The Fluidity of Space by Nour Hamade

The Fluidity of Space

Queer Identity and the Third Space in Beirut

Nour Hamade Elective Course Creative Encounters - Cultural Generators Fourth Year - Term Two David McAlmont, Tanja Siems &Theo Lorenz

3241 Words

“The social universe of sexual desire, in painting, as in life, is so often of necessity communicated through the subtlest gestures, glances, and codes. When the desire in question is literally illegal, it is all the more fugitive, such that images of queer historical import… have passed under our contemporary perception utterly undetected.” Elizabeth Otto 1

Body, Form, Object / Censorship The relationship between sex and power has always been repressed to the simple conflict between male and female. Desire has mostly been represented between these two sexes, identifying them as the norm. Same-sex desire, on the other hand, has existed since Ancient Egypt, persisting through the classical antiquity and the Renaissance, to modern today, constantly living in the shadows of taboo, predominantly through subtle instances of art and literature. The continuous conflict between the licit and illicit notion of this ‘repressed sex’2 has always been a topic of discussion amongst the dining table, the coffee shop, the bar, the club and the court. Imposed in the “triple edict of taboo, nonexistence, and silence,”3 queer men were seen as ‘the third sex,’ forced to examine the possibilities of space. Queer space always begins within the closet; it transposes scale and leads to a speculative understanding of space. Queer existence was not deemed acceptable both in the domestic spaces of the home and the public spaces of society; which required the creation of that new ‘safe’/queer space - identifying as the ‘third space’ - neither public nor private, but ambiguous. Queer 4 provides a sense of undefined abstractness; used to describe those who exist outside of societal ‘norms’ or of what society mandates. Throughout time, the Arab world has always had a reputation of constructing restrictive and censored cultural forms, where the ‘repressed sex’ does not exist and the concept of queerness is subdued. Taboo, nonexistence, and silence create the narrative in which queer people in the Middle East must aim to survive in. Beirut, once named the Paris of the East, bears a rich history of resilience, vulnerability and heterogeneity. A city comprised of a wide spectrum of demographics, attempting to occupy and share space, living separately and together. “Beirut, maybe more than other cities, has explored all varieties of materialising difference, from the very cosmopolitan to the very tragic.”5 A monumental period of tragedy and development was the fifteen-year civil war. The conflict brought worldwide attention to the country due to its international involvement and affiliation with the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. As political and religious differences were unfolding, the war broke out in 1975, dividing the city, which would eventually become part of the fragmented urban fabric. Through this essay, the theme of queer space will be examined through case studies both in Beirut and the West. How can an event like Beirut Pride serve as a margin to freedom? What can constitute a safe (‘brave’) queer space within a sociocultural environment that deems queer existence as nonexistent? How important is public reception and acceptance in enforcing change? How can space be fluid? How can we ultimately create spaces that are safe and inclusive to all genders, sexes, sexual identities, religions, backgrounds, beliefs? Essentially; how can we coexist?

Otto, E., (2019). Haunted Bauhaus: occult spirituality, gender fluidity, queer identities, and radical politics. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 14

Foucault, M., (1978). The History of Sexuality: Volume 1, An Introduction. trans. Hurley, R. London: Penguin Books. p. 8

Ibid. p. 5

Within the scope of this essay; the term queer is used to identify the community that falls within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT(QIA+)) group. Queer provides a sense of undefined abstractness; used to describe those who exist outside of societal ‘norms’ or of what society mandates. 5

Herz, M., (2015). Beirut. In ETH Studio Basel, ed. The Inevitable Specificity of Cities. Baden: Lars Müller. p. 230

