Amid Pride Month, Hezbollah bloc slams 'erotic perversity' as 'abnormal' and 'Western'

BEIRUT — The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, affiliated with Hezbollah, condemned in a statement Thursday "erotic perversity," labeling it "abnormal" and "Western." The statement comes amid LGBTQ+ Pride month.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the Hezbollah bloc denounced the “abnormal and shocking concepts and manifestations [of sexuality] being marketed to the Lebanese regardless of their affiliations and regions.”

“Those actions are contrary to the culture and customs of our people, its national interests and its moral values as well,” the bloc said in its statement.

The statement noted that “it is a serious matter that threatens the Lebanese society and makes it a prey to following and blindly imitating a Western model whose moral structure is collapsing and its crimes against peoples and states are exposed on all economic, as well as educational and behavioral levels, in addition to the tragedies and disasters resulting from its security and military policies and programs.”

“The invocation of freedom does not cover the crimes of immoral departure from human originality and the laws in force, nor does it justify complacency or neglect of national interests,” the statement concluded.

In March, the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah had also denounced the "attempt to change our culture, led by the West." He took the opportunity to attack the LGBTQ+ community, saying, "The culture of homosexuality is very influential and comes from the United States. It is not only demonic; it has real effects."

LGBTQ+ Pride Month is a month, typically June, dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in the US in 1969, and has since spread outside of the United States.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc said last June that it “rejects any tolerance of the promoters of sexual perversion, pornography and homosexuality” in Lebanon because of the “danger” it poses to Lebanese society.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi sent a letter to the General Directorate of General Security and the General Directorate of Internal Security last June urging them to crackdown on LGBTQ+ gatherings, leading to the cancellation of some planned Pride events.

Lebanon's Penal Code is sometimes used to prohibit “sexual intercourse contrary to nature” through Article 534, which was put in place by the French mandate. However, in recent years, courts have taken steps towards decriminalizing homosexuality by ruling that same-sex relations are not “contrary to nature.”

The Lebanese Psychiatric Association released a statement last year stating that “homosexuality cannot be considered a disease that requires treatment.”

In 1973, homosexuality was removed as a mental disorder from the second edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, a publication by the American Psychiatric Association that is referred to internationally and includes various types of mental disorders.