Footnotes
Image above by Mohamad Abdouni

Treat Me Like Your Mother

Mohamad Abdouni
10/11/2022
1
minutes to read
Article
Mohamad Abdouni on trans* histories from Beirut’s forgotten past
Choose reading mode:
The following article is a selection of excerpts from the homonymous now sold-out book, published by Cold Cuts in May 2020. Cold Cuts is the photo journal queer culture and the South West Asian and North African region. The special edition issue by Mohamad Abdouni, co- edited by Joy Stacey and Rayan Abdel Khalek, is a public archive that compiles studio shoots, interviews, personal photographs and archival imagery to record the untold stories of ten trans* women living in Beirut. Trans* is used in recognition of transgender, transsexual, trans- feminine, trans-masculine and trans-non-binary identifying people.

This fourth edition of Cold Cuts pays tribute to trans* women, “tanteit” (fr; ladies, aunties) and femme men who have been largely erased from Beirut’s history. Working with LGBTQI+ NGO Helem, we spoke to and photographed ten ladies aged between their late thirties and late fifties, all with very different stories that collectively paint an unprecedented picture of Beirut’s past. We decided to do this because older members of the LGBTQI+ community are often invisible in a city where LGBTQI+ people are increasingly under the spotlight.

يكـرم العـدد الرابـع مـن كولـد كتـس النسـاء الترانـس* والرجـال عابـري وعابـرات الجنـس والجنـدر و«الطانتـات» والرجــالالأنثويــنالممحيــنوالممحيــاتإلىحــدكبــر مـن تاريـخ بـروت. تـم هـذا العمـل مـن خـال التعـاون مــع منظمــة مجتمــع الميم-عــن غــر الحكوميــة حلــم الـي تمكّنـا مـن خالهـا أن نصـ ّور ونتحـدث إلى عـر نسـاء تـتراوح أعمارهـن بـن أواخـر الثاثينيـات وأواخـر الخمســينيات، نســاء تحملــن قصــص مختلفــة ولكنّهــا تتقاطـع لترسـم صـورة عـن مـاضي بـروت. قرارنـا للقيـام بعمـل كهـذا أتى مـن يقيننـا بـأن الأفـراد الأكـر سـنّاً في مجتمــع الميم-عــن غالبــا مــا هم/هــن غــر مرئيــن/ات وسـط مدينـة يتصاعـد فيهـا وجـود هـذا المجتمـع تحـت الأضواء.

Read the full article in the printed issue. Get OVER Journal 3

No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
No items found.
About
Mohamad Abdouni
Mohamad Abdouni is an artist, photographer, filmmaker and curator based between Beirut and Istanbul. He is Editor in-Chief and Creative Director of COLD CUTS magazine. His work and films have been exhibited and screened in museums and festivals across the globe, and he has been published in many international publications such as A24, New Queer Photography, and i-D. Currently, he is working on what is arguably the first archive of trans* histories in an Arab country, a project entitled Treat Me Like Your Mother: Trans* Histories From Beirut’s Forgotten Past. The collection resides safely today at the Arab Image Foundation.
About
Footnotes
Image above by Mohamad Abdouni