” many Lebanese still view it…
Lebanese judge rules trans man can legally change gender
A Lebanese judge has ruled that a transgender man can legally change his gender in the country’s civil registry. Judge Janet Hanna of the Court of Appeals of Beirut last September ruled in favor of the trans man who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery. Her decision was released on Friday. Dr. Omar Fattal, president of the…
Lebanese sexual health NGO seeking funds for ‘Breaking the Silence’ program
LebMASH, a Lebanese NGO that works to further sexual education, has turned to crowdfunding to ensure a continued funding stream for its “Breaking the Silence” grants that reward students who are contributing to increased awareness of physical and mental health issues related to sexual minorities and sexual health in general. “Growing up in Lebanon, we…
Covering LGBT issues in the Lebanese media
LebMASH was represented by Ramy Shukr at the “Covering LGBT issues in the Lebanese media” workshop hosted by SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, in partnership with the Thomson Foundation and Maharat Foundation on Tuesday November 11, 2014 at L’Appartement, Achrafieh, along with representatives of different organizations, including the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and…
Lebanon Launches Police Raids Targeting Gay Men
BEIRUT, Lebanon Lebanese police has launched a sting operation targeting gay men across the country making dozens of arrest. The operation begun on Saturday with police arresting 27 men for alleged gay sex and indecency during a raid on Agha Hammam in the area of Hamra-Concord, Beirut. Six have been released on Thursday while the…
NGO urges state to enforce anal test ban
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam has yet to respond to a letter he received earlier this month from a sexual health organization urging him to put an end to unethical “anal tests” and other discriminatory measures used on those suspected of being homosexual, which is illegal under Lebanese law. In a letter sent in October,…
Homosexuality is not an illness, Lebanese scientists decide
Homosexuality is not an illness and cannot be ‘cured’, two leading Lebanese mental health organizations have agreed in a landmark ruling. The Lebanese Psychiatric Society (LPS) and the Lebanese Psychological Association (LPA) declared that gay people could not be treated as it was not abnormal, the first time scientific organizations had made such statements in…
Anti-Gay Lebanon: 27 Arrests in Raid on Turkish Bath
Lebanon’s national police and security force raided a Turkish bath in the Hamra-Concordsection of Beirut on Aug. 9 and arrested 27 men. The men were questioned about their sexual orientation and held for at least three dayswithout being told the charges against them, a group of human rights and LGBT rightsorganizations said. The organizations have…