A drag show in Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut was reportedly shut down on Wednesday by what Reuters described as “an angry crowd of conservative Christians screaming homophobic chants.”
Beirut certainly has no shortage of angry crowds, and they have all sorts of things to be angry about, prominently a barely functional government. Protesters marched through the streets at the beginning of August to protest the lack of progress in the investigation of the Beirut port explosion, a titanic blast that leveled much of the port and killed over 220 people. No one has been held accountable for the explosion despite three years of “investigations.”
Protesters lift placards depicting the victims of the 2020 Beirut port blast during a march near the Lebanese capital’s harbor on August 4, 2023, marking the third anniversary of the deadly explosion. (JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
Beirut also has a surprising number of drag queens, as the Washington Post explained in 2019:
The Middle East is known for its conservatism, but with its febrile nightlife and more liberal mores, Beirut has long been hailed as a relative haven for the region’s LGBTQ community, though not without challenges.
Shows are often impromptu and take place under tight security. Some fliers make no mention of venues, so information travels by word of mouth.
Performers usually turn up in their street clothes, transform into a whole new character, then shed their costumes again before slipping back outside. Anissa, though, will be making an entrance tonight. A car to the venue has been organized, and she wants to enjoy the reactions of her fellow passengers.
The Washington Post added that drag established “deeper roots” in Beirut than “elsewhere in the Arab world” thanks to the popularity of a few celebrity performers over the past twenty years.
According to Reuters, two Lebanese drag performers called “Latiza Bombe” and “Emma Gration” were hosting a show at “a bar in Beirut known to be a safe space for LGBT individuals” when an angry crowd appeared outside.
Drag queen Emma Gration poses for a picture before performing on May 13, 2018, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
“We are here, we exist, and no one will silence us. However, sometimes to keep doing what we’re doing we have to do it smartly. Unfortunately we have to cut the show short,” Emma Gration told the audience.
The drag performers proceeded to doff their “black leotards” and “full makeup and wigs” to hide out in the changing area and blend in with the audience. Security forces arrived about 40 minutes later to disperse the crowd.
Tarek Zeidan, head of an LGBT group called Helem, told the New Arab on Thursday the mob was an “extremist Christian militia” called the “Soldiers of God.” They blockaded the entrance to the bar, which they denounced as “satanic,” and castigated it for “promoting homosexuality.”
Eyewitnesses and social media video quoted the attackers, identifying themselves as the Soldiers of God, telling bar patrons they were “going to burn in hell” and threatening to return if the drag shows continued.
“This is only the beginning. We’ve warned you a hundred times,” one militia member said.
According to Zeidan, the militia injured “several people” during its siege of the bar.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) said the protesters were unable to enter the bar because the staff barricaded the doors.
AFP noted much of the “growing anti-LGBTQ” sentiment in Beirut is coming from Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite Muslim terrorist organization and political party. The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, demanded a boycott of “rainbow” items and called for gay people to be killed “even if they do it once” last month.
“Incitement and intimidation launched by Hezbollah has crossed political and religious lines,” George Wardini, a member of an LGBT group called Proud Lebanon, told AFP.
