Recently, former Egyptian legendary footballer and current pundit at BeIn Sports, Mohammed Aboutrika, called for BeIn Sports to avoid broadcasting matches during the time period in which the Premier League is showing support for what he described as "nasty, dangerous ideology", the LGBT+. Below you will find a translated video on Twitter based on what he has said.
https://twitter.com/onmtcc/status/1465254314398531591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1465254314398531591%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fsportsnews%2Farticle-10258547%2FBeIN-Sports-sanction-former-Egypt-international-Mohammed-Aboutrika-Rainbow-Laces-rant.html
- onmtcc
Now, the biggest issue with that is that Be In Sport is the biggest sports broadcaster in the Middle East and also the exclusive broadcaster of Leagues and Tournaments such as Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Champions League, the World Cup and many more. So, what he said was heard by millions of people. However, this is not the issue I am here to talk about.
There are many words used to describe homosexuality, and only one of them, the least used and taught, means homosexual without a degrading meaning to it. Sorry for using the term, but imagine the term faggot being the dominant term to describe homosexuals, that's the situation for millions of people in the Arabic-speaking world.
Terminology Disadvantage
The issues here stem from when you have conversations or debates about it. Imagine the disadvantage you'd have when you are, and again I apologize for using the term, defending "Faggots' rights". I know the word is strong and tough to hear, it is difficult for me to say as well, but it is needed to show the reality of the situation.
Even the neutral word used to describe homosexuality serves only as a literal translation and not one that conveys meaning. An oversimplified example of that would be an American saying football to a British person then explaining it by saying "hand egg", either that or avoiding using the degrading term by describing the whole sport. By the time you and whoever you're talking to get on the same page in terminology, most of the time would have had already passed. It sounds like an exaggeration but in order to explain homosexuality in a non-degrading fashion, you'd have to use words that would also need explanation.
The issue runs deeper and deeper the more you have to explain other communities of the LGBT+ world. For example, the difference between sex and gender is literally impossible, and I mean that in a literal sense. Sex and gender don't have different words in Arabic, so basically you'd be saying "There's a difference between sex and sex", or "gender and gender".
There are attempts made by different organizations to "Arabic-sizing" the words but so far it has been a mess. The Arabic Wikipedia article for example keeps using different words, all are new to the language, even changing the main word in the title. One of the words used is literally "gender" but written in Arabic, another is just writing "sex" and adding a few letters to it, the way to describe that in English would be sex and "sexui", just a gibberish word. The final term and the main term now used on Wikipedia is translated as "Social type". Which is literally something that could be used to describe any type of person.
I could dive into each term deeper separately and why it is problematic but I feel the examples used are enough. The biggest issue comes from the fact that Arabic isn't even the language Arabs use every day.
Let me explain
The language used in Wikipedia articles, much like much of publications in the Arab World is known as "Classic Arabic", that Arabic, as a language, hasn't evolved with time. It rejected new words mostly, and used only a few. The dialects used in Arabic countries are basically their own language in a way. So, words like the neutral words for homosexuality, gender, non-binary (Which by the way, the way it is written in Arabic makes it look like a skin disease), and other LGBT+ related terms aren't used at all, unless among people seeking to defend it, so that is not very helpful.
In Conclusion
This issue runs deep and I barely scratched the surface here. The reason I brought up this issue now is because of the Abotrika situation. We are talking about prominent personnel in sports media talking on the biggest sports broadcaster in the region demanding actions that affect a football league in England, followed by Twitter hashtags showing him support in millions. So around the time I thought the LGBT+ community was being accepted in the Arab world slowly but surely here in the Arab world, it seems there are forces not only rejecting that locally but looking to spread that rejection globally.
That shows a need to have these conversations, now more than ever. However, it is important to address the main problem in any conversation; language and terminology. You can't convince someone who doesn't even understand you, which leaves the conversation at an extremely shallow level.
The lack of recognized words and terminology leaves the debate only focused on individual freedom and the protection of minorities. That argument is refuted with the LGBT+ being harmful, to which you won't be able to respond, in a literal sense.