Growing up queer in Palestine made me want to capture life around me with a camera.  As I navigated the social environment around me, not knowing when and how I could fit in, it was often easy to find an escape through the visualization of my surroundings. It was therapeutic when I was young and still did not know how to reconcile my gender and sexual identities with my cultural upbringing. While this could be taken to mean that there is an intrinsic clash between queer identities and Palestinian culture, I’ve since learned, despite the reality of homophobia, my identities could coexist.  Despite the diversity of queer Palestinian experiences, Western media reduces our stories to incidents of violence and death. Though some queer Palestinians do experience homophobia, these experiences are often comparable with those in the West.  I come from a rather conventional average Palestinian family in the south of Palestine-Israel. Since I came out years ago, my family never showed signs of violence, despite being devout Muslims and culturally conservative. Their shocked reactions do not differ from many Western families’ reactions to young people coming out. My family is proud of me, and I still talk to them regularly... Read More