The Queer Arabs

We talked to Rainbow Street Co-Founder & Executive Director Kevin Steen! Rainbow Street is an international protection organization for LGBTQ people in the Middle East and North Africa.  It partners with local organizers to provide shelter and other resources for queer people in need.  During this episode, we discussed what led to the founding of this organization, the roles of Rainbow Street in its various locations, what the word “activist” can mean, and more.  Check out the website here!

We were thrilled to be joined by Haneen Maikey and Izzy Mustafa from alQaws for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society! We discussed building a politically queer grassroots movement in Palestine, connecting to queer Palestinians in diaspora, confronting Pinkwashing (a tactic of normalizing Israeli hegemony through images of queer-friendliness) both internationally and within Palestinian society, and the place of artistic expression in this movement. Be sure to check out alQaws’s website to learn more about their history and ongoing projects. Stay tuned for another episode with alQaws in Arabic, coming soon!

Rolla Selbak is a Palestinian-American filmmaker, writer, and director whose work has pushed boundaries of representation for Arab, Muslim, and queer characters. Our delightful discussion included the unexpected beginnings of her film career, navigating pushback and censorship, building empathy through storytelling, and the importance of trash TV.  Heads Up: Her latest project, CHOKE–about a rising MMA star hiding her refugee status and sexuality in a South Carolina town–is available for free streaming online! Also stay tuned for her upcoming film Finjan!  Content Warning: discussion of film plots includes suicide

Nebal Maysaud has a new podcast called The Post Arabesque; their first episode features Alia of The Queer Arabs podcast, and we are airing it on our podcast to give you all an intro to theirs!  Watch for more episodes on their podcast soon! Please support Nebal on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nebalmaysaud

Hello everyone!  Our love goes out to you all during this difficult time.  This episode features the wonderful Andrew who created a space for queer SWANA artists: nafs.space.  Andrew grew up in Denmark with his parents (who are from Egypt), and now lives in London.  In this episode, we discuss the importance of queer SWANA spaces, the lack of international awareness of the issue of racism in Denmark, the formulation of Nafs Space, and more.  In Arabic, “nafs” means the self, the ego, the soul. Please visit the website, and follow @nafs.space on IG! Thank you to Tania Safi for…

We spoke to Layle and Kayan who run the online zine Zafaraan Collective!  Check out the website to see all of the issues:  https://www.zafaraan.org/ This space serves as a queer collective of SWANA art; please reach out to Kayan and Layle at [email protected] if you’d like to submit a piece.  This is the email address with which to donate to their PayPal account as well. Please follow them on their Facebook page  and @zafaraan_collective on Instagram.

Beruit-based writer, actress, and storyteller Dima Mkhayel Matta (Follow on IG: @dimamatta) joined Nadia Khayrallah (@nadiainherownworld) and Adam Elsayigh (@adamelsayigh) to talk about her recent solo show, her storytelling series Cliffhangers Storytelling, the challenges of navigating censorship and orientalist tropes, the importance of (queer) art in revolution, and more! She also reads a few excerpts of her piece “This is not a memorized script, this is a well-rehearsed story,” presented through Zoukak Theater Company and developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab. Note: Unfortunately, Dima’s residency at Theater Mitu in Brooklyn, discussed in the podcast, has been cancelled due to…

Ellie and Aldo discuss the geometry of a gender queer life, existing in traditionally masculine spaces and spill their gender fluids all over this episode.   IG :  amateurbadass

Salon Al-Mahjar صالون المهجر is an open mic for immigrant queer, trans, and allied artists, actors, activists, writers, storytellers, dancers, singers, musicians, poets, feminists, thinkers, teachers, and historians from Central & West Asia and North Africa.  Salon 8 was curated by Hannah Aliza Goldman and Sivan Battat.  They also presented pieces during the salon! hannah-goldman.com IG: @imhannahgoldman PC: Jennifer Walkowiak IG: @sivanbattat PC: Daria Landa Salon 8 description: We gather to celebrate each other’s voices, exchange ideas, engage in each other’s passions, counteract censorship, promote and support each other, give and receive constructive feedback, and challenge what may be considered inappropriate “ayb” عيب or forbidden “haram” حرام. At Salon 8 صالون…

Adam Darko is back to talk to us about his new single, “White Desert” – check it out here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=011fCciWlE0 On this episode, Adam talks about the meaning of this beautiful track and the technical aspects that went into creating this.  He tells us about the music collective of which he is a co-founder, the Coup d’etat collective (which is such a fitting name, for reasons discussed in the episode)!  We also get to hear Adam’s reflections on the changes that he has experienced over the past year. Adam Darko is an Algerian trans artist and Youtube content creator (…