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Theme: LGBT rights and free speech

Article

The legislation in Greece is catching up with reality

The situation for LGBT people in Greece is complex. One the one hand legislation is outlawing hate speech directed at minorities. On the other, violence and threats are commonplace. There is an...

Text: Vagelis Mallios December 16 2014
Interview

One afternoon in Bishkek

At the PEN International Congress in Kyrgyzstan, British journalist and writer Juliet Jacques gave a speech on the situation for transsexuals in Thatchers Great Britain, when “section 28”, a law...

Text: Juliet Jacques December 16 2014
Poetry

Poems in exile

Iranian poet, LGBT and human rights activist Elham Malekpoor has published several collections of poetry, most of which have been censored in Iran. She particularly deals with child labour and queer...

Text: Elham Malekpoor December 16 2014
Fiction

Before the lunar eclipse

Iran is a country full of paradoxes. While the state has enacted some of the strictest laws in the world when it comes to same-sex relationships, sex change for homosexuals has become a thriving...

Text: Ramesh Safavi December 16 2014

No Uhuru yet for the Zimbabwean LGBTI movement

LGBTI people in Zimbabwe are regularly harassed by the regime. During teh 2013 election the abuse escalated when president Robert Mugabe tried to win voters by promising that if he won there would be...

Text: Miles Rutendo Tanhira December 16 2014
Article

Living on the rim of a volcano

LGBT-persons are increasingly being cast as “enemies of society” in contemporary Russia. But as the activist Svetlana Zakharova writes, the new law prohibiting “propaganda of homosexuality” has also...

Text: Svetlana Zakharova December 16 2014
Article

In search of an “outsider”

The Russian law criminalizing “Propaganda of homosexuality” isn’t just targeting minorities. The law, and homophobia in general, tends to make real problems invisible, as well as covering the real...

Text: Natalya Afanasyeva December 16 2014
Fiction

The way we were

In January this year, Nigeria signed an anti-HBTQ law which criminalizes public displays of affection between same-sex couples and restricts the work of organizations defending gay people. This law...

Text: Jude Dibia December 16 2014

Theme: After the "Arab Spring"

Editorial

What happened to “the Arab Spring”?

These days, “the Arab Spring” is an expression that has almost an emetic effect on many of those who were most heavily...

Text: Ola Larsmo September 10 2014
Article

The transformations of the Syrian revolution

The Syrian uprising against the al-Assad regime is now entering its fourth year with seemingly no end in sight. In fact, the conflict is now spreading to neighbouring countries such as Iraq. Writer...

Text: Faraj Bayrakdar September 10 2014
Article

Yemen at ground zero

“Since the uprising, Yemen has become a place where you cannot live if you want to be free. This is particularly true for women but also for all who have dreams of another life.” The picture that...

Text: Bushra al-Maqtari September 10 2014
Poetry

Diary of the silent

Syrian poet, Housam Al-Mosilli, was forced to flee Syria in 2012 after he was imprisoned three times and repeatedly tortured. Today, he lives in exile in Turkey. In the poem, “Diary of the silent,” he...

Text: Housam Al-Mosilli September 10 2014
Fiction

What happens to your mother is not your concern!

The cruelties and abuses taking place today in Syria defy all comprehension. Perhaps not even literature, or the language itself, is sufficient to be able to depict what is happening. But how then can...

Text: Omar Kaddour September 10 2014
Article

“The Facebook revolution”

What is known as the “Arab Spring” was allegedly the result of social media and its power to organise and mobilise demonstrations in 2011. But, how accurate is this picture? Poet and blogger Evronia...

Text: Evronia Azer September 10 2014
Article

140 characters make you a terrorist

Saudi Arabia remains one of the countries untouched by the wave of democratic uproar which swept through many other Arab-speaking countries. The reason is the monopoly the ruling royal family holds...

Text: Hana Al-Khamri September 10 2014
Poetry

The spring of blood and ashes

“Blood and ash from the stolen Arabian spring / have penetrated the mornings, evenings and nights,” writes Syrian poet Bandar Abdulhamid in his collection of poems. The brutal reality of Syria is...

Text: Bandar Abdulhamid September 10 2014
Article

I’m not an egg

What does “democratisation” actually mean? How long does it take for the new values in legislation and public debates to sink into the general public's consciousness? An anonymous Tunisian writer...

Text: Anonymous September 10 2014
Fiction

The damned revolution

The thin line between the life of an individual and what is happening at large. Words juxtaposed with one person’s point of view have been the theme of some of the literature world's strongest...

Text: Razan Naim al-Maghrabi September 10 2014
Interview

Can you tell me more about your expectations for your country?

During the so-called “Arab Spring” in 2011, we followed the uprisings, demonstrations and optimism through the anti-government blogs of Afrah Nasser (Yemen) and Lina Ben Mhenni (Tunisia). Three years...

Text: Afrah Nasser, Lina Ben Mhenni September 10 2014
Article

“The Arab Spring”—a timeline

Coined the “Arab Spring,” early 2011 was a challenging time of transition, anti-government movement, and political...

Text: PEN/Opp September 10 2014
Poetry

While we are waiting

Syrian poet Amira Abul Husn is one of those who have chosen to remain in the war-torn country, using her pen to bear witness to all that is going on around her. In her poetry, she depicts fragments of...

Text: Amira Abul Husn September 10 2014

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