LGBP activities cancelled and Coordinator arrested

<p>Security forces arrested on Monday the organizer of the LGBT Beirut Pride platform 2018 which was planning to launch a weeklong event of activities against homophobia and transphobia from May 12-20 (c.f: https://bit.ly/2GlM9NJ). According to L’Orient Le Jour which reported the news, Hadi Damian was detained from Monday through Tuesday at Hbeish police station where he was interrogated for his translation into Arabic of allegedly “provocative to modesty” texts published on the Platform’s website. Damian was later released after signing a pledge to end all remaining activities of the event. On the subject, Damian’s attorney, Leila Sakr, pointed out that her client was keen to translate the texts which bring to light the living conditions of LGBT persons in the country in a realistic way, using terms common among people, like “against nature”, wondering if this language provoked the security forces in the first place. Sakr clarified that she advised Damian to sign the pledge in order to avoid referring the case to the courts. For his part, Damian revealed that it is not the first time such activities have been banned, pointing to last year’s demonstration in Beirut streets that was stopped under security and religious pretexts. What happened this year, Damian said, can be described as an act of intimidation and abuse of power, promising to continue the struggle for the rights of the LGBT community. (L’Orient Le Jour, May 16, 2018) 
 

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