When I was 14 I was a very homophobic person. I was told that that I wasn’t even allowed to be friends with anyone who is queer. This is always the case in Arab or Muslim countries for the queer community where they have been forced to live in a closeted life in constant fear of people finding out. In NYC I’ve seen those same Arab individuals who have been beaten down by their own societies finding peace with their sexuality and finding a new found confidence here in NYC.
I want to create a zine that will highlight important journeys of those queer arabs that I met here or it could be a platform for them to express feelings that they can finally show here. Because of this new found freedom, some of these LGBTQ arabs live a double life in constant fear of people from their life back home finding out. I want to also dabble into how those people cope or what advice they have with dealing with Arab parents. These are all topics that I hope become the outcome of the short writing pieces I have requested and will be collecting from those who will be featured on the zine. I will also be taking photographs of these people but I might have to hide the persons identity either by editing the image or by not featuring the person’s name. I want this zine to be exclusive to the Arab queer scene that exists in NYC such as the Yalla parties in Brooklyn or the upcoming Egyptian drag artists such as Ana Masraya.
I have printed on A5 paper and binded by stapling it. The size of the zine is appropriate for the setting in queers party because it allows others to easily pass it around. Furthermore I implemented Arabic stylistic features into this zine such as calligraphy, middle eastern fashion or islamic architectural spaces.
