I Wanna Be Mawaleh

Seeing people getting left out – emotionally, socially, mentally, physically – you name it! – has always made me mad for as long as I can remember. I grew up like one of those girls who other kids think is weird but can’t quite put a finger on it. Still I was taller than everyone else in my age group so I was used to sticking up for myself and other people. I am a pretty polite person but I got into lots of trouble for saying what I thought at school especially when I was pointing out something I considered an injustice. I would go and shout at the big boys beating up a little kid for his lunch money and tell the teacher off when they made an assumption about a usual suspect. It didn’t make me popular but I usually didn’t care as long as I wasn’t lonely.

When I was 16, a guy came to our school and came out to me after [Read more…]

They Call Me Drama

Mawaleh was at first an idea which later became an obsession. I gave it lots of my time and effort, because, after a few issues, I thought that it was really worth the trouble. But when producing the first few issues, I really felt like I wasn’t going to continue contributing due to the lack of connection and the everyday threats of being mortared, bombed or arrested.

I had to run away from my hometown. Run away from all the fears and insecurities everybody imprinted onto my body and mind. Yet again, I lost the contact even though I was outside of Syria. I couldn’t take my PC with me, and things weren’t as promised or as I suspected. I found myself with drips of internet from time to time, until one of my roommates donated his laptop to me to work on while [Read more…]

Adam and Mawaleh

Mawaleh Challenges:

When my friend first approached me with the idea of Mawaleh, I was a bit hesitant but also loved the idea of being part of the first LGBT magazine in Syria.

At first, I thought it would be an easy part-time job that would help me fill my spare time, but after working on a couple of issues, I realized that it took a lot more time and effort than I thought.

I work on the sections about International News and Sexual Health and I chose those parts because they do not involve as much literary writing as the others. However, looking for interesting news that would suit the audience of the magazine proved to [Read more…]

Mawaleh Audio: Men in Black in Syria

بونجور يا حلوين… [Read more…]

Bradventures

زار برادلي سكر سوريا في مرتين مختلفتين، كانت المرة الأولى في أواخر عام 2007 بهدف التعرف على سوريا التي لم يكن يقرأ عنها الكثير، مما اعتبره قصوراً في الإعلام الغربي، أما المرة الثانية فكانت في صيف 2010 لغرض العمل مع مجموعة من اللاجئين العراقيين المثليين في سوريا في ذلك الوقت.

في الزيارة الأولى، توقف برادلي في حلب لعدة ليالٍ في مناسبتين التقى خلالهما شخصين مختلفين، لكنّ التجربة الجنسية كانت [Read more…]

Several Gay Men Arrested in Beirut

On Tuesday, July 28th, Lebanese police closed down “Cinema Plaza” Movie Theater in the Burj Hammoud neighborhood of the capital Beirut. The movie theater, which is a known cruising spot for gay men, had been closed three times already. However this time, the police arrested 36 people including the theater’s owner. [Read more…]

اعتقال عدد من الشبان في بيروت بتهمة المثلية

قامت شرطة الآداب اللبنانية يوم الثلاثاء 28 تموز باعتقال 36 شخص من سينما “بلازا” في منطقة برج حمود في العاصمة اللبنانية بيروت كما أغلقت السينما واعتقلت صاحبها أيضاً. هذه الحادثة ليست جديدة من نوعها فهذه هي المرة الثالثة التي يتم فيها إغلاق السينما المذكورة والمعروفة بتردد الشبان المثليين عليها ولكن الجديد في هذه المرة هو اعتقال أكثر من 30 شخص من رواد السينما.

اقتيد المعتقلون إلى أحد مخافر بيروت حيث أجريت عليهم فحوص شرجية في محاولة للتأكد من ممارستهم الجنس الشرجي الذي يعاقب عليه القانون اللبناني تحت المادة 534 تحت مسمى “الجماع المخالف للطبيعة” [Read more…]