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 espite the false imagery portrayed by the United States, Lebanon is once again back on the tourist map and Beirut - once 'Paris of the East' - has reclaimed her crown as one of the most chic happening cities in the world. Newsweek recently claimed it one of the '12 Cities of Style' and one of the top 3 cities to spend New Year's Eve.
Beirut is the playground of Lebanon with a reputation for glamour, excess and incredible nightlife, shopping, skiing, festivals, ancient ruins and world-famous cuisine. It is a centre of arts, culture, and 'free thinking' in an area of the world clouded by darkness.
Beirut is a city of paradoxes. Old world architecture meets futuristic urban planning, churches and mosques, painted ladies in micro-minis pass religious veiled women in the streets, while clapped out jalopies share roads with sleek new Porsches. Unbelievable wealth and increasing poverty all exist side by side, holding together the delicate fabric of the Lebanese character, each unable to survive without the other.
This paradox is no less evident when it comes to homosexuality. Being gay is technically still a crime but is also a lifestyle quietly flourishing in this the most liberal of Middle Eastern societies.
Lebanese culture is firmly based around old family and religious traditions with no room for drastic change. Most gay people are only out to close friends, returning to their families under the persona of model heterosexual, desperate |
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not to bring shame unto the family name. Most gays face a simple but painful choice: Admit your sexuality and be ostracised from your family, or continue leading a double-life. Most choose the latter.
Here in Beirut one can find an internationally renowned transsexual artist, a flamboyant openly gay male belly dancer (although his mama doesn't know), and a popular TV drag queen, all celebrated by the masses whose government keeps it illegal. There have been scandals involving government officials and members of Beirut's glitterati found in uncompromising situations with gay prostitutes. The most famous made global headlines in the mid-nineties, exposing the seedy goings-on of Beirut's 'Velvet Society'. This hypocrisy only serves to sustain prejudice.
Lebanon 's men are handsome, womanising and fiercely macho yet nowhere in the world is it easier for a gay man to have sex with one. Even Beirut has its cruising grounds (bizarrely Dunkin' Donuts is one of them). At Acid, Beirut's most famous 'unofficially' gay club, bouncers remain on the lookout for officers of the Moral Police and at the mere sniff of them move about separating men who are getting too intimate with each other. There is a gay beach run by a couple of nice Lesbians and even gay-friendly Turkish baths. Things are changing and it is all there as long as you don't give the game away.
Confusion aside, Beirut remains an attack on the senses. An ancient and deeply seductive siren calling from the crossroads of East and West, mesmerising all who venture too near to her; a priestess by day and prostitute by night.
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