Let’s Talk: Michael Abou Nabhan

AUB student Michael spoke with KIP about the Gender and Sexuality Club’s project, Concepts and Misconceptions, which aims to provide an anonymous platform for people to discuss issues of gender and sexuality in Lebanon.

Michael: There was something I heard or read… [that] nobody really protests or fights for something that they haven’t personally experienced. So nobody would go and, for example, make a fundraiser for curing diabetes if they don’t personally have someone [with diabetes] in the family, or a close friend, or themselves. It really made me angry. I was like, okay fine, this is maybe true, that nobody would fight for something if it’s not close to them. Okay, this friend who knows no one who is homosexual or cares about anyone who is homosexual, he’s not going to go and correct someone, for example. And it sucks that that’s the truth. No one’s going to speak out, a homosexual wouldn’t go speak out about it in fear of his or her safety.

When I heard about the project I was very excited, because I wasn’t doing anything about it and I wanted to do something about it. And I thought I had input, I could put my hand in this. And it had all the keys where it was anonymous, it was personal, it was out there on social media. So I was hoping that this project would connect people with people and just make them less different and more “normal”–people who have hardships, but certain hardships that don’t exist with heterosexuals. And I wanted to be a part of it because I wanted to hear people share them and not stay silent.

We don’t care who you are, we just want you to share your experience and be heard because you’re keeping silent. And some of the people who I know, and I’m friends with, I want to interview them but they don’t want to. They say, ‘I have nothing to share, I don’t want to say anything, I don’t need to talk about these things.” And I’m like, but you do have to talk about these things. I want you to be heard and I want other people to read your story. It can be as anonymous as it can be, it can be a white screen, but I want you to let yourself be heard, to fight for your voice.

Being silent about it is letting it happen.