My.Kali: The only gay magazine in the Middle East
Eleven years ago, then 18-year-old Khalid Abdel-Hadi, alongside a group of diverse students, established My.Kali. Based in Amman, Jordan, this online publication was created to address issues impacting the Arab LGBT community. Over the years, Hadi has successfully expanded the magazine, delving into exclusive reporting on sexuality, gender identity, art, design, fashion, and politics.
The significance of My.Kali lies in its unique role as a platform for articulating the queer Arab experience. The content not only showcases queer Arab voices, but is also accessible to all readers, with each issue published in both Arabic and English.
The My.Kali team has developed a special newsletter for those who discreetly “consume” the magazine. For contributors, maintaining anonymity is crucial. “We operate based on the discretion of journalists, photographers, stylists, the entire team. We communicate with each other through encrypted messages.”
Homosexuality is a contentious issue across the Middle East. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Yemen still enforce the death penalty for it. In Jordan, one of the few Arab countries where homosexuality is not a criminal offense, a significant stigma shadows those who openly discuss issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. Thus, the work undertaken by My.Kali requires immense courage and meticulousness.
The English-language bi-monthly online edition of the magazine was launched in 2007, followed by an Arabic version in 2016, triggering significant reactions across the Arab world. For the first time, the Arab LGBT community had a homegrown point of reference, not a Western import, but a platform created by Arabs for Arabs.
However, since the publication is solely online, it manages to evade censorship and laws applicable in Jordan that target only print publications. If they dared to print an issue of My.Kali, Hadi and his team would likely face imprisonment.
Still, the magazine’s journey over the years has been fraught with difficulties. In July 2016, government authorities blocked the site. This attack on My.Kali coincided with the targeting of the country’s LGBT community by the Jordanian representative of the Islamic Action Front, who declared they were unwelcome, despite laws decriminalizing homosexuality.
The Jordanian parliament eventually suspended My.Kali, forcing Hadi and his team to spend a year “reorganizing the publication.”
“We realized then that there is a significant misunderstanding of what it means to be LGBT,” reflects Hadi today. “Because we operate on the Internet, we choose to communicate with our audience as if we were speaking to a newborn,” said My.Kali last autumn, after returning to a new domain and publishing an issue focused on identity, politics, and aesthetics.
According to Hadi, a significant portion of My.Kali’s readership doesn’t identify as part of the LGBT community, and most don’t even follow the publication on social media, fearing to link their profiles with a queer magazine.
In response, the My.Kali team has created a unique newsletter for those who discreetly “consume” the magazine. For contributors, anonymity is paramount. “We operate under the discretion of journalists, photographers, stylists – the entire team. We correspond via encrypted messages,” Hadi discloses.
Over its decade-long existence, My.Kali has strived to enhance the lives of the queer community in the Arab world. “More people are coming out and being accepted. The dialogue is becoming more substantial, inclusive, and even more ‘mainstream’, I’d say,” Hadi concludes.
The My.Kali team seeks to show these individuals that they don’t have to envision a new life solely away from their homes. They can find acceptance in the Middle East, realizing they are not alone. “Many don’t view the West as the utopia they wish to relocate to, but rather want to adapt to their own society, live their lives normally, and embrace their culture.”
Of course, challenges persist, the most recent being the cancellation of a magazine-hosted event by Jordanian authorities.
The Jordanian National Gallery of Fine Arts was scheduled to co-host an evening with My.Kali this coming Saturday as part of an annual arts event. Yesterday, it was revealed that the Jordanian Ministry of Culture had prohibited My.Kali’s participation.
Social media posts about the event quickly sparked a flurry of comments, many of which called for the cancellation of the event. Following the official announcement by the Ministry of Culture’s spokesperson, Ahmad Al-Oun, all event-related posts ceased to mention My.Kali.
Sources: Nylon, Gay Star News and SBS