The Right to Right “Rights are a political mechanism that both produce and threaten the space of freedom” 6 The power of rights. The rights of power. The right to power. Essentially, rights have a dual function, firstly, they can enlarge, expand, or protect the “sphere of action of subjects,”7 sharing power and responsibilities that benefit all bodies of governance. On the other hand, rights can constitute those very subjects and communities and work to reinscribe them within existing forms of power - “recuperating and domesticating the political challenges they might pose.”8 In order to understand the relationship between the subjects and their rights; we must first recognise the notion of rights and law within the act of governing. Foucault’s interests laid within the scope of rights and power; tackling claims for the rights of governing, the right to die, and the rights to sexuality. Foucault stands as a thinker and activist deeply committed to rights politics and as a critique of power and subjectivity. “Freedom is the ontological condition of ethics;”9 in for power to be exerted, freedom must exist, therefore, it is the necessary precondition of power. Foucault’s work initially stemmed as a repudiation on the deceptive insights of disciplinary power and the biopolitical regimes in which such power is exercised, but his later works become powerful acts of resistance. The multiple volumes of ‘The History of Sexuality’ and ‘Discipline and Punish’ serve as insightful views against the insidiousness of disciplinary power and ultimately the power within the subject to subject change and gain their biopolitical rights. Queer existence in Lebanon is somewhat ambiguous. Since Lebanon’s independence in 1943, ‘homosexual activity’ was accounted as illegal in legal texts of the time and punishment attended to imprisonment of up to one year to regards of “sexual acts that go against the nature.”10 Through to 2014, same-sex activity remained the same but judge Rabih Maalouf ruled that “homosexuality is a personal choice and should not be a punishable offence,”11 referencing Article 183 of the nations criminal code; however, the legalisation was not enforced. This period was momentous for queer rights in Lebanon, as the discussion of their existence commenced. On September 9th 2018, ‘homosexual activity’ became legal under the Lebanese supreme court; yet no law within a legal text was passed. Currently, sex change is legal and employment discrimination rights are enforced - in some contexts. As the subject of same-sex desire is a fragile topic within the court Queer individuals in Lebanon are subjected to hate and violence if they are vocal about their identity. Bodies could be arbitrarily detained for a simple suspicion of homosexual behaviour. The closet is essentially the first place that queers can identify with, and the mirror then becomes the mode in which self-acceptance can occur. Firstly, within such a confined sociocultural environment, the ultimate mode of correct behaviour is the formation of an artificial appearance, or the commonly known: ‘passing as straight.’ When individuals accept their true-selves and express their nature and identity to society, they are essentially challenging their safety and allowing their bodies to be scrutinised due to public perceptions of sexual and gender diversity. Rights are ambivalent; they serve as a paradox to the notion of free bodies in space. The law is currently mechanised to instill fear and demean queer existence.

Golder, B., (2015). Foucault and the Politics of Rights. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 112

Ibid. p. 110

Ibid.

Equaldex, (2020). LGBT Rights in Lebanon. Accessed 4 April 2020. https://www.equaldex.com/region/lebanon

Ibid.

The Individual City Cities serve as sociocultural environments that actively produce the bodies of their inhabitants as particular and distinctive types of bodies. Governance, state and power inscribe their beliefs as law and develop rights and freedom in order to construct the biological form and order. The relationship between bodies and cities can provide a representation on the city’s notion of its social, economic, political and cultural exchange. By stripping the elements of the city’s form and structure, we are able to uncover the oppositions that act within. Elizabeth Grosv12 explains that there are two potential models for understanding the body/city relationship. The first is a straightforward concept of a ‘contingent’ relationship between the body and the city; essentially, the city is a mere reflection, project or product of bodies. The city therefore develops according to human needs and design; the body is conceived as a sovereign and as a selfgiven agent and ultimately - whether that is individually or collectively - it is responsible for all social and historical production. Grosv’s second model is defined more by a parallel relationship, or isomorphism. The two (body and the city) are understood as analogues, conforming counterparts, in which their different features, characteristics and organisation are reflected in one another. Hence, the state then parallels the body. These two models aim to convey both the economic and aesthetic organisation of space and place that create the semi-permanent but ever-changing milieu or built environment. However, the first model ultimately subordinates the body simply as a tool, and demonstrates a one way relationship, where the cause and effect is simply subjected to the environment. The second model, in which Grosv13 compares to the theory of seventeenth century liberal political philosophers, promotes the question: does body-politic have a sex? “The city of Beirut was at once the product, the object, and the project of imperial and urban politics of difference: overlapping European, Ottoman, and municipal civilising missions completed in the political fields of administration, infrastructure, urban planning… and architecture”.14 Lebanon has always been at the focus of Middle Eastern history and politics. With numerous biblical mentions, the country is represented as a place of strength and beauty. References to the country’s diverse landscapes, nature, history of violence, peace, beauty and tragedy evoke an almost mythical quality. Beirut, specifically, has witnessed an intense amount of forced change. The urban fabric of the city visualises the constant war between the intended heterogeneity of the urban form, and the mere individuality that results. The city could be described as a ‘myriad of islands,’15 a territory divided into fragments, each representing a specific agenda. Hitherto, the fragments represented a specific religious affiliation, demonstrating a distinct social identity and way of life. Today, religious affiliation is replaced by political ideologies, a mean of occupying space as an access to power; both a foreshadow to the political climate to come and a mere representation of the city’s violent history. Foucault manifests the term ‘docile bodies’ to describe individuals that governments and states seek to mould. In the object of control, “the city must be seen as the most immediately concrete locus for the production circulation of power;”16 it provides the order and organisation that automatically associates otherwise unrelated bodies - the rich with the poor, male with female, and more. The elements of behaviour, the language of the body, the efficiency of movements, and their internal organisation - methods that make possible “the 12

