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“The primary role of the court is the protection of the individual and of his personal liberties within the community where he exercises his rights and duties without any discrimination between citizens.” These words are the beginning of the historical sentence by Lebanese judge Rabih Maalouf during the August 7, 2015 trial where 9 homosexuals (two lesbians and seven gay men), were accused of sexual acts against nature and prostitution.

Metn district judge, in Beirut, took a position against the usual interpretations of Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code used to persecute and sentence LGBTQI people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex) and openly declared its unconstitutional juridical usage so far adopted towards homosexual citizens.

The ruling in favor of the defendants of January 26th, 2017 finds its basis in Article 183 of the Lebanese Penal Code, according to which “the act committed during the exercise of a right is not a crime if it is not abusive,” judge Rabih Maalouf explains. To support his decision, the judge clarified his interpretation of Article 183 in a four page document, illustrating the bases of his own judgment by exonerating the defendants from the crime of homosexuality for the very first time.

In the proposed analysis, he initially supported the principle of equality among the citizens of a democratic society that guarantees the enjoyment of total personal rights and freedoms as human beings, without any discrimination based on sexual orientation differences from that of the majority of the surrounding community.The judge also cited the World Health Organization (WHO) which no longer considers homosexuality a disorder or a disease to treat [The Legal Agenda].

The struggle for the abolition of Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code has come a long way; specially if we look back to 2002 when the Hurriyat Khassa (Personal Freedom) association proposed to revise the provision. The first outline of this article, issued by Batrun (Tripoli) district judge in 2009, did not include a specific conviction. In 2013 the article helped with the release of two men arrested while performing oral sex: the act was not considered to be a “relationship against nature” because it was not clearly stated in it.

The Helem association has always defended the rights of the LGBTQI people and has organized demonstrations throughout the country since its 2004 inception in Beirut. After more than a decade of legal battles, Lebanon can claim to be the first Arab country where the right to love is recognized independently of sexual orientation.

Lyas Laamari
translation by Barbara Burgio
©2017 Il Grande Colibrì

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