Gays and the Libyan revolution, before and after

Following the removal of Colonel Gaddafi’s dictatorship, Khaleed, like many Libyans, is full of hope and concern for their future. Their country, society and cultures are now going to start to forge a new identity which was so forcefully bound up with the Gaddafi family the ruled Libya with an iron fist for over 40 years.

Khaleed is clear he is ‘more hopeful now’. He has good reasons to be, Libyans know they have great resources as the world’s eighth-largest oil reserves and hope the damage from the bloody seven months civil war can be fixed quickly. Everyone hopes that its resources can be exploited and lead to a rapid economic development.

It is clear that this is no easy journey, last year in early November many of the local militia leaders who helped topple Colonel Gaddafi (killed 20 October 2011) have not heeded the pledge they made earlier to give up their weapons. They said that they intended to preserve their autonomy and influence political decisions as ‘guardians of the revolution’ and sources indicate there are over a quarter of a million of such heavily armed militiamen.

The issue of the militias is one of the most urgent facing Libya’s new provisional government, the Transitional National Council. And Khaleed agrees this is the ‘biggest issue facing us’. The second is building civil society, law and order and stabilising the economy.  Read More