Grosv, E., (1992). Bodies-Cities. In ed. Colomina, B., Sexuality & Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 244 - 247

Ibid.

Hanssen, J., (2005). Fin de Siècle Beirut: The Making of an Ottoman Provincial Capital. Oxord: Clarendon Press. p. 4

Herz, M., (2015). Beirut. In ETH Studio Basel, ed. The Inevitable Specificity of Cities. Baden: Lars Müller. p. 234

Grosv, E., (1992). Bodies-Cities. In ed. Colomina, B., Sexuality & Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 250

meticulous control of the operations of the body”17 Organisations are created in order to shape people to suit a certain job and norm; the fabrication of the ideal type. Gestures and seduction manifest themselves as requisites amongst queer people; seduction being the ritualised and socialised expression of their desires. In order to seduce, the barriers between bodies have to disappear - the body can no longer hide behind its ‘straight’ façade. Currently, Lebanon employs its legal status as a method of control. Limiting freedom essentially creates a conflicting relationship between the subjects and their rights; if the subjects’ behaviour, body language, and identity are not only frowned upon, but also illegal, they are forced to repress their desires and act another way. The cities form and structure provide the context in which social rules and expectations are internalised or habituated in order to ensure a “social conformity where position social marginality at the safe or insulated and bounded distance.”18 Beirut comprises of individual bodies that attempt to live in homogeneity - in evidence to today, this continuously fails as the country has undergone a complicated series of unstable economies, being run by too many individuals that hold very different agendas. Politicians are held with religious affiliations that behold the country’s legal status; many laws stem from phrases written in the Qur'an and the Bible, which mould the cultural perception of individuals. Golder argues that right is much more linked to attitudes and patterns of behaviour than to legal formations and observance.19 Public perception is vital in the struggle against queer rights; eighty percent believe that homosexuality should not be socially accepted, and only eighteen percent do.20As Hadi Damien, the founder and organiser of Beirut Pride states: “the more awareness grows, the more we are invited to bring in voices from all over the diversity spectrum to speak up and be proactive protagonists of our work… the inclusion of everyone is mandatory, especially when it serves a strategic goal that addresses the power balance, and multiplies voices and impact.”21

Body Politic / Political Bodies “The body itself may be regarded as the locus and site of inscription for specific modes of subjectivity” 22 Members of subcultures inherently used to employ protective camouflage, whilst probing for other hidden clues, signs, or signals that might reveal the presence of others within those subcultures. In the midst of Modernism, situated in the Bauhaus, Heinz Loew’s Double Portrait of Loew and Trinkaus in the Studio (figure 1), featured two men, sitting opposite each other, creating dream visions of the future. The interaction between the men, the subtle gesture of Trinkaus stroking Loew’s face and the mutual glazing, conveyed what Lord Alfred Douglas cited as “the love that dare not speak its name.”23 One element is constant; the man in the middle, Loew himself, solid and impassive; the man on the left was photographed in only one of the photograph’s two exposures - so that he is both present and absent - “as if he were a figment of Loew’s imagination, a projection of his desires, or the memory of a lost love.”24 The other elements photographed also convey the subtle hints of same-sex desire; the twinned vessels, the vase and jar, superimposed on its surface suggest “an attempt at containment of the picture’s male subject.”25 The vase, in its phallic form, but whose purpose is to simply serve as a canister, suggests the other hidden clues and signals that Loew attempted to convey in an environment in which his existence was 17

Foucault, M., (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. trans. Sheridan, A. London: Penguin Group. p. 137

Grosv, E., (1992). Bodies-Cities. In ed. Colomina, B., Sexuality & Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 250

Golder, B., (2015). Foucault and the Politics of Rights. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 105

Pew Research Center, (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries. Accessed 13 April 2020. https://www. pewresearch.org/global/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/ 21

See Appendix.

