STORIES

RIGHT TO BREATHE

MENA Region

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and Queer (“LGBTQ”) citizens across much of the Middle East and North Africa (“MENA region”) are not free: under Islamic Sharia law, same-sex activity is illegal in 10 of the 18 countries in the region, punishable by death in six. State-sponsored repression is reinforced by the social stigma that is strongly influenced by the cultural traditions and religious mores of Muslim communities. A 2013 Pew Research Centre survey found that most people in the region believe homosexuality should be rejected: 97% in Jordan, 95% in Egypt, and 80% in Lebanon. Despite these grave legal and social hurdles, LGBTQ people in the MENA region are finding ways to speak out. They are telling their stories to combat homophobia and transphobia and to exercise their rights.

"Right to breath", uses anonymous portraits and interviews with LGBTQ community members living across the region to invite viewers into the hopes, fears, and lives of everyday people who are fighting just to be who they are. Photographing remotely over Zoom, collaborated with LGBTQ people to make portraits in which their identities are protected. Each portrait is then projected onto a white cloth on which has printed quotations from sharia law, Hadiths, and Verses of the Quran that are criminalizing homosexuality, homosexual acts are forbidden in traditional Islamic jurisprudence and are liable to different punishments, including stoning and the death penalty. The Muslim community as a whole, worldwide, consider homosexuality a grave sin.

My name is Razye, and I'm 19 years old and I live in Laghman, Afghanistan. I don't have the right to breathe in Afghanistan because I love girls. Being a woman in Afghanistan is considered a second-degree citizen itself, and it gets a lot worse when you are lesbian also. In my city, the Taliban have a lot of influence and everyone must live according to Sharia law. I don't have simple rights here, I couldn't finish school, I always have to were Burqa, and now my family is forcing me to get mar-ried to a man. They do not know that I am lesbian and do not want to get married. If they find out, they will kill me, they have that right. Stoning is the punishment for being gay, and the Taliban do it. I rather die than be forced to marry a man, I will do it if the time comes. I have no plans for my future, and the word future has no meaning for me.

I'm living in Egypt and my name is Waaiz. I don't have the right to breathe here because like other countries in this region we don't have any supporting laws for LGBTQ. Every day we experience harassment and systematic suppression. People can do whatever they want to us, even police can detain and torture us solely because of our gender expression. Believe it or not, I'm scared for my life, and I think I can’t find a normal life here. I know some friends who had been arrested by police, they trapped them through dating applications. They got physically and mentally and were forced to sign confessions. I'm not optimistic about the future but maybe things change.

I'm Sherwin. I am gay and I live in Iran. I don't have the right to breathe in my country just because I'm gay, everything is against me here. I have no rights or even safety. I was raped by a friend when I was in high school, it was terrible but I still couldn't get over it, but this wasn't the only thing. I had several street harassments experiences, one several people beat me up and made fun of my clothes, cut my hair, and threatened me not to go out like this. The biggest problem in this coun-try is the authoritarian religious and Islamic government, they are supporting religious people, and based on and sharia law we don't have the right to live. My biggest fear is that nothing will change and everything will remain the same, but at the same time, I still hope everything will change and get better one day and we can get our freedom.

My name is Salma and I'm 27 years old lesbian that lives in Iraq. I don't have the right to breathe because we do not have any legal protections against discrimination and violence. I'm experiencing everyday physical, sexual, and verbal harassment here, and a lot of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Queer (“LGBTQ”) citizens are frequently victims of vigilante justice and honor killings. Being gay is dangerous especially in my hometown, there were reports of violence against LGBTQ citizens such as crushing the heads and limbs of gays with concrete blocks repeatedly until death or some have been thrown or pushed from high buildings. I'm living in everyday fear that these things might happen to me one day and the only thing I can do is hope that maybe in the future our lives change.

I'm Taraneh and I am 37 years old. I don't have the right to breathe in Turkey because I am a queer and refuge here. I was forced by my family to marry a man at the age of 14, I had no clue what that meant at that time. when we married It was hell for me. I had no interest in him, nei-ther emotional nor sexual, but every night when he approached me and I had no choice except to be silent. A few years later I found out that I'm gay but I couldn't do anything, as a woman and a gay everything was against me in this country based on the laws. For 16 years I was with that man until we both came to Turkey for a trip and I got the chance to escape from him and seek refuge here. It's been 7 years that I'm living in Turkey, at first, my problems are over but in all these years, I got cancer, we do not have health insurance nor working permits, and besides all, I still experience everyday harassment everywhere. There are supporting laws in Turkey for the LGBTQ+ community but most of the people don't care what they are saying, they just listen to what Islam saying about gays. They are evil, kill them.

My name is Ali, I am 25 and I live in Tehran. I don't have the right to breathe here because based on state law it's forbidden to fall in love with another man. It is hard to fall in love here because if they find out that two homosexuals are in love and have a relationship, they risk death and execution. Here I cannot live as a normal human being, all is because I am gay. My biggest fear is that my family finds out that about my sexual orientation and they reject or even kill me because they are re-ligious and strict and support the law. I wish one day people understand that being different is also beautiful and normal, and what is happening inside our bed is not the reason to be sinners or evil.

I am Tariq, 25 years old. I am a trans man who was forced to leave Syria and seek refuge in Turkey because of my gender identity, which is different from the norms of Syrian society, as well as because of the civil war. In Syria, I could not perform gender confirmation surgery. On the other hand, I was repeatedly tortured and verbally abused by my family and society. They believe I am a sinner and threatened to kill me many times. I have been living in Turkey for four years. Here I have per-formed my gender confirmation surgery and living with my partner but still, people here are as religious and fanatical as the Syrian people, we are facing harassment physical abuse, We are just hoping to relocate to another country to start a new life without any kind of discrimination.

My name is Artemis and I am 24 years old. I am an Afghan gay man born in Iran, My family immigrated to Iran because of the Afghan civil war. Because my family is traditional and religious they pushed me so much when they found out I was gay. They tried Conversion therapy, I was taken to a psychologist for treatment. I was locked in the home for two years. the pressure continued until I escaped and took refuge in Turkey. I'm settled here for now but people here are the same as they were in my country, traditional and religious. We can not be seen together outside otherwise we get harassed or physically abused, they see us as sinners.

My name is Pegah and I am 22 years old. I am lesbian and I live in Iran. I do not have the right to breathe here because I al-ways experience physical, sexual, and verbal abuse just because of my sexuality, It happens every day and everywhere. My biggest fear is that I don't find the chance to experience love here and be alone for all my life. Experiencing love in Iran is very difficult because same-sex love is not recognized, this is an Islamic country and the relationships between the same sexs are a sin and a crime. I'm planning to leave Iran soon, as long as I'm here, I can not be free and live a life without any kind of discrimination.