Arab Americans (Organizations, DVD’s and Other Resources) GLAS - Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society. We are the Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society (GLAS), an international organization established in 1988 in the USA with worldwide chapters. We serve as a networking organization for Gays and Lesbians of Arab descent or those living in Arab countries. We aim to promote positive images of Gays and Lesbians in Arab communities worldwide, in addition to combating negative portrayals of Arabs within the Gay and Lesbian community. We also provide a support network for our members while fighting for our human rights wherever they are oppressed. We are part of the global Gay and Lesbian movement seeking an end to injustice and discrimination based on sexual orientation. GLAS has a New York City Chapter. http://www.glas.org/ Al-Fatiha, is working with our community members and allies to conduct a ground-breaking survey of the LGBTIQQ Muslim community. http://www.al-fatiha.org/ Al-Bab (www.al-bab.com) aims to introduce non-Arabs to the Arabs and their culture. Western explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries portrayed the Arab world as a strange, exotic and sometimes terrifying place. Al-Bab seeks to portray the Arab world neither as an object of fear nor as a cultural curiosity - fascinating though it may be. They have a page for Gay and Lesbian Arabs.http://www.al-bab.com/arab/background/gay.htm GLAAD. Includes a page on Arab Americans. http://www.glaad.org/arab HELEM, Beirut (Lebanon)-based rights organization. It includes downloadable publicatrions in Arabic. http://www.helem.net/ M.E.N.T.O.R.S. stands for Middle East Natives, Testing, Orientation, and Referral Services. It is an Arab-American non profit organization, based in Manhattan, affiliated with RAINBO a CBO (Community based organization) that has a long history of research and direct health services in New York. In our programs, M.E.N.T.O.R.S. serve to increase HIV/AIDS awareness, with dedication to the promotion of sexuality education and other human rights aspects for the Middle Eastern community in New York. http://mentorsny.org/ PFLAG includes resources for the Arab American communities. http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=466 Queer Muslim Revolution, bringing progressive news, information, and resources to LGBT, Muslims and their Allies –across the world. http://queermuslimrevolution.blogspot.com/ DVD’S A Jihad for Love, 2007. (DVD documentary). Documenting the quandary of gay Muslims via the perspective of subjects from countries such as India, Iran and Turkey, director Parvez Sharma chronicles their struggles to square their sexual orientation with their faith, which forbids homosexuality. Relating their compelling tales to the camera, the subjects (most expatriates) cling to their Islamic ideals in the face of a sharia interpretation that imposes the death penalty for homosexual acts.Available at www.netflix.com Anyone and Everyone: Connected by having a son or a daughter who is gay, parents across the country discuss their experiences in this documentary. In it, filmmaker Susan Polis Schutz depicts families from all walks of life. Individuals with such diverse backgrounds as Japanese, Latinos, African Americans, and Cherokee, as well as from various religious denominations such as Mormons, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Hindu and Southern Baptist, share intimate accounts of how their children revealed their sexual orientation and discuss their responses. http://www.anyoneandeveryone.com/ I Exist: Voices from the Lesbian and Gay Middle Eastern Communities in the United States (a 56 minute documentary in DVD).http://www.unlearninghomophobia.com/exist.htm Other Resources PFLAG Brisbane, Australia (www.pflagbrisbane.org.au). This website has valuable resources, among them, an 8-page dowloadable booklet for parents regarding acceptance and coming out issues in SEVENTEEN LANGUAGES: Arabic, Chinese-Mandarin, Chinese-Traditional, Croatian, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese. http://www.pflagbrisbane.org.au/multimedia/ Gay Community Thrives in Lebanon, July 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12032071 Gay Muslims Find Freedom, of a Sort, in the U.S., http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/us/07gaymuslim.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=sIslam 'Recognizes Homosexuality'. March 2008. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/03/27/islam-039recognizes-homosexuality039.html Muslim mayor flies flag for gays in Dutch suburb, June 29, 2009. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article
