New Lebanon MP says he'll fight same-sex marriage, LGBT+ visibility

Lebanese LGBT+ activists and their allies have expressed dismay after videos appeared of a newly-elected MP vowing to stand against increasing LGBT+ rights when elected to parliament.

Waddah Sadek, a businessman with connections to the government, won a seat in parliament after running on the opposition Beirut al-Taghyir (Beirut Change) list for Lebanon's general elections, which took place on 15 May.

While some Lebanese included Sadek in their congratulatory messages to progressive candidates, others pointed to comments he made to interviewers asking him about LGBT+ rights while he campaigned for election.

In two interviews, Sadek said he would fight proposals to legalise same-sex marriage made to parliament if he were to become an MP.

"Waddah Sadek, who has been confirmed as an opposition MP in Parliament, has expressed (& encouraged) heterosexist, anti-queer views on TV," Lebanese economist Hussein Chaeito said of Sadek's election.

"How do you think this makes queer residents of Lebanon feel today? I, for one, am terrified of what’s to come. More aggression, more erasure."

Members of the Beirut Change list, including Ibrahim Mneimneh, were part of Lebanon's October 2019 protest movement, which called for an end to decades of state corruption and mismanagement.

Mneimneh has said in past interviews that he wanted laws criminalising homosexuality in Lebanon removed.

Lebanon’s pro-Hezbollah bloc lost its parliamentary majority in the 15 May elections, a final tally of the votes showed on Tuesday.