As countries across the Middle East and North Africa confront staggering economic crises, the myriad existing inequalities and injustices LBGTQ+ people face are further exacerbated. In combination with deteriorating economic conditions, underlying issues of access to quality education, in addition to their marginalized status, can seriously limit employment options for LGBTQ+ people in the region, leading to prolonged financial instability. Without stable income or employment opportunities, members of the LGBTQ+ community are rendered increasingly vulnerable to social and state harassment, as they are often forced to work odd jobs that increase their vulnerability, creating a cycle of entrenched marginalization.
On June 27, 2023, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) hosted a virtual panel discussion on the pervasive cyclical, and systemic marginalization affecting LGBTQ+ people across the MENA region featuring Nora Noralla (TIMEP), Hussein Cheaito (The Policy Initiative), Weema Askri (Mawjoudin), and Dr. Lamyaâ Achary (Independent researcher) and moderated by Sophie Chamas (SOAS). Panelists examined the frameworks that entrench LGBTQ+ discrimination, the impact of marginalization in the economy, and pathways to meaningful integration of LGBTQ+ people socially, economically, and holistically.
Through an intersectional lens, panelists explored how the economic struggles faced by queer communities are compounded by factors such as discrimination, limited access to resources, and societal biases. How does a lack of financial stability affect queer people in the region? How have economic crises in Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon impacted the job market for LGBTQ+ individuals? How can NGOs, international financial institutions, and government stakeholders shift their approaches to ensure they are inclusive of queer perspectives and experiences?
Watch the recording here:
Nora Noralla
Sarah Hegazi Fellow, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)Nora Noralla is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on gender and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa region. She is also the institute’s first Sarah Hegazi Fellow. She is an Egyptian human rights researcher and consultant focusing mainly on issues of sexual and bodily freedoms as well as Islamic Sharia and human rights in the MENA region. Her engagement with the human rights field started in the wake of the January 25 revolution in Egypt. She has worked in different NGOs including Cairo 52 Legal Research Institute, Human Rights Watch, Article 19, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. She holds a Masters degree in Human Rights Law from the Central European University and has authored different articles and publications including “One True Sharia: A Historical Background” and “El Karakhana: History of Sex Working in Modern Egypt between Legalization and Criminalization.” You can follow her on Twitter: @NoraNoralla.
Hussein Cheaito
Development Economist, The Policy InitiativeHussein Cheaito is a former Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on governance and economic development in Lebanon. He is a Development Economist at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based research center that aims to empirically assess existing policies and generate viable alternatives. Hussein is interested in the economics of decentralization (specifically fiscal federalism), gender and queer economics, and development economics. In his current work, he has been diagnosing regional economic development in three different districts in Lebanon using various quantitative methods. He has also been examining the effectiveness of Lebanon’s local public finance system, the country’s remittances-dependent economic model, and the political economy of aid. He seeks to advocate for an economic research agenda that is heterodox, localized, and feminist in nature. Hussein graduated with an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Sussex as joint Saïd Foundation, Chevening, and British-Lebanese Association scholar in 2020.
Weema Askri
Project manager, with The Initiative Mawjoudin for EqualityWeema is a non-binary queer activist from Tunisia. They joined the NGO “The Initiative Mawjoudin for Equality” in 2019 as coordinator of the Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival in its third edition which took place last September 2022.
Dr. Lamyaâ Achary
Sociologist, Independent ResearcherDr. Lamyaâ Achary is a Moroccan sociologist, expert in gender equality and sexual diversity. Lamyaâ studies political and cultural-based approaches with relation to discrimination and inequalities.
Dr. Sophie Chamas (Moderator)
Lecturer in Gender Studies at SOAS, University of LondonSophie Chamas (they/she) is lecturer in gender studies at SOAS, University of London. Their research sits at the intersection of feminist and queer political theory, Middle East Studies, political economy, and cultural studies. Their work is focused on the study of the life, death, and afterlife of the radical political imagination in the Middle East and its diaspora via a queer feminist lens.