Our societies have always treated gender issues with suspicion and suspicion, even though we, like all other human beings, are sexual beings, and we have our own interests, thoughts, and views, but we prefer to make that into the bedrooms that are closed, but to put it into public discussion we feel tense and tense; With public debate on gender.
The issue of gender identity and sexual orientation is a thorny issue, especially in light of the absence of clear Arab definitions of these worlds, so as to complete the process of ignoring and pretending not to exist. Therefore, as we completed this file, we found it appropriate to put a summary of the ideas and definitions that we touched upon in one subject.
Basic definitions:
Sexual orientation
One's attraction to others, which is either heterosexual (heterosexual), homosexual (attracted to the same sex), or double-sex (heterosexual). This definition takes into account the fact that it is bisexual and does not apply when introducing the concepts of non-belonging to bisexuality (that is, not to be a man or a woman).
gender identity
A person's deep inner sense of who he is, as an object of a certain gender, or of the gender to which one feels belonging.
Normalization of variance
The belief that people belong to the opposite and complementary sexes (men and women) and that sexual heterogeneity (their attraction to each other) is the only natural situation, and that sexual and conjugal relations take place only between men and women.
Preferential concession
Is a special right, a special privilege, an immunity given to a person or group only; usually because of the unjustified over-view and historical power of this group over others in society, or simply for the majority of them. Examples include a preferential preference for white skin, the preferential privilege for the Sunnis in predominantly Sunni countries, the preferential privilege for heterosexuals in various societies.
Patriarchal system
The belief in the superiority of women's men by their nature has historically stemmed from the development of agricultural society, which divided the functions of society between men and women. The Abrahamic religions and the authoritarian regimes came to confirm this thought, which led to the repression that women face at the present time.
Different categories of sexual orientation
Heterosexual:
People who are used to emotional/sexual attraction to heterosexual sex, such as the attraction of men to women and women to men.
Gay (Homosexual):
People who are used to emotional/sexual attraction to their sex. The man who is attracted to the man is called Gay, while the woman who is attracted to the woman is called Lesbian, but both in Arabic are called gay.
Dual Sex (Bisexual):
People who are used to an emotional/sexual attraction for both sexes.
Transgender:
Persons who do not feel a similarity between their sexual identity and the sexual organs in which they were born.
Gender Queer:
Persons who do not classify themselves according to sexual identity or according to the sexual organs they were born in, and refuse to be classified as either male or female.
Bisexual (Intersex):
People who combine male and female genital organs into one body since birth.
Why do homosexuals feel the need for coalition?
You probably heard the term "LGBTQI" one day. It is an abbreviation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transgender, surrogate and pessimistic (who have not yet settled on their sexual orientation), an emerging term coming from all the different identities of different sex identities
It includes all the different aspects of homosexuality and its supporting groups, from welfare institutions for gay rights, or charitable organizations that seek to raise awareness about homosexuals and their identity, as well as individuals who are active in the field of home mobility and engage with organizations and organizations in organizing human rights campaigns, Minority homosexuality politically in different sectors of the state when required.
Homosexuals feel they should stay with their peers because they are a minority in societies where the majority are heterosexuals or religious extremists, who may be radicalized in rejecting homosexuals to reject their presence within the boundaries of their residential areas.
In this case, the greater the number of pro-gay groups and their civil rights, the minority has a better chance of communicating their demands to the authorities and state agencies if needed. They form community-based gatherings and human rights organizations, which also take the form of small groups within education centers and universities.
In recent years, homelike communities have begun to receive support from governments and communities internationally, but the situation is not the same in the Middle East. All Arab states condemn homosexuality communities, so they are covertly living in constant fear of being discovered, Up to torture, humiliation, and execution, or exclusionary practices from society and those closest to them.
The struggle of homosexuals in the Arab world
In societies that boast of male circumcision and impose sovereignty over most of life's affairs, the lesbianism of men is considered a derogation from manhood and distortion of the eastern male person who is authorized to act on behalf of everyone in his home. The whole idea violates the prevailing norms and community traditions. This foundation, the retaliation of homosexuals by violating their rights and apportioning their charges and penalties.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, the authorities fined a private school a sum of SR 100,000 (equivalent to USD 26,665) because of its rainbow colors on the roof of the building, only because it was the "gay slogan", As described by «the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice».
In some parts of Iraq and Syria under the control of a preacher, male homosexuals are punished by throwing them from high altitude. If the convicted person does not die, he is stoned to death.
The British newspaper The Guardian reported that sanctions against gay defendants in the Arab world could go beyond financial penalties too much worse stages in cases of homosexuality.
Penalties in countries that enact laws to criminalize homosexuality, such as Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, and Syria, may reach up to 10 years' imprisonment. Countries that do not enact specific laws to criminalize homosexuality are still under conviction Other laws, as is the case with the law prohibiting the "practice of debauchery" in Egypt.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) likened the approach of Arab countries today to the issue of homosexuals in the way European societies treated homosexuals in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Religious zeal dominated the concept of sexual roles, and all those convicted of homosexuality were executed, With others and indulgence with homosexuality in the golden age of Islam (from the middle of the eighth century to the thirteenth century).
But foreign colonialism (since 1858) changed everything when he imposed standards of decency and introduced laws to condemn homosexuality to the states under his tutelage, from the Ottoman Empire to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, after the Indian Penal Code, which formally criminalized homosexuality in 1860.
The future of homosexuality in Arab countries
There is a constant quest to place sexual practices within the framework of identity, with all that identity carries to resolve concepts that may be at times as variable as sexual preference. There are those who find it appropriate behavior, as practiced by the opposite sex, which some people see the need to be classified as bisexual
One does not have to put himself within the limits of the tariff boxes set by others, especially in the most private and intimate matters such as sex. It is a matter of the person and not of others. The trusteeship will not do any good in trying to prevent people from exercising their lives in a natural way. As well.
Some people may say that these "newly created" sexual identities contribute to weakening the family institution and thus weaken society, which is inaccurate. In our presentation of the file, we suggested that homosexuality, for example, existed throughout history, , And some of these practices have been a social duty in a number of societies, and we have also presented the homely practices in Arab and Islamic history throughout the ages, through dealing with homosexuality in the Gulf.
In the meantime, we have faced many questions, and we have to question our personal convictions and our own heritage. We wondered, for example: What does it mean to believe that men play the role of women in sexual relations? What do we mean by the "role of women" in the sexual relationship? In fact, as long as Arab society behaves as if it does not have a role for women in the relationship at all, it is merely an effect, and as long as the society considers it to be "inferior to it," it is an insulting act.
For example, we found ourselves wondering whether dual-sex would consider it an insult to them; because we were taught that "taking" or equivalent to "sexual intercourse" is necessarily insulting, even in Arab countries, An angry act in quarrels, and has a well-known and common sign in most Arab and foreign countries, is the finger sign.
All of this puts us in front of fundamental questions about our vision of sex as an insulting act from which we derive "obscene" gestures and phrases, even though we do so naturally. Although the same people return to use sex elsewhere to denote "obscurity" and "masculinity" The result of sexual activity, children, "pride" and "pride", even though they are the result of that obscene act, the "introduction," which includes "action".
The issue of sexual identity is the beginning of an extended discussion that we must continue to work on, in the context of our endeavor to speak openly about everything we see and live in our societies without shame, fear or hesitation, based on our belief The need to open doors and talk about it openly and openly.