Grosv, E., (1992). Bodies-Cities. In ed. Colomina, B., Sexuality & Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 241

Douglas, A., (1894). Two Loves. In ed. Ratcliffe, S., (2011), Oxford Treasury of Sayings and Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 274

Otto, E., (2019). Haunted Bauhaus: occult spirituality, gender fluidity, queer identities, and radical politics. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 155

Ibid. p. 156

deemed illicit. Taken in 1927, the double-exposure photograph communicates the subtlety of queer activism that existed since the early twentieth century. The West saw great change since the twentieth century, where the legality of queer expression was challenged and forced to change with the advancement of attitudes and patterns of behaviour within western societies. The Stonewall riots are considered the starting points of the modern gay liberation movement; a series of violent conflicts that became the turning point for the modern gay rights movement worldwide. These conflicts - considered as events - revolutionised queer representation and ultimately led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in many countries, as well as the contributing to anti-discrimination acts and legal rights within the West. Starting in the summer of 1969, in Greenwich Village of New York, the series of events began as altercations between police and gay bars.26 At the time, homosexual activity remained illegal in every state except Illinois, and bars and restaurants had the risk of being shut down if they had gay employees or served gay patrons.27 Most gay bars and clubs in New York at the time - including the Stonewall Inn - were operated by the Mafia, who were able to pay corruptible police officers off, whilst blackmailing wealthy gay patrons by threatening to expose (‘out’) them. These sequence of events were often organised by local ‘homophile’ organisations fighting concerts that ranged from anti-gay discrimination in employment and public accommodations, the exclusion of queers from the United States military, police harassment towards queers, and also including the treatment of homosexuals in revolutionary Cuba.28 Following the one year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the first ‘Gay’ Pride event took place in New York, commencing at the newly reopened Stonewall Inn. The riots fundamentally changed the rights and legal status of queer individuals across the West; sparking debates in the courthouses and leading to the legalisation of same-sex activity and anti-discrimination laws, and eventually, transgender rights, same-sex marriage and adoption (although they remain in fight of discrimination in serving in the army). Though constantly shrouding in the closet and in the shadows of taboo, queer spaces have existed in Beirut for quite some time. ‘Acid’, a legendary gay dance club in Beirut, opened in 1998 and was the first gay club in the region. The club served as a place that allowed (mostly) gay men to congregate freely and was a space of empowerment amongst queer Arabs. The first edition of Beirut Pride took place in May 2017, attracting four thousand people who took part in workshops, seminars, talks, gatherings, parties, concerts and movie screenings. Damien state that the effort of pride “works for the full decriminalisation of homosexuality, which means dissociating intercourse between consenting adults performed in a space not open to the public from punitive texts and their interpretations… (decriminalisation) stretches beyond the law and concerns police officers’ awareness and education.”29 Activism plays a vital role in the decriminalisation of queer existence; as the current legality of their existence is challenging, rights are mechanised to threaten the space of freedom to those who do not abide. Rights have a great impact on body politics and political bodies play a vital role in impacting rights. Events, such as the pride march, do not only commemorate great protests of the past in the face of queerness, but have also become queer spaces of public performance and liberation. The march epitomises a public performance of visibility, and builds awareness for those who are discriminated against, abused, harassed and criminalised simply for their identity,30 it is a space for individuals to coexist - a mere representation of the ultimate goal.

Carter, D., (2004). Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York: St. Martin’s Publishing Group. p. 137

Ibid. p. 30

Ibid. p. 33

Beirut Pride, (n.d.). What is Beirut Pride? Accessed 15 April 2020. https://www.beirutpride.org/pride

Ibid.

