Still, “we are moving forward not backward,” said Georges Azzi, a founding member of Lebanon’s Helem, the region’s first LGBT advocacy group. Lebanon’s LGBT community has had a similar journey. The crackdown reignited long-running debates within Lebanon’s LGBT community between those who want to celebrate Pride and those who say the focus is still needed on activism and protest to force change. He said the focus has to always be on the security and safety of the LGBT community, particularly the most vulnerable. Elias was dismissive of the divisions in the LGBT community.

Source: thestar May 27, 2018 13:41 UTC