Legal Appeal Challenges The Lebanese Interior Ministry’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Decision

The Legal Agenda and Helem just announced in a common statement published on their social media platforms that an appeal was filed last Thursday, August 25, against the decision of the Minister of Interior, Bassam al-Mawlawi, issued on June 24, 2022, a circular banning any meeting or gathering related to what he called "the phenomenon of homosexuality", which led to the cancellation of events and meetings for the LGBTQ community following a flood of hate speech and incitement against LGBTQ people and organizations from religious leaders and members of the general public alike.
AP

A common statement published on August 29 by The Legal Agenda and the LGBTQ+ NGO Helem, issued that an appeal was filed last Thursday, August 25, at the state’s Shura Council in response to the Lebanese interior ministry’s Anti LGBTQ+ Decision.

The Anti-LGBTQ+ Decision was released by Interior Minister Al-Mawlawi, on June 24, 2022, banning any and all meetings or gatherings related to what he called “the phenomenon of homosexuality”, which led to the cancellation of events and meetings for LGBTQ+.

According to The Legal Agenda and Helem, the appeal is based on the minister’s illegitimate decision to issue such a general ban, deemed to violate the Lebanese Constitution by restricting freedoms, and in direct contravention to the principles of necessity and proportionality, as well as constituting a threat to civil peace and inciting hatred against marginalized groups.

Minister Al-Mawlawi’s decision to prohibit LGBTQ+ meetings came in response to religious authorities’ requests claiming that they “contradict social traditions and the principles of the Abrahamic religions.”

It is noted that Al-Mawlawi’s homophobic decision was issued while more than 80% of the people living in Lebanon are deprived of their basic and essential human needs, and while he abstains from implementing arrest warrants against suspects in the Beirut port explosion.

Related: Free Speech in Lebanon Today Has a Price Tag On It

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