Kamal gay

Al-Solaylee is no stranger to gay rights. During his formative years kamal gay Yemen, Beirut and Cairo, he discovered he was gay. When he moved to Toronto from England inhe started writing for the gay news magazine Xtra. His book, Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremeswhich detailed his struggles with being gay in a society that did not condone it, was released to critical acclaim and won the Toronto Book Award.

Al-Solaylee said there is a widely held view that the intolerance to homosexuality in the region is a direct result of religious beliefs. The main Islamic argument against homosexuality is in the Hadith, a collection of teachings by the prophet Muhammad, which contains verses forbidding men to lie with other men.

In many Arab countries, homosexual activity is either illegal, or punishable by public lashings, stoning or the death penalty. The one exception is Israel. That culture in general does not place much emphasis on individuality, which explains why there is particular resistance to gay rights as an organized movement.

It moves sexuality to a public space. For Al-Solaylee, the Arab Spring held the possibility of changing that worldview.

Ryerson professor Kamal Al-Solaylee speaks on gay rights in the Arab world

On the other hand, he argued, gay rights movements are slowly becoming more and more prominent in some countries, such as Beirut. Al-Solaylee also pointed to the growing number of Arab men in other parts of the world, such as Canada, the United States and United Kingdom, who speak publicly about the need for change.

These voices provide a lifeline of moral support to closeted men in Arab countries, he said. Skip to content. Close menu. Photo by Peter Bregg. The warning was ominous. Ryerson professor Asmaa Malik on why the open data movement matters.