Fluid “Queer space offers a clear model for such an architectural counter-artifice.” 31 After examining the role of queer space as a form and object in the scope of the rights and freedom, the individual, and the city, it can be assessed that queer space does not exist in practicality, its undefined abstractness allows it to be situated on the spectrum of gender and class; it serves as a place that automatically links unrelated bodies - it is fluid. Today, in the West, queer spaces, including community centres, bars, clubs and concert venues, are reducing and disappearing. The notion of ‘queer’ space is challenged, but could that be viewed as a victory? As public perception of same-sex desire progresses, queer spaces inherently become spaces. The need to conceal and separate from the ‘norm’ is futile and detrimental to the queer right movement. Spaces have become homogeneous and the law is in harmony; people of all backgrounds, sexes and desires can share space, yet still maintain their true identity and form. Events, such as pride, exhibitions, concerts contributed to the advancement of the law; validating their existence in the real world. Spaces, events and acts that aim to put a hidden and restricted group of people on the map actions that place these groups into the city and in the eyes of the public. The domestic space of an individual can be regarded as a display of a collection of artefacts that serve as an objective map of their passions. When an individual is imprisoned in the eye of the public, these objects present the mirrored queer version of the self-enclosed work of the family. Queer spaces developed as orgies in momentary spaces of bathhouses, salons, clubs and tearooms, to the back alleys of bars and clubs, but have now evolved into the domestic space of the individual and to the public eye. Activism, protests and riots serve as the platforms (spaces) of visibility; public perception and societal acceptance are crucial in the efforts of queer rights and are the start to fixating the rights of queer individuals in Lebanon. Ultimately, queer space cannot be created or designed simply as a safe space; it is the space of activism and inclusion; a cultural generator.

Betsky, A., (1997). Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 29

1: Heinz Loew: Double Portrait of Loew and Trinkaus in the Studio, 1927.

2: MAAT: Dissident Forms of Sexuality. 2019.

3: Public Domain Dedication: The Stonewall Inn Riots: A March, 1969.

4: 25th edition of Marseilles Pride, in solidarity with Prides in the Mediterranean, 2018

Appendix: Interview with Founder/Organiser of Beirut Pride, Hadi Damien, on 21 April 2020.

1. How do you believe Beirut Pride serves as a margin to freedom? In a country that interprets legal texts in a fashion that criminalizes same sex relationships, the existence of Beirut Pride, even as a social media page, is defiance. The three yearly editions that we so far organized despite internal and external pushback testify to the perseverance and willingness of people to come together and express their visibility. The nature of Beirut Pride as a collaborative platform invites people to pitch in and introduce their own events, topics, venues and aspirations. The leading organizers (leading because of their events expertise and knowledge of LGBTIQ+ realities in Lebanon) thrive to shape all entries in the most cohesive way and suggest an intersectional program. By opening up spaces and broadening their contribution to LGBTIQ+ visibility, we multiply venues where LGBTIQ+ individuals can be. We conceived the title “Beirut Pride” with the awareness of the media impact it will drive. This has been securing a massive media visibility (more than 330 articles in 18 languages). It has also expanded the LGBTIQ+ network in Lebanon and opened it up to global availabilities. Beirut Pride has also been carrying LGBTIQ+ realities to the world stage, and has been a very active contributor to the Pride network over the world. It is for us about setting precedents that people can build on and reproduce as they please: models of work; existence of work beyond the NGO system; various profiles of people; use of multiple languages at once; new collaborations with various sectors (hence the development of Beirut Pride multi-sectoral framework); action through celebration; the involvement of arts and the intellect, etc. In a nutshell, Beirut Pride is Beirut coming out. Beirut coming out to the world and to itself.

