The EU and LGBTI Activism in the MENA – The Case of Lebanon

This paper studies the role of the European Union (EU) in supporting the struggle of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by focusing on the case of Lebanon. It seeks to fill the existing gap in the literature regarding the transversal conceptualization of EU practices in support of LGBTI communities in the MENA by focusing on what is happening on the ground in terms of LGBTI rights. In order to understand the EU practices in this area, the paper builds on semi-structured interviews and engages with secondary literature on practices in international relations and the EU transversal democracy promotion to answer three main questions: to what extent does the EU engage with local actors to improve minority rights? Who are the actors involved? And how the various actors engage with LGBTI rights’ Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)? The paper’s main findings show that the EU is ambiguous when it comes to LGBTI rights in the MENA and tend to treat the matter within broader human rights’ aspect. While most initiatives come from the local CSOs’ activists themselves, the EU delegation and EU member states are using various practices to support local LGBTI CSOs fighting for their rights.