Thread by @monaeltahawy

When #Oman’s Sultan Qaboos had died,I posted obit,mentioned he was longest-serving ruler in Arab world & one of world’s longest-ruling autocrats,that Oman was 1 of 2 Gulf countries that didn’t ban my 1st book, &told my family WhatsApp group that it was open secret that he was gay

Then I saw this obit h/t @thesailorsgirl and pondered what we should do about people in power who are known to be gay & never come out, whose power & wealth protect them from the horrendous homophobia & violence that so many in the region are subjected to qnews.com.au/condolences-fo…

Sultan Qaboos was longest-serving ruler in Arab world and one of the world’s longest-ruling autocrats. Imagine if someone that powerful and rich had come out? He did not use his power or wealth to decriminalize same-sex relations.

Here was a powerful and rich Arab and Muslim man who could have used that power & wealth to make life less violent and hateful for gay people in his country, the region, and Muslim-majority countries. But instead he did not and used those privileges to make his own life possible

I have said a million times “Fuck the monarchy” - in Britain and in Oman and everywhere. And this is a reminder of why I say that.

“Oman’s legal code punishes homosexuality with up to three year’s jail. That said, the country appears not to bring prosecutions unless a matter becomes a public scandal.” qnews.com.au/condolences-fo…

“In 2013, a local paper published an article describing the sultanate as more accepting of homosexuality than neighbouring countries. The over the top government response indicates the regime’s sensitivity on the subject.” #Oman

In 2019, Mounir Baatour, a gay lawyer and #LGBTQ activist, ran for president of #Tunisia, despite the fact that homosexuality is still considered a crime there. He did not win but I was important nonetheless to see an openly gay person in politics. google.com/amp/s/www.nbcn…

In 2018, for the first time in #Lebanese history, electoral candidates promoted gay rights, google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.…

“We want to topple homophobia; it must go.”

“All forms of exclusion aim to divide us, whether under the fraud of sectarianism or the fraud of homophobia.”

How #Lebanon's Protests Have Created a Space for #LGBT Rights google.com/amp/s/time.com…

“In Beirut,the woman shouted slogans against the ruling class...She then turned to social issues,denouncing sexism & the patriarchy before tackling a more controversial subject in #Lebanon. “We want to topple homophobia;it must go,”she sang. The crowd echoed her enthusiastically”

This must be at the heart of every revolution or else it’s an incomplete revolution: it must be against the ruling class, must denounce social inequalities including classism, denounce the patriarchy and sexism, and denounce homophobia.

If it doesn’t: ask whose revolution is it?

If the revolution just targets the ruling class and not the despots on the street and in the home, then it’s just a cishet dick swinging contest - one group of straight men against another group/

It must must target State, Street, Home: Trifecta of Misogyny and Patriarchy

The revolution must be against not just the ruling class, but also other forms of oppression racism, sexism, classism, ableism, sectarianism, homophobia and transphobia.

If it doesn’t: ask whose revolution is it?

Several activists and NGOs including another #LGBT group, strongly opposed Baatour’s candidacy for the presidency for several reasons explained here. Thank you @MedDhiaH for alerting me change.org/p/people-denou…