Position Paper

Yashica Salvan

​Republic Of Lebanon
Position Paper
 Position Paper

Committee:​ ​United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Agenda: ​The rights of transgender women and their role in the UN Women Forum
Country: ​Republic of Lebanon
School: ​Prometheus School

Though Lebanon is mostly transphobic, Judge Janet Hanna, a Lebanese judge ruled it
legal for a transgender man to change his gender in the country’s civil registry. This
landmark ruling (number 1123/2015) was issued on September 3, 2015, but only
officially published at the start of 2016, according to a ​report prepared by the
Beirut-based NGO Legal Agenda. Her verdict held that "the changing of sex by the
appellant through hormonal treatment and a surgical operation was a necessary medical
procedure. " The Beirut judge's decision, which took into account "medical expertise", also
stated that the unnamed’s gender change would allow for his "treatment" and relieve the
"suffering that has accompanied him for his entire life," President of the Lebanese
Medical Association for Sexual Health applauded the ruling. Many pride organizations and
news sites covered the verdict. On July 12, 2018, a district court of appeal in Lebanon
released an order stating that consensual same-sex intercourse is not illicit, Human Rights
Watch said.

Based on different sources it is visible that the country became more liberal under
specific management. 2017 was a year in which pride was not afraid to be celebrated,
but right after the parliamentary elections in May, 2018 were held, pride events were
shut down by the police within the next fifteen days. “​In February, (2019) Human Rights
Watch submitted a complaint to UN rights officials about the crackdowns. The
organization claims that government forces violate international rights law and basic
freedoms in shutting down such gatherings.”

(Perri Huggins - Perri Huggins is an editor at Morocco World News. Nov 2 et al. ​Lebanon: A
Tale of Leaps and Losses for LGBT Rights)​
Lebanon is a signatory to the International Bill of Rights, and HRW called on this
commitment. “Government disruptions of peaceful human rights activities violate the rights
to freedom of assembly and association, expression, and non-discrimination. We are
particularly concerned to see such back-tracking in a country that has witnessed progress
in the courts toward respecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people.”

Due to the lack of welcoming energy towards the LGBTQ+ community in Lebanon, Gay
travels are ranked 112th on a global scale, with a rating of -4. Only 6% of Lebanon
find homosexuality acceptable.
 Position Paper

The delegate of Lebanon believes that article 534 should be dissolved. While keeping in mind
the UN resolution 15/21 which mandates member states to ensure the promotion and protection
of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in all their manifestations.

Lebanon faces different views under different leadership, with a majority of 94% in the belief
that transgender and gay people are unnatural or other. This will never change as long as their
leaders of their country are under that belief as well. The government has the influence and
power to change beliefs, or the power to communicate an understanding. To understand someone
else’s struggle may also be hard, but dissolving all harmful laws towards transgenders and
treating them like people, can change millions of lives.

Sources (MLA format)

1. Safdar, Anealla. “Transgender Ruling in Lebanon an 'Empowering' Moment.” ​Lebanon |

Al Jazeera​, Al Jazeera, 6 Feb. 2016,
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/02/transgender-ruling-lebanon-empowering-m
oment-160206125311413.html.
2. “Lebanon: No Justification for LGBT Crackdown.” ​Human Rights Watch​, 25 Aug. 2020,
www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/11/lebanon-no-justification-lgbt-crackdown.
3. Al-Jaber, Khalid, et al. “All Retributive Justice, No Restorative Justice in the Post-Arab
Spring Middle East.” ​Middle East Institute​, 15 July 2020,
www.mei.edu/publications/all-retributive-justice-no-restorative-justice-post-arab-spring-
middle-east.
4. Perri Huggins - Perri Huggins is an editor at Morocco World News. Nov 2, et al.
“Lebanon: A Tale of Leaps and Losses for LGBT Rights.” ​Morocco World News,​ 1 Nov.
2019, www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/285843/lebanon-leaps-losses-lgbt-rights/.
5.