Is Beirut's Reputation for LGBT Tolerance a Myth?

Beirut's reputation as a haven of tolerance in the Arabic-speaking world has taken a knock this spring. In the past, U.S. media have labelled Lebanon's only major city the party capital of its region and even (ludicrously) as the "Provincetown of the Middle East," thanks to its hedonistic, occasionally gay-friendly nightlife scene. There's some truth in this. Despite a hazy legal situation concerning same-gender sex, Lebanon is indeed alone among Arabic speaking countries in having a more or less open gay social scene, as well as the Middle East's first activist groups for both gay and lesbian rights. Last month, however, reports emerged of a brutal raid on a Beirut gay bar called Ghost, where several patrons were arrested, stripped, photographed and manhandled by police on orders from a local mayor. So is Beirut a tolerant haven or a city on the brink of an LGBT crackdown?

Talk to Beiruti gays and lesbians, and you'll find the truth seems to be as complex as the rest of Lebanon's social politics. In a country held together by a wary part-truce between many religious and ethnic splinters, most things there seem to have a spirograph-like intricacy on closer inspection. Beirut's waxing and waning reputation for tolerance reflects both Lebanese governments' conflicted attempts to align themselves with the West and anxieties about the country's future.