The Queer Arabs

Neda (@hijabilusciousis on IG) is a Persian-American nurse practitioner, pole dancer, and generally cool person. She discusses her recent work performing COVID tests, getting COVID herself, and which precautions she wishes more people were taking. She also describes both the hate and support she has encountered on her journey into pole as a Muslim woman in hijab. She highlights the importance of r...

This week we have a personal catch-up episode with Ellie, Alia and Nadia. We discuss Ellie’s one-year-anniversary since surgery, Nadia’s gender feelings surfacing in quarantine, bizarre barriers to entry in every job market, and where we want to take this podcast next (hit us up if you’re a SWANA person in Latin America, a QPOC gamer, or anyone else who wants to chat).  We also talked about how we...

It was an honor to talk with actor & writer Xavier Clark on this episode! Xavier (he/him/his) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, born and raised in Turkey. As a playwright, his full-length plays include: Where Angels Fear to Tread (Workshop: Echo Theatre Company, Los Angeles), merry merry merry merry, supper (Workshop: National Black Theatre), retrofit(s) (Semi-Finalist: 2020 O’Neill Cente...

Photo credit: Kitty Suen This episode features writer David Adjmi, whose memoir Lot Six was recently released.  The beautiful telling of the often painful process of growing up while feeling a sense of unease/displacement in a repressed society is powerfully portrayed with a nuance that will make a reader feel seen.  David describes (in the book and in this episode) the relief of discovering theat...

We talked to Kinda Hibrawi, one of the founders of Mint + Laurel, a lifestyle brand focused on products from or inspired by the Middle East.  Kinda, who is Syrian-American and from Aleppo, started Mint + Laurel along with Mai Barazi and Rama Chakaki.  Mint + Laurel focuses on transparency and sustainability, collaborating with independent artisans, small artisan groups, non-profits and local socia...

Esraa Warda is a performance and teaching artist that preserves and transmits traditional Moroccan and Algerian dance forms through movement workshops and interactive performances. A young talent of Algerian origin, Warda is a community-taught dancer under the mentorship of women elders in her family and artists from Morocco and Algeria.  She is a firm advocate in the power of intergenerational tr...

Hamour Baika is a writer from Iran currently living in the DC area. His new novel On the Enemy’s Side explores the sociopolitical complexities of the Iranian Revolution through the lens of a forbidden same-sex relationship between a political prisoner and a guard. We discussed the historical inspiration and research process behind this novel, the different forms that racism takes in Iran and the U...

This week we were joined by the incredible WIZZY, a Syrian singer, songwriter, and show producer living in Berlin. WIZZY discusses writing and producing the new single “Light of my Eyes” (ضو عيوني), organizing the events “Queers for Syria” and “Queens Against Borders,” and finding community through migration, nightlife, and quarantine.   

Andrea Abi-Karam joined for an episode to talk about WE WANT IT ALL: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics – Andrea co-edited the anthology with Kay Gabriel.  The anthology includes work by intergenerational trans poets against capital and empire.  Andrea read one of their pieces on this episode; we also touched on the ways this year has shifted and impacted creativity and focus.  Andrea als...

Angie Assal is a Lebanese-American artist whose work has included visual art, film, music, dance, and jewelry! She tells us how she began her jewelry line Sound of Mazzika, which features 3D printed/hand painted designs representing Arabic music and culture. (For the next year, all proceeds will be donated to the Lebanese Red Cross!)  We also discussed the difficulties creating art that critiques...

Ellie’s back for an episode!  We talked about rent and Rent (both the monthly thing people have to pay and the movie) and more.

‘Queer in a Time of Forced Migration’ is three-part animated transmedia series by Ado Ato Pictures that follows the stories of LGBTQ refugees from Egypt, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia across continents and cultures — from the 2011 Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa region to the world today. Throughout the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, filmmaker Tamara Shogaolu and Egyptian journalist Nada El-K...

One month post-explosion, it remains crucial to #talkaboutlebanon, and support the ongoing project of relief, recovery, and rebuilding. This wonderful conversation with Danny from @rebuildingbeirutwithpride was initially shown as part of the @baylenfm House Arrest Digital Festival–but now you can listen on all of our podcast platforms too! @rebuildingbeirutwithpride is a UK-based initiative...

