Lebanese Officials Will Always Find It Awkward To Deal With Gay Issues

There has been a plethora of web articles about Beirut being the most gay-friendly place in the Arab world. The reason is simple: Lebanon does not outlaw homosexuality.

But as I wrote 4 years ago, public officials don’t like to be seen dealing with difficult social issues and prefer if the conservative lay-people don’t notice:

Our government is liberal enough to accept homosexuals, but the way the Lebanese system handles tricky social issues can be summarized as: Do it, we will regulate it, but let’s all try not to talk about it.

The reason I’m bringing this up right now is that they shut down beirut’s most famous gay club for the Eid vacation “because of complaints about the noise levels”. We all know they’re making this up, but this is all part of that systematic official denial.

The authorities should have been honest like that waiter who wouldn’t serve wine during Ramadan. They should have said instead: “We are closing the famous gay club because we don’t want the entire Arab gay population to come and celebrate the end of Ramadan here, since this is traditionally the holiday in which Muslims love to sin”.