Sex and the Citadel (51 page)

  6
. Human Rights Watch,
How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married? Child Marriage in Yemen
.

  7
. “Fatwa of the Grand Mufti of the Republic Dr Ali Gomaa with regard to child marriage.”

  8
.
Trafficking in Persons Report 2012
, p. 146. For more on sex trafficking elsewhere in the Arab region, including such hot spots as Iraq, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

  9
. Cairo outreach worker, personal communication, 2012.

10
. Cumming,
The Love Quest: A Sexual Odyssey
, p. 144.

11
. “355% increase in marriages between Egyptians and foreign women.”

12
. Abdalla,
Beach Politics: Gender and Sexuality in Dahab
, p. 140.

13
. Ibid., pp. 61–62.

14
. For these and other sad stories, see
www.1001geschichte.de
.

15
. See
www.cibev.de
.

16
. An interesting account of reactions to Western brides elsewhere in the Arab region can be found in Cauvin Verner, “De Tourisme Culturel au Tourisme Sexuel” [From cultural tourism to sexual tourism].

17
. Madkur, “Inas al-Delgheidy talks about a campaign against her for asking for the legalization of prostitution in Egypt.”

18
. Russell,
Egyptian Service, 1902–1946
, p. 179.

19
. The colorful history of prostitution in Cairo is detailed in Bakr,
Al-Mujtama’ al-Qahira al-Sirri
[Secret Cairo society].

20
. Larguèche and Larguèche,
Marginales en Terre d’Islam
[Women on the edge in the land of Islam], p. 31.

21
. Taraud,
La Prostitution Coloniale
[Colonial prostitution], p. 321.

22
. For more on this history, see Snoussi, “La Prostitution en Tunisie au Temps de la Colonisation” [Prostitution in Tunisia in the colonial period].

23
. For more on the gray area of legal sex work in other Arab countries, among them Algeria and Lebanon, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

24
. Abid and Ghorbel,
Enquête sur l’Utilisation du Préservatif Auprès des Jeunes Clients des Professionelles du Sexe Declarées
[Study of condom use among young clients of registered sex workers], p. 11.

25
. Znazen et al., “Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Female Sex Workers in Tunisia,” p. 501.

26
. The violence and other occupational hazards of Tunisia’s clandestine sex workers are detailed in Ben Abdallah,
Enquête Comportementale sur les Travailleuses du Sexe Clandestines en Tunisie
[Behavioral study of illegal sex workers in Tunisia].

27
. For a fascinating account of life as a legal sex worker in the 1940s and ’50s, and how little conditions have changed since then, see Aziz,
Les Chambres Closes
[Brothel rooms].

28
. Ben Abdallah,
Enquête Nationale sur les Comportements à Risque Auprès des Jeunes Non-scolarisés en Tunisie
[National study of risk behaviors among out-of-school youth in Tunisia], pp. 67–69.

29
.
For more details on the challenging lives of Cairo sex workers, see Al-Zahid,
Tijarat al-Jins
[Sex trade].

30
. A 2010 survey in Cairo found no HIV in the two hundred female sex workers it tested, but experts note that because of limitations in testing, rates may well be higher (Family Health International and Ministry of Health Egypt,
HIV/AIDS Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Survey
, p. 31). Elsewhere in the Arab region, HIV infection rates among female sex workers are generally running between 1 and 5 percent, although these are much higher in particular regions in a number of countries (Abu-Raddad et al.,
Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa
). For the latest statistics, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

31
. Family Health International and Ministry of Health Egypt,
HIV/AIDS Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Survey
, p. 11. More details on condom use by, and risk behaviors among, sex workers in selected countries across the Arab region can be found in Abu-Raddad et al.,
Characterizing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa
; and at
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

32
. About 40 percent of Moroccans eligible for antiretroviral treatment are actually getting their medicine (Royaume du Maroc [Kingdom of Morocco],
Mise en Oeuvre de la Déclaration Politique sur le VIH/SIDA
[Implementation of the political declaration of commitment to HIV/AIDS], p. 12), compared to a regional average of about 13 percent (UNAIDS,
Together We Will End AIDS
, p. 23).

33
. Akalay and Mrabet, “Investigation. Moroccan women as seen by the Arabs.”

34
. Dialmy, “Prostitution et Traite des Femmes au Maroc” [Prostitution and the trade in women in Morocco].

35
. For a detailed survey of the many shades of sex work in Morocco, see Ettoussi and Jebbour,
Les Travailleuses du Sexe et les IST/SIDA
[Sex workers and STIs/AIDS]; and ALCS (Association de Lutte Contre le SIDA),
Surveillance des Comportements à Risque: Le Cas des Professionnelles du Sexe
[Surveillance of risk behaviors: The case of commercial sex workers].

36
. For an excellent study of sex work in Morocco’s commercial capital, see Benito,
La Prostitution dans les Rues de Casablanca
[Prostitution in the streets of Casablanca].

37
. Axétudes,
Enquete Connaissances, Attitudes et Pratiques des Jeunes Concernant les IST et le SIDA
[Study of the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of youth in relation to STIs and AIDS], p. 60.

38
. The upshot is that Morocco’s sex workers have among the highest rates of HIV infection in the country, up to 6 percent in some regions compared with less than 0.2 percent for the general population (Royaume du Maroc,
Mise en Oeuvre de la Déclaration Politique sur le VIH/SIDA
[Implementation of the political declaration of commitment to HIV/AIDS], p. 15).

