Asking and Telling in Saudi Arabia
Newspaper account of girl-girl love. No mention of religious police beating them with sticks. They must keep those guys out of the girls schools. No mention of guys schools. Arab News, via MEMRI:
“In a scene that many would describe as disgusting and contrary to the religious and cultural traditions of the Kingdom, sitting intimately in a corner of a classroom at a high school in Abha is Fawziya and Uhoud - two young female ‘lovers.’
“The two girls speak romantically and exchange kisses in a relationship that is forbidden in Islam. Fawziya is in the final year of high school. She is engaged to a man and will be getting married the summer after graduation.
“‘I’m not bothered by what people at school say about me. I’m just looking for an emotional relationship and I found that in Uhoud,’ said Fawziya, adding that having love and feeling is the key to life.
“‘My relationship with my family isn’t very good and I don’t get the love and attention that I should be getting from them. My family is very disconnected and there are a lot of family problems,’ she said, adding that she is not paying much attention to her coming marriage. Rather she says her attention is fixed on Uhoud.
“Uhoud, on the other hand, feels similarly and also pays very little attention to other students who frown at her relationship with Fawziya.
“Fawziya and Uhoud’s affair is not an isolated one. There are other girls involved in similar romances …
“Such relationships are strongly objected to, especially by students from religious backgrounds. Religiously observant students refuse to accept that sort of behavior. When they see couples sitting intimately together they disturb them by talking to them, giving them positive advice and letting them know that such behavior is wrong.”
“An Asir Education Department source said that the ministry has not outlined punishment for students who are caught in such relationships and added that the problem is not a new one and that it exists in other countries as well …
“Woman preacher Layla Mahran said that such relationships can potentially develop further and become physically intimate. ‘They are against Islam and considered to be sexually perverse. The relationship between a man and a woman is considered normal and I am talking about marriage here because that is part of human nature. The relationship between a man and a man or a woman and a woman is frowned upon by our religion and considered a big sin.’
“Mahran added that the problem is beginning to spread and said that she knows of a teacher who resigned because she was against some of the stuff that was happening inside the high school where she worked.”
Topics: saudi arabia, sex
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:41 am on Wednesday, March 14, 2007
2 Responses to “Asking and Telling in Saudi Arabia”
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March 14th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Considering their views on sex and the normal (for the rest of the world) interaction between males and females, it’s a wonder anybody in that country is able to procreate. And if I were a Saudi female and saw what my prospects were, I’d be tempted to go girl-on-girl too.
March 15th, 2007 at 12:17 am
“Woman preacher Layla Mahran said that such relationships can potentially develop further and become physically intimate. ‘They are against Islam and considered to be sexually perverse. The relationship between a man and a woman is considered normal and I am talking about marriage here because that is part of human nature. The relationship between a man and a man or a woman and a woman is frowned upon by our religion and considered a big sin.’
Waiting for demands for Layla Mahran to apologize by gay groups around the world in 10, 9, 8, 7…..