Helem (Arabic: حلم, Lebanese pronunciation: [ħelem]; which means ‘dream’) is the first LGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organization in the Arab world, founded in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2001. Its mission is to lead a non-violent struggle for the liberation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other persons with non-conforming sexualities and/or gender identities (LGBTQIA+) in Lebanon and the MENA region from all sorts of violations of their individual and collective civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Helem’s name was also an acronym in Arabic that stood for “Lebanese protection for the LGBT community” (Arabic: حماية لبنانية للمثليين/ات والمزدوجين/ات المغايرين/ات, or حلم.م.م.م.م.م).
Organization
Helem runs various programs and advocacy campaigns and provides a wide range of services to members of the LGBTQIA+ community in Lebanon, including emergency response, case management, legal assistance, social support, family support, and mental health support. It also runs the largest non-commercial queer space in the MENA region through its community center and prioritizes decriminalization, labor rights, housing, hate speech, and economic empowerment as advocacy priorities. Its current executive director is Tarek Zeidan.
History
1998-2003
Prior to Helem’s inception in 2001, a group of gay and lesbian activists created “Gay Lebanon”, a chat page on YAHOO! Chats to set up social and personal meetings. Members of the chat group interested in more political action and mobilization created the underground group called Club Free whose main purpose was to create spaces for dialogue and debate on queer rights and challenges facing the community. Following many incidents of discrimination and violence against LGBTQ individuals in Lebanon and in other countries in the MENA region— including the infamous Egyptian Queen Boat raid in 2001 (also known as the case of the Cairo 52)—Club Free members decided to mobilize further and founded the very first organization in the Arab region dedicated to the rights of the LGBTQ community, calling it “Helem”.
In 2003, Helem activists staged a public boycott targeting the Beirut branches of Dunkin’ Donuts, stating that the international coffee chain had refused to serve “gay and gay-looking customers” and ask them to leave the premises. The boycott was significant as it was the first recorded incident of its kind to target a private institution in the MENA region and hold it accountable for homophobic and transphobic discrimination. The boycott received wide media attention in Lebanon.
Another milestone for the group was in February 2003, when Helem activists took part in the global protest against the American invasion of Iraq, raising the pride flag as part of the 10,000-person-strong protest in Beirut. The protest marked the first time on record that a rainbow flag was raised on Arab soil.
2004-2006
On September 24, 2004, Helem formally applied for registration as a non-governmental organization at the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and established its first public community center in the Hamra area of Beirut on Spears Street. The organization offered an emergency hotline for LGBTQ individuals in crisis, a queer-identified community space, and the first outreach and education programs promoting safe sex and information about HIV.
The public announcement of Helem’s space prompted a backlash from political and religious figures in Lebanon, with one of Beirut municipality’s council members openly calling on the government to release an injunction to thwart Helem’s work, as it was alleged to be promoting perversion. Conservative Muslim clerics also accused the government of approving and authorizing “a gay rights group," claims that were then echoed by Lebanon’s previous Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat. As a result, Helem was illegally denied its formal registration papers by the Ministry of Interior, sparking a decades long legal fight for registration that continues as of July, 2021. While other subsequent gay rights groups were able to register as general “human rights” organizations, Helem has chosen to maintain its insistence on registering as a fully recognized LGBTQ-rights organization.
In 2004, members of the Lebanese queer diaspora established satellite organizations for Helem in Paris, France and Montreal, Canada. The Montreal group continues its work to this day as a locus for community support for all queers of Lebanese or MENA descent residing in Canada.