My.Kali: This book seems very balanced, in terms of point of view, the background of the writer, his experiences, the incorporation of the erotic and the political. As an editor, what considerations did you have in mind when selecting stories for the book?
ML: I have a stable of writers to whom I sent a call to submissions, but what I received wasn't enough to fill the book. Sometimes I got wonderful stories from people who are not really writers, so we couldn't publish those stories. Some stories we received could be great in the native language but they did not turn out well in English, and no amount of editing can fix that. These stories were all written in English. Another problem was convincing people to tell their stories. Sometimes writers submitted stories under a pseudonym. Other times I actively sought out people whose stories I had heard and encouraged them to put it on paper. For example, I read about Jeff Key in The Advocate, so I looked him up and asked him to contribute. One of the Egyptian stories was actually a longer piece that the author wanted to do, but we edited it to fit the format. They're not all happy stories, they include the psychology of being an expat, the loneliness. It was a combination of many things.
My.Kali: Do you think your book fits into a gay transnational movement?
(ML): This is a very complicated question. I often preface this by saying I'm a journalist and not an activist. I put stuff out there, but I'm not an activist. I present observations and points of view, which is why I did the book, but the notion of a queer international movement, well, that's complicated. We do have groups like Helem, and much quieter groups here in Jordan, and in Syria. I was trying to locate these mystery groups, but that proved impossible.
I think when we look at [international] queer movements or gay rights movements, they are often based on Western models, such as Helem. Then you have the Palestinian movement, where the goal is more trying to fit within the social family structure. Maybe that means, for example, you would tell your family that you're never going to get married, and that you have a “special friend.” You've come out in the context of the family. You're not saying, “I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm gay,” while running around with a rainbow flag. You've made it clear you're different without using that word. This is not a European or a North American model.
So, yes, my book can fit in with that, but I also believe that the queer international movement is not an international movement. There are certain concepts that are colonial and neocolonial that I don't disagree with, but I do believe we in the West use to help explain and understand the Middle East. I think even speaking about Lebanon, you cannot not talk about the colonial period. All over the Middle East the colonial period impacts current laws. You must use some notion of the colonial period to discuss the world now.
ML: I have a stable of writers to whom I sent a call to submissions, but what I received wasn't enough to fill the book. Sometimes I got wonderful stories from people who are not really writers, so we couldn't publish those stories. Some stories we received could be great in the native language but they did not turn out well in English, and no amount of editing can fix that. These stories were all written in English. Another problem was convincing people to tell their stories. Sometimes writers submitted stories under a pseudonym. Other times I actively sought out people whose stories I had heard and encouraged them to put it on paper. For example, I read about Jeff Key in The Advocate, so I looked him up and asked him to contribute. One of the Egyptian stories was actually a longer piece that the author wanted to do, but we edited it to fit the format. They're not all happy stories, they include the psychology of being an expat, the loneliness. It was a combination of many things.
My.Kali: Do you think your book fits into a gay transnational movement?
(ML): This is a very complicated question. I often preface this by saying I'm a journalist and not an activist. I put stuff out there, but I'm not an activist. I present observations and points of view, which is why I did the book, but the notion of a queer international movement, well, that's complicated. We do have groups like Helem, and much quieter groups here in Jordan, and in Syria. I was trying to locate these mystery groups, but that proved impossible.
I think when we look at [international] queer movements or gay rights movements, they are often based on Western models, such as Helem. Then you have the Palestinian movement, where the goal is more trying to fit within the social family structure. Maybe that means, for example, you would tell your family that you're never going to get married, and that you have a “special friend.” You've come out in the context of the family. You're not saying, “I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm gay,” while running around with a rainbow flag. You've made it clear you're different without using that word. This is not a European or a North American model.
So, yes, my book can fit in with that, but I also believe that the queer international movement is not an international movement. There are certain concepts that are colonial and neocolonial that I don't disagree with, but I do believe we in the West use to help explain and understand the Middle East. I think even speaking about Lebanon, you cannot not talk about the colonial period. All over the Middle East the colonial period impacts current laws. You must use some notion of the colonial period to discuss the world now.
"I do believe that there is just as much prejudice in the gay community against Muslims as there is in the general society"
My.Kali: Do you think that the racism Arabs face in the US also exists in the gay community?
ML: Sometimes people don't believe there are gay Arabs. Americans once used to believe there were no gay Catholics. [In terms of racism and stereotypes] I would think that most people would assume that someone who is gay and Arab is less likely to be a terrorist, only because that doesn't compute. [Laughs] I do believe that there is just as much prejudice in the gay community against Muslims as there is in the general society. Then again when the Iraqi refugee I sponsor came to America, there were many, many men who were really happy to meet him and really wanted him to forget about the war. They all wanted to date him, to take him out. He's very good looking, so it was sort of like taking care of 12 year old girl. He was on the phone all the time, he had all these dates. I think its a mix of an orientalist fantasy and a guilt for what [our country] did to him, so, “Why don't you come here and we'll take you out?”
My.Kali: Is there a term for somebody who loves Arab men?
ML: Hummus queen! Want to hear something really funny? I was in Lebanon with someone who runs a gay Lebanese travel company, and he didn't know this term. All of his clients are hummus queens!
My.Kali: Were you ever threatened for writing your book? Was there ever a point when you felt you were in danger?
ML: Well, this project was a compilation so I think many people felt a threat about the book. I have had Afghans tell me more in emails than in person, “We know that men have sex with men here, but we don't want you writing about it.” When the book came out, I got this email from someone from Helmand province, which is a Taliban stronghold, who had heard about the book. He wanted to contact the person the book was dedicated to. It was very strange, so I called him up, a little weary, and he explained that he found out about the book because there's this Taliban news site that had published an article about the book. And he said, “You know, here in the capital of Helmand province we don't really care, but in the surroundings, such a book is very problematic.” I went to the website, which I had been told was run by someone who was former Taliban, and the refugee I sponsor from Afghanistan read the page and only told me it was a bad article, but did not give me further details. “It's bad,” he said.
I worry more for the people that I deal with than myself. I was very worried when the book came out in Arabic because it came out just before I was going to Iraq. I was not going to actually do any publicity for the Arabic version of the book until I was back from Iraq. However, there was a problem with the shaz or shath ( شاذ) versus mithly (مثلي), I don't know if you heard about that, and it brought a lot of attention to me and my book while I was in Baghdad, so I was very worried then.