On an October evening in a small town, Matthew was in a bar, when he met two men, Aaron and Russell, who pretended they were gay. Matthew, who was gay himself, asked them for a ride back home. They accepted, but instead, they drove him to a remote, rural area, and proceeded to rob him, […]
December 31, 2013
Nobody should ever get used to assassinations, to car bombs, to random killings. 4 days ago, 8 people were blown to pieces in Downtown Beirut. It usually takes people in Lebanon 3 days to recover from these things. Day 1 is sadness. Day 2 is anger. Day 3 is clubbing. It’s how we survive. This […]
November 5, 2013
It’s a dark night in Beirut, the San Francisco of the Middle East. This darkness is powerful. It represents Beirut’s past, its present, and its bleak future. But tonight, it also represents the state of gay people in this Middle Eastern city by the sea. Hassan, whose name I have changed to protect his privacy […]
June 26, 2013
A fierce battle broke out between Salafists, led by Ahmed Al Assir, and the Lebanese Army on June 23, 2013. The battle left over 20 dead, and hundreds injured, all the while further increased tensions in Lebanon. Below is a photo essay of the events. Ahmad Al Assir, shown here in a picture from 2012, […]
June 23, 2013
Beirut is loud these days. Very loud. There’s the usual noise: the honking cabs, the whistling boys, the over enthusiastic greetings. There’s the construction, left and right, below ground and up in the air, building new homes, offices, shops, and restaurants that will remain empty. We still have the whispers. “Look at what she’s wearing”, […]
March 26, 2013
She sits there, in front of the TV, staring at a black screen. The house is empty. It is silent. She hears the echoes of laughter. The memory is still there. Her seat on the couch remains the same. She does not move over to the more comfortable side. That was where her lover used […]
March 20, 2013
“Let’s plot sexy revolution, plan perverse adventures and talk about pornographic ideas.” Acid. It was the meeting place of every single outcast in Beirut. Men, women, and everything in between could go there, for one night, and have the time of their lives. Or they could end up in jail. And even when they did, […]
February 27, 2013
If I was standing naked in front of you, here’s what you would see: 7 scars on my chest, ranging from a centimeter long, to 9 centimeters long. These are the result of a series of surgeries I underwent between the ages of 16 and 18 as a result of my lungs collapsing. Towards the […]
February 10, 2014
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