Al-Arabiya Reports: Middle East's First Gay Wedding

The website of the satellite TV station Al-Arabiya is reporting a watershed moment for the Middle East's gay pride movement. According to the Arabic-language story (which apparently has not yet been picked up by the English-language media), two Kuwaiti male lovers were recently married at a major hotel in Cairo.

The story is quite long and detailed, as are the dozens upon dozens of comments from readers (some in English). According to Al-Arabiya, the wedding began in customary fashion as "bride" and "groom" arrived at a hotel off Midan Tahrir (Liberation Square) riding together in a car. They were greeted outside the hotel entrance with flowers, incense, musicians, and even a belly dancer (no word on the dancer's gender).

The article describes how the couple then walked into the hotel ballroom, which was largely filled with gay and lesbian couples. The "groom" spoke first, professing that the couple's love had lasted despite negative pressure from their families, from society, and from the Kuwaiti government. [The Egyptian newspaper The Week (Il-Usbuwa) reported that the Kuwaiti authorities refused to allow the ceremony on Kuwaiti soil.] After the "bride" spoke of the cultural pressures that had prevented them from consecrating their vows for so long, the belly dancer again began dancing and the hotel staff brought out a wedding cake with both partners' names on it.

News of the alleged first ever gay wedding in the Middle East has generated a minor sensation. The Kuwaiti paper Al-Watan has since published an article claiming it had called the Hilton Ramses Hotel in Cairo and that hotel management denied the report. Without photos of the event, the names of the taboo-shattering couple, or the imam who married them, the article's veracity remains in doubt.

Still, that a leading Arabic media outlet would even cover a gay wedding marks a watershed moment. We'll keep you posted if more details come to light.

Comments

[Geyser]

Fascinating story. And the comments on the article at Al-Arabiya are great (at least the ones in English). I liked in particular: "Michael Jackson should sing at their wedding."

[Jimeo]

A little hard to believe. But please do keep us advised.

[Gomer Sexual]

Hell I married Gay Bob, what's the big deal?

[BoshtTang]

Is being gay legal in Egypt? In may countries in the middle east homosexuality itself is illegal. Recently two boys were executed in Iran for homosexual activity.

[Mobo]

This is outrageous! Next they'll be reporting that the earth is round!

[TallDave]

Freedom!

[heba]

well, i don't mind accepting gays but this is a little bit weird :)

[Nouri]

This is the second. There was one in Algeria several months ago.

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Al Arabiya was created to be a direct competitor of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera. According to a 2008 New York Times profile of Al Arabiya director Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, the station was founded "to cure Arab television of its penchant for radical politics and violence," with Al Jazeera as its main target. Mr. Rashed said that Arab television's coverage of militant groups was overly friendly. "You have to remember, it was television that made bin Laden into a celebrity," Rashed said. "That made Al Qaeda, and its recruiting, and this is how violence spread throughout the region." Rashed said Al Arabiya works to describe incidents of Islamist violence with neutral, non-supportive language. He also said the station had pushed Al Jazeera to be more critical of the insurgency in Iraq. "Now Jazeera is a very soft, reasonable station when it comes to the Iraqis," he said. Al Arabiya has, in turn, drawn accusations of pro-American or pro-Saudi bias, in part due to MBC's Saudi ownership
so i dont like the gay wedding .

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Wow! Marriage of two Kuwaiti male lovers in Cairo is big news! I was also not expecting this in a Muslim country.