Sydney Life

When I set out last year to finish my Arts Honours in Sociology and Social Policy, it all really started as a personal project. I was out to investigate the experiences of same-sex attracted (SSA) Australians from Arabic-speaking backgrounds. Little did I know, but my 20,000-word thesis would land me a commission to investigate the issue on a larger scale. I am about to embark on writing a government-funded report which will form the intellectual infrastructure for a campaign to change homophobic attitudes in Arabic communities. Not bad for an Arts degree, huh?

My Thesis: Bodies in Exile

When I started, the past research into same-sex attracted (SSA) Australians from Arabic-speaking backgrounds was sparse. A 10-person focus group in a government report into homophobic violence, a health worker's case study into 2 young gay Arab boys and a 45-person survey into Arab Australian MSM (men-who-have-sex-with-men) was all there was. Yet, I knew there were stories to tell here; that being Arab, Australian and non-heterosexual came with significant challenges and everyday injustices that needed to be overcome in order to survive.

So the research thesis began. I advertised across Australia - online, in press and through personal networks. I found ten people willing to speak about their experiences as SSA Australians from Arabic-speaking backgrounds. This was no mean feat for a mere Honours project; my research was set to become one of the biggest and most in-depth studies on this topic to date.

So Bodies in Exile was born. In a series of face-to-face and online interviews, my participants revealed their personal stories filled with determination to counter homophobic societies, families and communities in order to find a small place in the world to exist as whole people. They revealed the tensions in their lives: the challenges of dealing with their sexuality, familial homophobia, societal racism and community surveillance. And yet they found ways to mediate those tensions with surprising humour, tenacity, resilience and creativity.

They experienced gross homophobia from the people they most loved and respected. Adhel* (names have been changed) told me:

“I’ll tell you one thing. On 60 Minutes there was something about gay marriage. I was there. I was eating tabouli on the table next to my dad, and I was a bit nervous because it was on. [... H]e was watching it and goes: ‘tsk, tsk, tsk – a’yeb, a’yeb, a’yeb il shuum [shame, shame, shame] – this is disgusting {spitting sound}.’ That kind of scared me. That’s when I thought that I couldn’t say anything. I had to keep my silence. You know – being stubborn for a challenge – it was hard to yield myself from any talking.”

Tara spoke about the injustice she felt from having her relationship rendered invisible:

“And when she [Tara’s sister] got married […] that was the worst. Because it was like, here we all are celebrating all these great relationships; whereas in my whole family, I’m the one who’s been with my partner the longest out of everyone. But you know, there’s no recognition. But that’s also because I don’t tell them. So it’s a bit of a Catch 22.”

Fadi spoke about feeling excluded because of his ‘Middle Eastern appearance’:

“It’s just the language of people. The way people talk about other […] and the fact that people never accept when I answer them that I’m Australian when they ask about my nationality.”

Overwhelmingly, their stories were of, as I put it, ‘bodies in exile’; they found very few places ‘within their Arab families and communities or their Western-nation homes, where their sexual and ethnic identities [could] co-exist’ (Bodies in Exile, p2).

The Commission
Through my work in community sector, I heard a local project was looking into the issue. This project was following on previous government research into homophobic violence and hostilities, (PDF) which recommended that the next step be a focused study of specific communities. The specific community in this case was the Arab community.

I sent the coordinator of the project my thesis to read, citing it may be useful for the literature review.

A few months later, I got a call! I was asked whether I would like to work with the Steering Committee to analyse the data from the research, write the final report and help formulate the recommendations for change. Woohoo!

It just goes to show that if you find something you’re really passionate about, find a niche and put it out there, anything’s possible.