Jordanian secret police have been accused of intimidating gay people by “outing” them to their families and of forcing the closure of two LGBTQ+ organisations.
Human rights groups say activists have been abducted, harassed and monitored, as well as having their sexuality revealed to religiously conservative families.
Sources say the intimidation campaign has seen a recent increase in targeting of LGBTQ+ individuals and groups by Jordan’s General Intelligence Directorate’s (GID). In January two activists were allegedly detained by GID officers and had their bank accounts frozen.
Mounir*, director of an unnamed LGTBQ+ centre, described being forced into a car by intelligence officers, before being interrogated and detained overnight. GID agents then called his parents, he said, and told them that he was homosexual. » | William Christou | Friday, August 18, 2023
LGBTQ+ rights
Sadly, anyone who thinks that attitudes to homosexuality are going to change much in the Middle East is whistling Dixie. As we all know, life in the Middle East is dominated by Islam—family life, public life, political life, everything—and it permeates each and every aspect of everyday life.
Attitudes to homosexuality, homoeroticism and homosexuals are profoundly hostile. The West’s relative relaxed attitude to homosexuality in the past decades is often viewed with scorn and derision and is also viewed as a sign of the decline of Western civilization.
This is not to say that homosexuality is rare in Middle Eastern countries; it is not. On the contrary, there is more homosexuality in Islamic countries than most people could possibly ever imagine. But it is hidden. In Islam, what you do in private, without being caught, is between you and Allah. The trick is not to get caught in flagrante delicto! And certainly not to talk openly about one’s sexual orientation or sexual proclivities. If you are caught in flagrante delicto, you’re in deep trouble! That was so, is so, and is likely to remain so for as long as Islam is their life’s guide and religion, or more accurately, Deen. Islam is considered to be far more than just a religion, or faith. Islam is a total and integrated way of life. It shapes and fashions everything; how you eat; how you dress; how you greet each other in the street; how you make love; how you go to the bathroom – absolutely everything.
There is no room in Islam for homosexuality. No room at all! However, it is true to say that being homosexual is less of a sin than behaving like one. In a Muslim’s eyes, if a man is a homosexual that denies himself all the pleasures, he will still go to heaven.
Having homosexuality accepted in Middle Eastern countries as it is in many Western countries, may be the hope of many politicians, but it will never become a reality. At least not in the foreseeable future. This is not being negative; rather, it is being realistic. Some younger Muslims might well have changed attitudes, but the laws in Muslim countries, fashioned as they are by Islam and the Shari'ah, are deeply hostile to LGBTQ+ rights. – © Mark Alexander