2. What constitutes a ‘brave’ space within a sociocultural environment that deems queer existence? Event and space organizers operate within a set of guidelines they consider and implement to secure a venue in which participants have a pleasant experience. Generic measures that contribute to creating an event that tends to being safe and secure shall be informed by recommendations of the participants, especially individuals who feel scrutinized, their safety challenged because of perceptions of sexual and gender diversity, and/or because of trauma they experienced. Participants are entitled to feeling safe, comfortable and having a pleasant experience. Every event must seek to provide this, especially in strenuous conditions. Recommendations come from holding focus groups in which participants discuss their safety concerns and find relevant and informed ways to address them. Willing participants can work closely with the organizers to make sure generic safety measures respond to their needs. Safety within an event is the interconnection between the safety of the logistics, that of the space and that of participants. It unfolds simultaneously with no hierarchy in implementation. The logistics safety concerns using encrypted software to prevent malign surveillance of communications, securing that the event website and the social media outlets are resistant to hacking, abiding by an encrypted data storage of a high level of security. The space safety concerns the structural safety of a place, the load by m2, the fire safety, the access to and exit from the space, the emergency exits, the security alarm. The participants’ safety concerns hiring a private security firm for door screenings of illicit products and material, training participants for “peer-safety”, recruiting proactive hosts, liaising with paramedics such as the Red Cross for on-site presence, connecting with the police to secure the surroundings of the space, monitoring alcohol quality. The whole governed by a code of conduct, a relevant policy insurance that covers the venue, the participants, crew and equipment, as well as the on-site presence of lawyers, and a continuous

communication with officials informing them of the event for immediate action in case of trouble. This effort does not negate the risk factor. And when the event is open to a larger public, be it a friend, an ally, a family member, the risk factor grows. Despite massive communication of the code of conduct and the safety measures, any accident compromises the safety of an event, of a space. To which extend do we have control over a space and its safety? We mitigate risk, but never nullify it. When a venue becomes the scene of abuse or aggression, how do you respond to the deception of people who were encouraged by your event because it was dubbed a “safe space”? How could credibility be found back and safety measures trusted again? Therefore, is it ethically considerate to speak of a “safe space”? I deem expressions such as “safe space” deceptive. The expression is even more deceiving, given the automatic, thoughtless and therefore reckless use people have been making of it. There is no safe space, but a space that tends to be safe for the people in it. We thrive for a “safer space”, but we can never guarantee it despite all our measures. Just like the term “inclusive”. Nothing is inclusive. We tend to inclusion; we make an event more inclusive than another one; we progress on the path of inclusion through a speech that is accessible to the individuals we are addressing, through the use of displayed pronouns, through a different location, but that’s it. “Inclusion” and socalled “safe spaces” are a continuous process, never reached, and it’s okay – but let’s not make promises we already know we cannot keep. Safe spaces are best called brave spaces. They are brave because participants understand the risks associated to their participation, even though organizers have mitigated them through a participatory set up of safety guidelines and that a support system is in place. Their participation is an adult decision they freely, willingly and consciously make, as they understand their presence is needed, for themselves and for the collectivity. As we celebrate the Stonewall Riots and repeat that “Pride is a riot” or that “The first pride was a riot”, we understand that nothing is mitigated in a riot, and we embrace courage and bravery. All environments deem queer existence because of the lingering misunderstanding and prejudice. What differs from an environment to another is the way governments respond to abuse and aggression. When public institutions are efficient, policies implemented, law enforcement officers trained, and local CSOs allowed doing their work, attacks and discriminations are halted. This is not the state in Lebanon; ours accrues vulnerabilities. This is why opening channels of communications with officials allows them to understand LGBTIQ+ realities (which they absolutely do not know). As change happens in the heart and in the spirits of people, officials will react to the realities they understood. We all create our space, and courage comes from within us. It spreads, and when it reproduces, it expands, becomes a greater force that supports us in dealing with the hostile environment that we eventually convert into a better space. Our public visibility, as much as we can afford, our informed work and courage are the best drivers that lead to spaces we feel safe in.

3. Events like these allow politics and rights to be implemented, tested and challenged - tackling the issues and ultimately (hopefully) leading to a change of the law. How important do you think that public reception is in enforcing change? Everything is perception. People understand the work we do when they relate to it, when they see our perseverance, what drives us. This is when they listen and engage with us. Be consistent and never lie. Accept differences, regardless of how acute and toxic they may be, and build on commonalities. This is the only way to move forward when the balance of power is not in our favor (which is almost never). Use the cultural references of your interlocutors. The more people relate to your work, the more they will defend it and the work

will expand. If public perception is misshaped, the work will backfire.