It was such a pleasure to talk to The Beachy Afghan, the wonderful creator of the IG platform thebeachyafghan.  We discussed her experience as the child of Afghan immigrants in Germany post-9/11, our shared frustration with the incorrect assumption of homogeny that is often made about the regions surrounding the SWANA region and around Afghanistan and its surrounding region, and so much more!

Note: This episode was recorded two days before the Beirut explosion.  Please see Nadia’s post from August 7th for relief fundraisers, updates, and more. —– Lebanese-French singer Eliz Murad joined us to talk about the new band she is developing, The Sabayas!  We also discussed her former band, Teleferik.  Eliz is creating The Sabayas with Moroccan-French drummer Nadine Talif, co...

Amrou Al-Kadhi is an Iraqi-British writer, performer and filmmaker based in the UK who is redefining what it means to create mainstream entertainment.  In this episode, we talk about drag as an expression of culture and gateway into writing, navigating the US and UK entertainment industries, their book Life as a Unicorn, writing the finale of Little America, and more! Insta: @glamrou Twitter: @gla...

We had a wonderful conversation with Amuna, an activist and entrepreneur in the UAE.  Amuna is a Queer Black Arab woman who founded the Black Arabs Collective, a space for sharing stories and amplifying voices of Black Arabs.  We discussed how racism in the SWANA region is pervasive and underacknowledged.  We also talked about Amuna’s experience as a queer woman in Dubai who grew up in a religious...

Hosted by National Queer Theater & Dixon Place, and moderated by Sivan Battat, a panel with activists from across the Middle East and North Africa region discussed Transgender and Transnational Activism. What does queer and transgender activism look like in this region? In conversation around Amahl Khouri’s documentary play She He Me, following the true stories of three Arab characters who cha...

On June 13, 2020, Dixon Place & National Queer Theater presented, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and NYC Pride: Creative Conversations: The Syrian Civil War and LGBTQ Communities The panel featured Omer Abbas Salem, Bitta Mostofi, Danny Ramadan, and Noor Hamdi. This panel, moderated by Festival Dramaturg Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, explored the experiences of LGBTQ...

NYC-based dancer Mark Balahadia joins us to talk about his study of various SWANA dance styles and what led him to become well known particularly among Iraqi and Saudi crowds.  He also explains how he ended up learning khaleeji Arabic, his experience performing for royalty, and more.  Check out his YouTube channel here! Follow Mark on IG @balahadiamark

NYC-based playwright and theater maker Daaimah Mubashshir joined us to talk about her new play “Room Enough (For Us All),” writing at the intersection of queer, Black, and Muslim identities, confronting racism both within theater and US Muslim spaces, and more. Daaimah brought up her personal experience of reconciling queer and Muslim identities, as well the many ways that connection to religion c...

We were thrilled to talk with Laith Nakli, who you might know as Uncle Naseem on the show Ramy on Hulu!  He discussed the challenges breaking into the industry, pushing beyond “terrorist” typecast roles, and using his position to shift representations of Arabs and Muslims on screen. Laith also recounted his pre-acting pursuits as a bodybuilder (winning the title of Mr. Syria) and running a candle...

CW: Suicide, self harm, queer killing, queer death, honor killing, sexual abuse, rape, firearms. On the June 14, 2020, LGBTQ and human rights advocate Sarah Hegazi took her own life. Sarah first came under the public eye following the notorious September 2017 Mashrou’ Leila concert where Sarah, alongside two friends, waved a rainbow flag. Despite the shadow of a state that actively quelled all sex...

Zaina Arafat is a journalist, fiction writer and teacher based in New York City.  We talked to Zaina about her new novel You Exist Too Much, which was released on June 9!  The novel centers a queer Palestinian American character who grapples with the effects of inherited trauma, her position within in-between spaces that come with being part of the diaspora, and her sexual identity. Our conversati...

[Content warning: Instances of state violence in Egypt; general references to familial violence/abuse; general references to instances of suicide] —- Tarek Mohamed is an Egyptian feminist and queer activist, scholar and writer.  He is working on his PhD in Anthropology, and is based between Egypt and the United States.  During this episode, Tarek discussed how his activism grew from personal...