Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Sept. 13, 2021. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi sent a letter on Monday to the Internal Security Forces and General Security ordering them to ban an LGBTQ+ event scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, based on his earlier decision from June to stop events that "advocate homosexuality," the state-run National News Agency reported.
That decision had been temporarily suspended by the State Council last week.
This is the second time in recent days that Mawlawi has issued such a request, despite the State Council's suspension.
Last Friday, Mawlawi sent a similar letter to the ISF and General Security to ban an LGBTQ+ event that was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Beirut's Achrafieh neighborhood. At the time, he cited a risk of "security incidents," stating that he "learned that a group in Achrafieh was planning to prevent this event."
In his letter dated Monday and published Tuesday by the NNA, Bassam Maoulaoui recalls his earlier decision "to prevent the holding of celebrations, meetings or gatherings to promote the phenomenon of homosexuality." He wrote that he feared "extreme parties hostile to the state would exploit an event to cause disruption."
The content of the event banned last week by Mawlawi was not specified, nor that of the activities scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
A member of Helem ("Dream" in Arabic), an NGO dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights, told L'Orient-Le Jour he was "trying to get in touch with the people involved" in the canceled events, but didn't know the details.
"This way of targeting LGBTQ+ people is very harsh and goes beyond the legal framework," he added.
In June, a pro-LGBTQ+ demonstration that was planned to take place in front of the Interior Ministry's headquarters in Beirut was postponed due to "threats," according to its organizers. Prior to the demonstration, a self-styled Christian group based in Achrafieh and calling itself the "Soldiers of God" released a video showing its members tearing down a billboard with the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag formed with flowers.
Lebanon criminalizes same-sex relationships under Article 534 of the Penal Code and other articles referring to "public morality." LGBTQ+ people are often excluded from certain social, economic and political rights in Lebanon's confessional system though the constitution guarantees the protection of human rights and equality of citizens.