Q-Living Real Estate
LGBT living in the Carolinas
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Q-Style
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The mini is back
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Q-Living Review
Paris Hilton
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Photo: James White
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Vol. 21 . Number 08 www.q-notes.com August 26.2006
Struggle in the Middle East
A young gay Muslim talks about his
life, and the Arab-Israeli conflict
by David Moore . Q-Notes staff
exclusive
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As conflict rages, a young gay man con
templates his future.
At press time a fragile cease-fire continued
to hold between Israel and Lebanon. The
death toll in Israel numbered 75, while well
over 1,000 Lebanese have perished.
Twenty-two-year-old Ismail is a gay Shia
Muslim who describes himself as “a simple
Southern Lebanese guy.” He also prefers to go
by the nickname Izee.
At the time of the interview Izee is in
Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. He’s wor
ried about family and friends that are still in
the area.
“There are still a lot of relatives there from
both sides of the family, including my
Grandmother,” he says. “We know we’ve lost
some relatives and a lot of people we just don’t
know — suddenly all the connections with
them were lost.”
For the most part, Izee is in the dark about
what is happening to his family and friends
that remain in Lebanon, although access to
media is providing him with some details.
“I know what I watch on Al-Manar and
other channels like BBC,” he explains.
“Everybody is really suffering there. All of
southern Lebanon is horribly damaged and
the southern part of Beirut is totally, totally
destroyed. People don’t have water, food and
access to medicine. Many people have lost
their homes and they have no money. One of
my gay friend’s boyfriend was killed in an
explosion.”
According to Izee, life for gays and lesbians
in the Middle East is much better in places
like Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, UAE and Qatar.
“That’s correct,” he says. “Especially in
Lebanon things were in a much better situa
tion before the war.”
Izee is adamant about his commitment to
Islam, though he clearly practices it with a
modernized interpretation. He enjoys going to
nightclubs and has visited a gay bar in Dubai.
He admits that he also enjoys smoking and
drinking. All things taboo, for most Muslims.
“I’ve lived my life studying the holy book
and reading in other religions to try and
understand the relationship between homo
sexuality and religion,” he says. “I’m content
with what I’ve found. I know who I am. I
understand me.”
Although being openly gay is not common
in Arab and Muslim culture, Izee is, for the
most part, openly gay. “I am. To the people
around me that 1 Imow are, too, and the peo
ple that I know like me and are accepting.”
His relationship with his immediate family
operates on a sort of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
kind of policy.
“I think they all know inside that I am —
especially my mom and sister,” he says. “I don’t
think they accept it, but they’re trying not to
believe their feelings. What I am sure about is
that they love me and will love me whatever 1
am. At the end, we’re still family^’
In many ways, this young gay Arab man
seems remarkably similar to a young gay
American male. He enjoys partying and club
bing. He’s passionate about his beliefs. He
keeps an eye on entertainment and fashion
and he also yearns for a relationship with
another man.
“That is my dream,” he says. “But a lot of
things are hindering this dream. One of them
is the international gay society, which, I feel, is
shifting its idea of what it means to be gay
towards one-night stands. That’s not what I’m
looking for.”
Like many young gays and lesbians around
the globe, he’s plugged in to the modern world
— he maintains a blog site that boasts per
sonal thoughts and details of his life —
including the fact that he’s gay.
It’s been reported in the media that some
Arab countries (Egypt, for example) have used
the internet to entrap gay men, which makes
me question the safety of maintaining a site
that can be accessed by just about anyone.
“1 get scared sometimes and it does con
cern me, but you tell me, shall I die under lies?
I’m a guy who can’t be in a jail, who can’t be
controlled by force, at the same time I’m not a
trouble maker, so I’m just living my life. The
blog, I guess, is my own personal way of revo
lution.” ^
There is one resounding difference
between Izee and a young gay man you might
meet on the dance floor of some local club
here in the Carolinas: his outlook of the future.
It’s disparaging and bleak.
In a passage from his blog, he writes:
“I’m just waiting for my turn, cause
[there’s] no need to live anymore on such an
see gay on 23
A soldier’s story
exclusive
Thoughts of the past
and future
Editor’s Note: These are the
thoughts of a gay soldier — a
North Carolina native — who has
been deployed to Iraq. Because of
the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
policy, he must remain anonymous.
Over the past year 1 hope I have shed some
light on this war and given you a perspective
on what Iraq has been like.
I have traveled all over the country recently
— back to the Palace in Baghdad and will be
back there again this week. Afterwards I’m
headed north — though for security reasons I
can’t say where. I dread this trip — it will be
the most dangerous trip so far. We’ll fly to an
undisclosed location and then convoy to our
final point.
It’s a rough trek of over 30 miles by vehicle.
All of us will be armored up a'nd ready to go
with a full-authorized battle load.
I’m not scared, but I do have some trepida-
see soldier on 23
Knowing the enemy
The faces behind the
S.C. ‘marriage amendment’
by David R. Gillespie . Q-Notes staff
Who wants to enshrine in the South
Carolina Constitution discrimination against
all of those families who do not fit a particular
model of marriage — one man, one woman,
bound together for life?
The driving force behind the passage of
what is now Amendment 1 on the General
Election Ballot in South Carolina is a group
called the Palmetto Family Council (PEC). It is
doing so through a campaign called
The South Carolina Marriage Amendment
Campaign.
The PEC is a nonprofit foundation that was
formed in 1994. It operates in association with
the notoriously antigay Focus on the Family
and Family Research Council. It is a strange
mix of conservative, evangeli
cal Christianity with neocon
servative, and oddly enough,
neo-confederate, ideology.
The organization’s President
is Oran P. Smith. The campaign
chair is none other than the
state’s attorney general, Henry
McMaster.
Behind those two men are a
host of supporters representing
! right-wing,evangelical
Christian concerns and the very
right of center political views.
The Advisory Committee
for the PFC reads like a “who’s
who” of very conservative
South Carolinians representing both public
see driven on 12
The men spearheading S.C.’s anti-gay
discrimination efforts: Palmetto Family
Council President Oran P. Smith and
S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster.
Lesbians murdered in Jamaica
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Irans’s gays respond to international support
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