Abstract
This chapter explores the creation of alternative spaces of deliberation for sexual minorities during political transitions, focusing on the role of social media and collective action of lesbian gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists. Given the unyielding, repressive politics in Tunisia and Lebanon, the author explores the question of why and how respective LGBT communities were able to consolidate their human rights advances despite the sociopolitical challenges. This study is based on Foucauldian concepts of spaces, notably the paradigm of heterotopia, so-called spaces of otherness. Drawing on heterotopias that are simultaneously physical and mental spaces, the author presents new findings on the difficulties connected with generating spaces of collective identities and advocating for minority rights. The research draws from social media content analysis and in-depth interviews with activists and other stakeholders to map the creation of new spaces for these minorities. It maps different types of activities to illustrate how during this process, art served as a medium to create innovative spaces of deliberation. The author argues that the creation of this new fragile spatiality is challenged by several factors, including narratives and memories of secularist and Islamist traditions.
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Notes
- 1.
Shams registered as an association with the government’s secretary general in May 2015.
- 2.
United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed resolutions to acknowledge these rights globally in 2011 and in 2014 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Discrimination/Pages/LGBTUNResolutions.aspx, accessed 1 February 2016.
- 3.
See UN world demographic data at http://unstats.un.org/, accessed 10 November 2016.
- 4.
In many societies around the world, this is 18.
- 5.
See, for instance, M. Foucault (1977).
- 6.
Interview with ICTJ staff on 13 January 2015.
- 7.
See, for instance, Kurze and Lamont (2019).
- 8.
See http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=14847, accessed 2 February 2016.
- 9.
For a discussion on the creation of common identities at the national level see also Anderson (1991).
- 10.
Foucault wrote his piece “Of Other Spaces” in 1967, for a lecture in Tunisia. It was eventually published before his death in the mid-1980s.
- 11.
The selected interviewees for this study are not exclusively from the LGBT community. The author will conduct additional interviews for this chapter focusing on LGBT members in a follow-up study.
- 12.
Between 2016 and 2018, the author is conducting a multidisciplinary project based on this initial research, including several institutional collaborators across the Maghreb.
- 13.
Lebanese politics have been marked by a confession-based, consociational power-sharing structure since the nation’s inception in 1943. Sectarian fault lines run deep and are reflected in the institutional setup. The presidency is reserved for a Christian Maronite, the post of the Prime Minister occupied by a member of the Sunni community and the seat of the Speaker of the House is left to a Shia parliamentarian.
- 14.
Interviewed on 10 January 2015. The association is supported by international development agencies and donors including the United States, the European Union, Japan and the Arab Institute for Human Rights, among others.
- 15.
The acronym stands for the French name of the organization, Association Tunisienne pour la Lutte contre les Maladies Sexuellement Transmissibles et contre le Syndrome d’Immunodéficience Acquise.
- 16.
For more details about their activities see http://www.atlmstsida.org/, accessed 1 January 2016.
- 17.
See, for instance, Helem’s website at http://www.helem.net/ and their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Official-Page-for-Helem-Lebanon-133916233311662/, accessed 20 November 2016.
- 18.
The pseudonym “Marwen” was given to the victim by activists in order to protect his identity.
- 19.
See, for instance, https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/freemarwen?source=feed_text&story_id=606979069451821, accessed 3 January 2016.
- 20.
See press release by Amnesty International, http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/good-news-tunisia-marwan-released-ua-21615, accessed 15 January 2016.
- 21.
For a comparative analysis on the role of graffiti in different countries in the Arab Spring see Schriwer (2014, pp. 376–39).
- 22.
The author visited the premises during his fieldwork in summer 2014.
- 23.
See Yazan Halwani’s YouTube video “Eternal Sabah,” available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXAx85MtKtM, accessed 20 November 2016. Text translated by the author.
- 24.
See, for instance, Sbouai (2015).
- 25.
Interview with Laetitia Deloustal, art history scholar and researcher, on 17 January 2015.
- 26.
See also interview with Héla Ammar, artist and scholar, on 14 January 2015.
- 27.
See Mashrou’ Leila website at http://www.mashrouleila.com/, accessed 20 November 2016.
- 28.
See Femen website at http://femen.org/, accessed 2 January 2015.
- 29.
“Harlem Shake,” originally a 1980s dance, refers to a song of the same name that became popular in 2012.
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Kurze, A. (2020). Seeking New Metaphors: Gender Identities in Tunisia and Lebanon. In: Mohamed, E., Fahmy, D. (eds) Arab Spring. Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24758-4_11
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