A common statement published on August 29 by The Legal Agenda and the LGBTQ+ NGO Helem, issued that an appeal was filed last Thursday, August 25, at the state’s Shura Council in response to the Lebanese interior ministry’s Anti LGBTQ+ Decision.
The Anti-LGBTQ+ Decision was released by Interior Minister Al-Mawlawi, on June 24, 2022, banning any and all meetings or gatherings related to what he called “the phenomenon of homosexuality”, which led to the cancellation of events and meetings for LGBTQ+.
According to The Legal Agenda and Helem, the appeal is based on the minister’s illegitimate decision to issue such a general ban, deemed to violate the Lebanese Constitution by restricting freedoms, and in direct contravention to the principles of necessity and proportionality, as well as constituting a threat to civil peace and inciting hatred against marginalized groups.
Minister Al-Mawlawi’s decision to prohibit LGBTQ+ meetings came in response to religious authorities’ requests claiming that they “contradict social traditions and the principles of the Abrahamic religions.”
It is noted that Al-Mawlawi’s homophobic decision was issued while more than 80% of the people living in Lebanon are deprived of their basic and essential human needs, and while he abstains from implementing arrest warrants against suspects in the Beirut port explosion.
