Lebanon

Demographics

Estimated Total Population:

6.8 million

World Bank, 2019

Estimated SGM Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated Total SGM Adult Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated % of SGM Adults (18+):

N/A

N/A

Lebanese law condones the arrest and of persecution of the SGM population by the police force. While Lebanon is considered progressive in terms of The Middle East’s acceptance of the SGM community, even LGBTQ activism is deemed societally immoral with pride parades in both 2017 and 2018 being cancelled due to terrorist threats and police officials (Human Rights Watch). According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Arab barometer, only 6% of Lebanese people accepted homosexuality (BCC: World News).

Lebanon's Laws and Policies from ILGA World Report (2019)

RECOGNITION
Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
No
Civil Unions
No
Joint Adoption
No
Second Parent Adoption
No
PROTECTION
Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
No
Broad Protections
No
Criminalization of Violence
No
Ban of Conversion Therapy
No
CRIMINALIZATION
Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
No
Gender
Male Only
Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
1

Selected Published Studies, Reports, and Other Documents

Fattal, Omar MD, MPH; Mahmoud, Hossam MD; Bazzi, Lama MD. “A Brief Overview of Advances in LGBT Mental Health Advocacy in Lebanon” Harvard Review of Psychiatry: 7/8 2018 -Volume 26 -Issue 4 -p237-240 doi: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000169

Harb, Ali. ‘'This Revolution Has Raised the Bar.' How Lebanon's Protests Have Created a Surprising Space for LGBT Rights’ November 13, 2019. Time Magazine. https://time.com/5726465/lgbt-issues-lebanon-protests/

Hasan M. Abdessamad and Omar Fattal. LGBT Health. Jun 2014. 79-81. http://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2013.0039

Kaplan RL, El Khoury C. The elephants in the room: sex, HIV, and LGBT populations in MENA. Intersectionality in Lebanon: Comment on "Improving the quality and quantity of HIV data in the Middle East and North Africa: key challenges and ways forward." IntJ Health Policy Manag. 2017; 6(8):477–479. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2016.149

Moussawi, G. (2015). (Un)critically queer organizing: Towards a more complex analysis of LGBTQ organizing in Lebanon. Sexualities, 18(5–6), 593–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460714550914

Nagle, J. (2018). Crafting radical opposition or reproducing homonormativity? Consociationalism and LGBT rights activism in Lebanon, Journal of Human Rights, 17:1, 75-88, DOI:10.1080/14754835.2016.1246956

Nagle, J.  & Fakhoury, T. (2018) Between Co-Option and Radical Opposition: A Comparative Analysis of Power-Sharing on Gender Equality and LGBTQ rights in Northern Ireland and Lebanon, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 24:1, 82-99, DOI:10.1080/13537113.2017.1422641

Sahar Obeid, Chadia Haddad, Wael Salame, Nelly Kheir & Souheil Hallit(2020)Correlates of Homophobic Attitudes in Lebanon: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study, Journal of Homosexuality, 67:6, 844-862, DOI:10.1080/00918369.2018.1557954