History
editMiddle East
editThe Middle East, considered to be the cradle of civilization, has a long and diverse history. And parts of that history can be seen through the lense of homosexuality. It should be noted that using terms like "homosexuality" are inherently problematic, since using modern categories and conceptions of identity do not necessarily capture timeless aspects of humanity and may reflect contemporary sentiments and politics. However, when looking at historical records, the term "homosexual" and its variants will be used as terms connoting same-sex proclivities, sexual or otherwise. There is much debate among scholars and historians as to the use of such terms, because they carry the weight of modern issues such as identity, which may or may not have been apart of the conscious discourse in past eras.
Much of the evidence of homosexuality in this region historically comes in the form of pedestry, the adoration of young boys by older men, as well as sodomy. These will be discussed under the umbrella of "homosexuality" as they relate to male-male relations (where sources far outnumber accounts of female-female or other such relations), and as such is not meant to be a judgement of modern day conceptions of the topic.
Ancient (Pre-Islam)
edit
The Biblical account of David and Jonathan has been read by some as the story of two lovers.
"La Somme le Roy", 1290 AD; French illuminated ms (detail); British Museum
The Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh has been seen by some scholars to contain some of the earliest possible written accounts of a homosexual relationship, albeit through a highly stylized mythical account. The protagonist, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu. When analyzing the text, historians have looked at possible word play in the tablets that could lend itself to be interpreted as a loving relationship between the two men. (quote would be nice).[1][2][3][4]
David and Jonathan in the bible.
There are also examples of male-male relations in Ancient Egypt. Although not always seen in the most positive light, some versions of the Book of the Dead specifically admonish the practice of Sodomy. There are also written accounts of Egyptian soldiers using sodomy to debase and discredit the enemy through rape..[5] These references may not be the most positive, but their existence may infer that such practices were not unknown to the people of ancient Egypt.
Arrival of Islam and the Ottoman Empire
editNo shortage of examples, especially poetry.[6]
Homosexuality in Jewish communities under the Ottoman Empire.[7]
(The problem is in qualifying something as "homosexual" when such categories don't exist until 1860-1880.)
Colonial and Western Influences
editThe Middle East was seen as a sexual haven for deviant practices by some western travelers and explorers. Their views may be more of a result of Orientalist thought, imposing pre-conceived notions of what people were like in the region, instead of describing the actual situation.
There are a handful of accounts by Arab travelers to Europe during the same period. Two of these travelers, Rifa'ah al-Tahtawi and Muhammad sl-Saffar, show their surprise that the French frowned upon men fawning over beautiful men and boys.[8]
Scholars have used these accounts by Arabs in the west to infer that what is seen as shocking by the travelers must imply that homosexual or pedastic practices must not have been uncommon in their countries of origin. (cite)
Victorian attitudes of sexuality and Orientalism, reproduced by Arab scholars[9]
Modern Day
editRegardless of the how historical events and records are interpreted by contemporary historians and scholars, there are individuals that identify as homosexual, gay or lesbian, or other variants of the LGBT community. Of the 22 countries that commonly make up the Middle East and North Africa region, ## have anti-sodomy laws. In some countries, like NAME, the laws concerning legal sexual practices are distinctly lacking in terminology signaling out specific sexual homosexual practices amongst men or amongst women. Other countries, like Lebanon, have anti-sodomy laws in the books but they are enforced with irregularity.
The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turned heads when he claimed that there were no homosexuals in Iran during a commencement speech at Columbia University. (source & quote). While this was seen by most of the world to be a gross overstatement of fact and a denial of the existence of a minority group in the country, it can also be seen as a reaction to "homosexuality" as a recent and "western" identity construct (source).
Joseph Massad's book Desiring Arabs (2007) looks at the issues of sexuality and the Arab world. It can be seen as building upon Edward Said's work in Orientalism.
Much as "homosexuality" was not termed as such until the end of the 19th century in the west, terminology in the Arabic speaking world has also adapted to what some see as a new concept vis-à-vis identity. Lutiyyun (sodomite) vs. mithliyyun (homosexual)[10]
List of LGBT groups in the Middle East, and/or based abroad and focused on communities in the Middle East and North Africa.
Central and South Asia
editContent that is already in this section will be moved here as appropriate.
References
edit- ^ Dynes, Wayne (1992). "Introduction". Homosexuality in the Ancient World. Garland Publishing. pp. vii–xv. ISBN 978-0815305460.
- ^ Held, George F. (183). Wayne R. Dynes & Stephen Donaldson (ed.). Parallels between The Gilgamesh Epic and Plato's Symposium. pp. 199–207.
- ^ Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn (1992). Wayne R. Dynes and Stephen Donaldson (ed.). A Note on an Overlooked Word-Play in the Akkadian Gilgamesh. Garland Publishing, Inc. p. 264.
- ^ Thorbjørnsrud, Berit (1992). What Can the Gilgamesh Myth Tell Us about Religion and the View of Humanity in Mesopotamia?. Garland Publishing, Inc. p. 452.
- ^ Manniche, Lise. "Some Aspects of Ancient Egyptian Sexual Life". Garland Publishing, Inc. p. 327.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ El-Rouayheb, Khaled (2005). Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-72988-5.
- ^ Ben-Naeh, Yaron (2005). "Moshko The Jew and His Gay Friends: Same-sex Sexual Relations in Ottoman Jewish Society". Journal of Early Modern History. 9 (1–2): 79–105.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ El-Rouayheb, Khaled (2005). Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800. The University of Chicago Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-226-72988-5.
- ^ Massad, Joseph S. (2007). Desiring Arabs. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-50958-7.
- ^ Zollner, Barbara (2010). Samar Habib (ed.). Mithliyyun or Lutiyyun? Neo-Orthodoxy and the Debate on the Unlawfulness of Same-sex Relations in Islam. Praeger. pp. 193–214.