Arab gay group demonstrates in Lebanon

Kazakhstan News.Net
Sunday 10th May, 2009

Gay men and women in Lebanon have taken to the streets in a brave effort to show the rainbow flag.

Protesters on Sunday carried banners and unfurled flags at a sit-in for gays and lesbians in Beirut.

The region's only overt gay rights organisation, Helem, which is based in Lebanon, is preparing for a campaign to overturn the law that makes homosexuality illegal.

Helem has been responsible for organising the only overt gay rights protests ever to be held in the Arab world.

In February, nearly two dozen gays and lesbians waved rainbow flags in a downtown Beirut square, carrying banners demanding homosexual rights.

They were protesting what they said was the beating of two gay men by police.

Helem is now set to challenge Lebanon's Article 534, which prohibits sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature."

The region has seen a recent spike in killings of homosexuals, blamed by some on the influence of Islamic extremists.

Leaders of Helem have said the group is slowly making progress in preventing discrimination and violence.

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