SHADOWLAND

Hiding in Plain Sight

Arab gays are under siege in societies that want to pretend they don't exist. But a new biography of an Arab artist offers another view.

By Christopher Dickey | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Apr 22, 2009

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  • Posted By: Nadine Toukan @ 04/24/2009 9:34:01 AM

    Read this essay yesterday and got very angry to tell you the truth. This thin slither perspective of Ali Jabri is not what his life was about. Yes Ali was gay, but that is not the legacy he left behind. Rather than go off on a rant criticizing what is your right to express things as you see them of course, I figured it best to be constructive and blog a few fond memories about the man who changed/saved me and the reason I found my peace with Jordan: http://urdunmubdi3.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ali-this-blogs-for-you

  • Posted By: tokindaddy @ 04/22/2009 7:37:56 PM

    I'm glad gays are not welcome in Arab society, they shouldn't be excepted anywhere, it's not normal behavior!!!

    • Posted By: dubbleoj @ 04/24/2009 1:58:43 AM

      A friend of mine just came back from a tour of duty in Iraq. In EVERY town, he said, there are male prostitutes who will quietly service the village men. My friend and his men were offered these services at the expense of contacts they had made on several occasions, as gifts of good faith. When authorities catch wind, every once in a while, that the village has such a man in their midst, he will be stoned, and replaced by another--who is not as conspicuous. But all the locals know that these men exist--who else would these men be servicing? As the article says, homosexuality is not new to the Middle East.
      My roommate was in the Marines, amongst the first troops deployed in '03. His fellow troops were once reprimanded by his officers for handing out used pornographic magazines and dvds to very willing recipients within the towns.
      And so while it seems that they would like to be perceived as intolerant of homosexuality or moral promiscuity, it is something they deal with and have experience with just as much as the rest of the world. They are portrayed as being ruled by strict fundamentalists, and this portrayal is further spread by our media...but they are people with just as many materialistic and secular desires and issues as any. They aren't aliens.

    • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/23/2009 3:42:01 PM

      "I'm glad gays are not welcome in Arab society,"

      Then go live with Bin Laden and his kind. Yuo would fit right in.

      " they shouldn't be excepted anywhere"

      You are correct since EXCEPTED means that they are bineg excluded and treated differently. They should be ACCEPTED though.

      ", it's not normal behavior!!!""
      To you maybe but not to nature. Homosexuality occurs thr0oughout nature so it is very much normal.

  • Posted By: Partoftheplan @ 04/23/2009 2:45:12 PM

    Who defines "normal"?

  • Posted By: Metri @ 04/23/2009 2:46:56 AM

    Though I do not condone his sex orientation, he had a gentle soul of an artisit. I had no problem of being around him although others would whisper.

  • Posted By: wildechild66 @ 04/23/2009 1:54:11 AM

    Thankfully, there are plenty of people in this world who understand that it is possible to be polite and friendly with someone, even if you do not condone their behavior. It is only by learning to live with others and play nicely that we will be able to get things done--because there is plenty of work that needs doing right now.

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