Transgender
All topics-
Sex life in Saudi Arabia
Lifting the veil
Wild parties and a freewheeling sex life are part of everyday life in many places in the world today. Saudi Arabia is not one of them. Discreetly, however, those who want to hook up and party under the radar have been networking there for a long time. Johannes Sedak went on a search for clues in Riyadh
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LGBTQ+ Pride
Being queer and Arab
As Pride Month draws to a close, Richard Marcus delves into Saqi Books’ latest publication, "This Arab is Queer". Edited by Elias Jahshan, this anthology of essays is remarkable for its honesty in addressing what is still a dangerous and controversial subject in many of the writers’ countries of origin
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Michel Houellebecq's "Aneantir"
Lonely white males
With his latest tome, French literary provocateur Michel Houellebecq completes his writer's quest: to portray a dying white patriarchy. The big surprise comes in the acknowledgements. Christine Lehnen read the book
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"Break norms, find freedom"
Indie film "Warsha" tackles Arab gender taboo
Lebanese director Dania Bdeir, who has just scooped up the Sundance Film Festival's award for best international short film, says she wants her short to "break the norms" on sexuality and gender in the Middle East.
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Obituary: Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazy
"How can I survive in a society based on hate?"
In 2017, Sarah Hegazy was arrested in Cairo for displaying a rainbow flag, the symbol for homosexuality and queerness, at a concert. The activist recently took her own life in Canada. By Christopher Resch
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Interview with playwright and novelist Sasha Marianna Salzmann
The trap of the century
Shortlisted for the 2017 German Book Prize with her debut novel "Ausser Sich", playwright and novelist Sasha-Marianna Salzmann discusses the sense of flux – in language, gender and in nations – that dominates contemporary existence and how the past continues to live on. Interview by Noha Abdelrassoul
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Transgender rights
Pakistan's Hijra hold their heads high
In March 2018 Pakistanʹs transgender community experienced an incredible turnaround, when legislators passed a new law protecting them. Pakistani author Mahwish Gul believes it is the first step towards ending marginalisation and deprivation
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Moroccoʹs ʹaitaʹ folk music and "Cabaret al-Shaikat"
Cross-dressers lead a musical revival
On a makeshift stage in Casablanca eight men perform wearing women's outfits, a band resurrecting the nearly forgotten historical Bedouin genre of ʹaitaʹ music. By Mariam Qamar
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Transgender activism in Pakistan
The dynamic third gender
In times of increasing radicalisation, minorities and those who occupy society's niches and in-between realms can become prime targets, as the attack last weekend on a gay nightclub in Florida so painfully demonstrated. Recently, however, on the other side of the globe in South Asia, there have also been some astounding breakthroughs. By Sara-Duana Meyer
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Interview with LGBT Rights Activist Arsham Parsi
''Rights are never given; we have to fight for them''
Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT human rights activist who lives in exile in Canada. In this interview with Ceyda Nurtsch, he speaks about the situation for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBTs) in Iran and his work to support LGBT refugees who flee the country for the West and explains why he is so optimistic about it all