6. Dare to Be Different

  1
. For the story behind this proverb, which is the punch line to a famous tale in Egyptian folklore, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

  2
.
Massad, “Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World,” pp. 383–84.

  3
. Massad,
Desiring Arabs
, p. 189.

  4
. For an excellent and detailed study of male sex workers in Egypt, see Orhan, “Men Selling Sex in Cairo and Alexandria.”

  5
. Human Rights Watch,
In a Time of Torture: The Assault on Justice in Egypt’s Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct
.

  6
. Laws covering same-sex relations in the Arab region are discussed in detail in Al Farchichi and Saghiyeh,
Homosexual Relations in the Penal Codes
.

  7
. For more on the episode Munir is referring to, which raised an international outcry at the arrest, detention, forced medical testing, and conviction of HIV-positive men in Cairo, see Human Rights Watch,
Egypt: 117 NGOs Slam HIV-Based Arrests and Trials
.

  8
. Egypt’s love affair with anal exams is detailed in Human Rights Watch,
In a Time of Torture
. On their dubious forensic value, see Al Farchichi and Saghiyeh,
Homosexual Relations in the Penal Codes
; and for pushback in Lebanon, see ‘Ilwah, “Civil society wins: Abolition of ‘tests of shame.’ ”

  9
. For more on state-sanctioned and community violence against men who fail to fit the heterosexual mold, including its murderous extremes in postwar Iraq, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

10
. El-Rouayheb,
Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World: 1500–1800
, pp. 158–59.

11
. My thanks to Daniel Newman for sharing material from his forthcoming translation of Al-Tifashi,
Sensual Delights of the Heart
.

12
. For more on young men’s shifting attitudes toward active and passive sex roles, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

13
. The detail and tone of Arabic writing on same-sex relations from the ninth to thirteenth centuries are remarkable, and so vast and varied as to be beyond the scope of this book. But many others have covered the field in admirable detail. For Arabic readers, Al-Munajjid,
Al-Hayat al-Jinsiyya ‘ind al-’Arab
[The sexual life of the Arabs]; and Mahmud,
Al-Mut‘a al-Mahzura
[The forbidden pleasure], offer an excellent introduction. In French, the collected works of the Algerian historian Malek Chebel provide an impressive overview; see Chebel,
Encyclopédie de l’Amour en Islam
[Encyclopedia of love in Islam]; and Chebel,
Le Kama-Sutra Arabe
[Arab Kama-Sutra]. And there is a wealth of writing in English, including Amer,
Crossing Borders: Love Between Women in Medieval French and Arabic Literatures
; Babayan and Najmabadi,
Islamicate Sexualities: Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire
; El-Rouayheb,
Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World
; Murray and Roscoe,
Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature
; and Wright and Rowson,
Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature
.

14
. For more on “pinkwashing,” a term used by activists to describe what is seen as Israel’s self-promotion as an island of tolerance for homosexual men and women in a sea of Arab homophobia, and its political implications for an emerging Palestinian state, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

15
. Mumtaz et al., “Are HIV Epidemics Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Emerging in the Middle East and North Africa?” p. 3.

16
.
Family Health International and Ministry of Health Egypt,
HIV/AIDS Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Survey
, pp. 13–21. Biological-behavioral surveillance surveys, which probe the risk behaviors and HIV vulnerability of men who have sex with men, have been conducted in a number of other countries in the Arab region, among them Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen. Details are available at
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

17
. Wasfy,
Shifa’ al-Hubb
[The cure is love], p. 73.

18
. An assessment of such attempts to “reorient” sexual minorities through faith-based therapy is detailed in Jones and Yarhouse, “A Longitudinal Study of Attempted Religiously Mediated Sexual Orientation Change.”

19
. APA Task Force,
Report of the Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation;
and American Psychiatric Association, “Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation.”

20
. Qur’an 11:77–83.

21
. Qur’an 7:80–81.

22
. Qur’an 4:15–16. My thanks to Everett Rowson for sharing his unpublished paper, “Straight or Gay? The Curious Exegetical History of Qur’an 4:15–16,” explaining alternative readings of this verse through the ages.

23
. Kugle,
Homosexuality in Islam
, p. 85.

24
. Al-Qaradawi,
The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam
, p. 165.

25
. Ibid., p. 165.

26
. Youssef,
Hayrat Muslima
[A Muslim woman’s confusion], p. 225.

27
. Ibid., p. 226.

28
. Ibid., p. 226.

29
. Qur’an 29:28–29.

30
. Youssef,
Hayrat Muslima
[A Muslim woman’s confusion], p. 189.

31
. Ibid., p. 184.

32
. Ibid., p. 226.

33
. Sayed, “Al-Mithliyyun wa-l-Mithliyya fi al-Sinima al-Misriyya” [Homosexuals and homosexuality in Egyptian cinema], pp. 89–105.

34
. For a look at homosexuality in Egyptian movies, past and present, see Hassan, “Real Queer Arabs: The Tension Between Colonialism and Homosexuality in Egyptian Cinema”; and Menicucci, “Unlocking the Arab Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in Egyptian Film.”

35
. Suleiman, “Egyptian film about the life of deviants takes part in ‘queer’ world festival.”

36
. For more on alternative presentations of same-sex relations on-screen, see
www.sexandthecitadel.com
.

37
. This shift in tone on homosexuality in the Arabic novel, and how it reflects broader social concerns, is detailed in Massad
Desiring Arabs
, pp. 269–334; Al-Samman, “Out of the Closet: Representation of Homosexuals and Lesbians in Modern Arabic Literature”; and Whitaker,
Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East
, pp. 77–113.