4. What role do you think that bodies that do not identify as queer have in helping queer rights? Is their inclusion a schematic approach which allows us to fight the norms with people who are considered ’normal?’ I do not relate to the “helping, charitable, altruist” approach. It’s important that we all understand that we want things to move forward because discrimination and hate concern us all. Discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people is not the sole responsibility of LGBTIQ+ individuals. Regardless of how you position yourself on the sexual and gender diversity spectrum, we all care for a parent, a sibling, a cousin, an uncle, a grandparent, a brother, a sister, an aunt, a neighbor, a friend, a teacher, a colleague, an employee so we refuse hate against them based of their sexual and gender diversity. LGBTIQ+ individuals have been at the forefront of the struggle because they are primarily concerned. However, the more awareness grows, the more we are invited to bring in voices from all over the diversity spectrum to speak up and be proactive protagonists of our work. I don’t need to be a tree to speak against the destruction of the forest, or identify as a woman to speak for the rights of women. The inclusion of everyone is mandatory, especially when it serves a strategic goal that addresses the power balance, and multiplies voices and impact.

5. How do you envision space to be fluid? (more of an abstract question in meaning that how can we ultimately create spaces where everyone can feel safe and be included)? I suggest the following methodology. The first step would be to meet participants to identify their safety and inclusion-related concerns and apprehensions. Then, individuals with the experience to work with spaces, as well as willing-participants, come together to conceive the space in an informed way that responds to the elements of safety and inclusion. This cooperation informs the implementation of all the generic safety measures mentioned in Q1. Spaces are fluid as they are environments we create/shape/mold as we please. I’d like to look at spaces as an artwork that serves a specific function in which we evolve. Make it appealing and useful.

Figure Credits 1: Heinz, L., (1927). Doppelportrait Heinz Loew und Hermann Trinkaus im Atelier, Bauhaus Dessau, Doppelbelichtung (Double portrait of Heinz Loew and Hermann Trinkaus in the studio, Bauhaus Dessau, double exposure). Accessed 12 April 2020. https:// www.moma.org/interactives/objectphoto/artists/24428.html 2: Fearson, A., (2019). Dezeen: House installed inside MAAT gallery to draw parallels between queerness and incarceration. Accessed 21 April 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2019/11/23/maat-installation-house-joao-pedro-vale-nuno-alexandre-ferreira/ 3: Walsh, C., (2019). Stonewall then and now. Accessed 17 April 2020. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvardscholars-reflect-on-the-history-and-legacy-of-the-stonewall-riots/ 4: Beirut Pride, (n.d.) Call of Marseilles. Accessed 17 April 2020. https://www.beirutpride.org/marseille

Selected Bibliography Ahmed, S., (2006). Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. Durham: Duke University Press. Beirut Pride, (n.d.). What is Beirut Pride? Accessed 15 April 2020. https://www.beirutpride.org/pride Betsky, A., (1997). Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire. New York: William Morrow and Company. Carter, D., (2004). Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York: St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Douglas, A., (1894). Two Loves. In ed. Ratcliffe, S., (2011), Oxford Treasury of Sayings and Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Equaldex, (2020). LGBT Rights in Lebanon. Accessed 4 April 2020. https://www.equaldex.com/region/lebanon Foucault, M., (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. trans. Sheridan, A. London: Penguin Group. Foucault, M., (1978). The History of Sexuality: Volume 1, An Introduction. trans. Hurley, R. London: Penguin Books. Golder, B., (2015). Foucault and the Politics of Rights. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Grosv, E., (1992). Bodies-Cities. In ed. Colomina, B., Sexuality & Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Hanssen, J., (2005). Fin de Siècle Beirut: The Making of an Ottoman Provincial Capital. Oxord: Clarendon Press. Herz, M., (2015). Beirut. In ETH Studio Basel, ed. The Inevitable Specificity of Cities. Baden: Lars Müller. Landry, C., (2008). The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators. New York: Earthscan. Lederman, J., (2019). 'Trump administration launches global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality' NBC News. Accessed 22 April 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-launches-global-effort-endcriminalization-homosexuality-n973081 Lessig, L., (2004). Free Culture. London: Penguin Books. Otto, E., (2019). Haunted Bauhaus: occult spirituality, gender fluidity, queer identities, and radical politics. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Pew Research Center, (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries. Accessed 13 April 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/ Rose, N., (1999). Powers of Freedom: Reframing political thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.