Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and transgenders face constant abuse and discrimination in many societies. Often individuals within these communities are treated as second class citizens who have to live a double life. They are marginalized, physically and sexually harassed, and killed.

Art for Rights was formed in light of the dire situation in the Middle East and the desperate need for dialogue on such matters in Middle Eastern communities. Art for Rights is a non-profit organization based in Vancouver, Canada. The agency is dedicated to using art as a means of educating Middle Eastern communities -the general public and queer people alike- about sexual orientation and gender identity. In doing so, Art for Rights seeks to promote human rights, tolerance, and above all acceptance of GLBT individuals in their respective ethnic communities and in the broader mainstream society.

Due to lack of accurate information, and Sharia laws, homosexuality is illegal in almost all Middle Eastern countries. Even in the few countries where homosexuality is not banned by law, queer people are still subject to violence, verbal abuse, and other forms of prejudice. In the region, human beings are treated as criminals because of their sexuality and gender identiy. In some countries such as Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates people face state sanctioned executions because of how they self identify and how others identify them. There are simply no national anti-discrimination laws to protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The subject of homosexuality remains a taboo and absent from mainstream media. In Iraq, where homosexuality is legal, some Iraqi militia and private citizens have hunted and killed gay and transgender Iraqis.

Human rights violations committed against Middle Eastern GLBT people are not confined to the region. Queer Middle Easterners living in “free” countries such as Canada still struggle for acceptance within Middle Eastern and non-Middle Eastern communities alike. This, in part, has contributed to the complete absence or lack of adequate social services for queer people of color and immigrants.
 
By providing an outlet for GLBT artists and other artists whose work pertains to the human rights of the Middle Eastern queers, Art for Rights wishes to address the following issues:

• Lack of role models for queer Middle Easterners
• Mainstream and community-based stigmatization of homosexuality
• Lack of acceptance by family, friends, and non-Middle Eastern communities
• Marginalization of queer members by organizations serving Middle Eastern communities
• Absence of queer visibility in the Middle Eastern media
• Violence, verbal abuse, and other forms of prejudice against queer people of Middle Eastern descent
• Lack of a proper guideline for processing queer refugee cases
• Lack of voice and visibility of the GLBT community within Middle Eastern communities

Mission Statement

To empower and bring visibility to queer people in Middle Eastern communities as a means of eliminating violence, stigmatization, verbal abuse, and other forms of prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Goals

• To create an archive of queer-oriented art in Middle Eastern communities
• To provide information valuable to queer Middle Easterners and their families
• To end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity by individuals, corporations, and by religious, educational, and community institutions in Middle Eastern communities
• To fight homophobia in Middle Eastern communities
• To create close ties with other organizations serving Middle Eastern queers
• To support and encourage Middle Eastern queer artists
• To fight racism
• To de-stigmatize homosexuality
• To create a platform for dialogue on sexual orientation and gender identity in Middle Eastern communities
• To promote acceptance of queer people in Middle Eastern and non-Middle Eastern communities
  
• To advocate for gender equality
• To educate Middle Eastern communities about queer oppression
• To promote queer rights and empower queer people by creating queer content art in print, visual, and audio form (including newsletters, movies, music, films, and books)
• To use art as a means of exposing human rights violations against queer Middle Easterners
• To bring issues and challenges faced by Middle Eastern queers into mainstream Middle Eastern and non-Middle Eastern communities
• To fight against all forms of violence, verbal abuse, and other forms of prejudice against queer people