The Arabic Word for Gay is Not Pervert

categories: Decriminalizing Homosexuality, Gay Rights and Religion, International Gay Rights, LGBT and the Media, Religion and LGBT Rights

Published July 15, 2009 @ 10:41AM PT

LGBT Muslim

One of the first LGBT books to be translated into Arabic from English has hit the press. Gay Travels in the Muslim World, a collection of true-life stories explaining what it's like to be gay in a region of the world where the issue of homosexuality is commonly perceived as complicated (to say the least), has been translated by the publisher Arab Diffusion. The only problem?

The publisher did a number on the title, choosing to translate the word "gay" with the word "شاذ" (shaath) -- which in Arabic happens to mean pervert or deviant. Unfortunately, "Pervert Travels in the Muslim World" doesn't sound so interesting and informative.

This incident raises important issues about LGBT rights and the Muslim world. Neither are monolithic blocks, of course, but as Global Voices Online points out in some truly excellent commentary, the concern over this translation chosen by the publishers highlights a larger concern over the pejorative terminology used by Arabic media to descibe LGBT people.

The issue isn't new by any means. CNN reporter Hala Gorani (who has received plaudits from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for her LGBT reporting) wrote several years ago about trying to cover the issue of homosexuality in the Middle East:

I then asked our Arabic speakers at CNN what word they thought was the best translation for "gay" in Arabic.

Heads were scratched. "Luti," one suggested. "Shaz," another offered in an e-mail.

Those terms are widely understood, but essentially translate as "pervert" or "deviant" in Arabic.

The only neutral term in existence is the recently coined "Methleen Al Jins," meaning "the same kind or gender" -- the closest equivalent of the word "homosexual."

So this is an issue so taboo, there isn't even a commonly understood non-pejorative word to describe it in the Middle East!

Yikes. What's an LGBT person to do when the only words used to describe their sexual orientation are akin to people who break the law or do disgusting things?

Well, in the case of the translation over Gay Travels in the Muslim World, one can protest. That's what one of the contributors to the book, Richard Ammon, is doing. Here's what Ammon said about the book's unfortunate translation of the word "gay" into "pervert":

It is doubly regretful for me to have this book, an honest testimony of gay Muslim life, have its title mistranslated with the use of a pejorative term that demeans gays. It is regretful that we have come so far in the struggle for gay rights and recognition only to be publicly smeared by a single unaware Jordanian publisher.

The issue of language is just the tip of the iceberg. With the uptick in violence committed against LGBT people in Iraq, with the Iranian President blaming the recent uprising of activists on "thieves and homosexuals," and with Ethiopia leading the campaign against a UN statement calling for global decriminalization of homosexuality, it's clear that the issue of LGBT rights in Muslim parts of the world will continue to be a hot topic (and one that will require serious changing of minds and hearts).

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Comments (10)

It's unfortunate that the Jordanian book publisher has done wrong by allowing the book's title to be one that stigmatizes gay people in the Muslim world. For the book to be in it's truth self form, the book must not contain the words "Luti", "Shaz" or other words which incorrectly depict gay people. The book is important in that it's the first LGBT book to be published for the Muslim community, thus more tolerance must spread to that region of the world.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 07/15/2009 @ 01:53PM PT
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Just a thought: Maybe ask the Palestinian gay community in Israel?

Posted by Kari Hazzard on 07/15/2009 @ 06:31PM PT
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I know he is busy, but Michael, I sent this to Daniel Choi, to see if he would care to comment.

Posted by Lee Dorsey on 07/15/2009 @ 08:32PM PT
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I've been amazed when I have tried to have conversations about homosexuality with Arabic friends in the Middle East. It's not a subject that comes up often, and not something I would dare to discuss with anyone except very close friends. But they all believe male homosexuality is the worst thing ever (however, they also believe that two men having sex with each other doesn't constitute homosexuality -- figure THAT one out), and that female homosexuality doesn't exist. It's not surprising that there is no Arabic word for homosexuality.

Posted by Jayne Cravens on 07/17/2009 @ 08:13AM PT
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Hmm i have heard of this before. But it implies that if a man rapes another man out of dominance. The act of making love between men is seen as evil but the act of rape is not. It only constitutes the backwardness of some people.

Posted by Chris Marshall on 07/19/2009 @ 09:14AM PT
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Now that's interesting. It sounds like something similar in Hispanic culture. If two men have sex together, generally only the bottom is considered gay. I supposed because he is taking "the woman's part". And the top? He's just another straight man who likes sex. It seems to me I've heard of this whole, "there is no such thing as homosexual women" thing.

In both of these situations, it seems as though the Muslim and Hispanic cultures see being gay as a whole way of life, or a mindset, not something set by particular sexual acts. Which then brings up really interesting discussion points. Is a person gay just because of something they do, regardless of how they label themselves? Is a person only gay when they think of themselves that way? What ways do they have to think and act to be gay? Really in depth and intriguin things.

Posted by Kate F on 07/22/2009 @ 01:44PM PT
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Maybe they should take a clue from the Native Americans...they use a term that loosely translates as "two-spirited". It is not considered a "handicap", but a blessing. How right they are....

Posted by kristen blythe on 07/17/2009 @ 02:57PM PT
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Wow...thanks for this article.

Posted by Sabeen Qureshi on 07/17/2009 @ 03:35PM PT
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Maybe some creative Arabic gay people should acquire a new word like how "gay" was assumed. The word "gay" used to mean merry and happy, and "homosexual" did not exist until recent history. It is simple: pick a word the means something like "happy at last" or whatever and start applying it. done.

Posted by Jeff Tolbird on 07/20/2009 @ 03:33PM PT
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"Yikes" is right. I have to say that i didn't know this was the case, but it explains a whole lot. If in Arabic gay=bad (pervert, deviant) then asking for Rights for Bad people, makes no sense at all.

Kristen Blythe and Jeff Tolbird, above, have the right idea. In Esperanto, we have the word "samseksamulo" which means "same sex loving person". It's totally neutral. So, if there isn't a neutral or non-pejorative word like "homosexual" or "same sex loving person", then start using a euphemism like "gay", "two-spirit" or "happy at last".

Obviously it will take some time for a new term to become the commonly used word. So, someone from that culture needs to be pro-active about this!

Posted by trio universero on 10/10/2009 @ 09:32AM PT
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Author

Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.