Portuguese in Lebanon: near to the wild heart
Entering Ghazze, a village in the Lebanese West Beqaa district, the references to Brazil are numerous. The driver dropped me off by a sign reading “Brazil – travel agency ” in Arabic. The streets bordering the dusty road were deserted, as expected on a hot summer day in the middle of Ramadan. As I pushed the travel agency’s glass door, a young woman greeted me with a warm “Bem-vindo!” (Welcome in Portuguese) and a wide smile. Somehow her distinct São Paulo accent didn’t seem to fit the scenery.
Continue reading on Mashallah News
Transgender Muslims in America fight bigotry on two fronts
The wave of Islamophobia erupting across the United States has taken a toll on every aspect of Muslim American life.
A climate of fear has emerged in the wake of recent events in Paris, Brussels, and San Bernardino, and every day seems to bring new reasons to worry. Mosques across the country are being threatened, vandalized, and burned down; Muslim children in schools are being beaten up, and women in hijabs are being spat on, yelled at, and stalked by armed men trying to intimidate America’s Muslim community into disappearing.
For transgender Muslims, this discrimination is compounded by issues of gender identity. While cisgender Muslims find refuge from Islamophobia in mosques, for transgender Muslims, these spaces can often be just as unsafe as other places.
Continue reading on Muftah
Sperm banks and the Iranian market
In Iran, the sperm trade is both unregulated and controversial. The price tag for sperm or a fertilized female egg starts from $1000. Some say it can go higher than $30,000. On one side of the deal there is a woman or a man who has decided that instead of selling a kidney, he or she can make money by helping other couples to have children. On the other side are couples hoping to start a families.
Continue reading on IranWire
