Researcher – SOGIESC &Religion

The purpose of this initiative is to fill in knowledge gaps on queer subjects and equip LGBTQ+ people and allies with accurate information that will support them in fighting back against prejudice and expanding existing knowledge and familiarity of connections between queerness and faith for the benefit of LGBTIQ people of faith and those wishing to know more about what religious texts truly say about non-normative gender identities and sexualities.

Desired Outcome: The purpose of this project is to provide users with epistemic information on
religious and cultural topics in relation to rights, gender, and sexuality at a click of a button. It
seeks to create an exhaustive list of Questions to the most popular inquiries, pervasive
mythologies, and hidden truths and facts and provide Answers to them in an accessible abridged,
but thoroughly researched and cited format. The Q&A segment would concentrate on the
intersection between gender and sexual minorities and religious systems and communities of faith
with a concentration on the Arab World with particular emphasis on how reconciling religious
scripture and norms with non-normative SOGIESC. The gathered information will be presented in
a user-friendly and accessible platform which will serve as a reference for users to access freely in
Arabic and English languages. By surfing Helem’s digital search engine platform, users will be able
to instantly gain access to an archive of information via a simple and informative web directory.
Users will be able to explore answers about diverse sexual and gender minorities in the Arab
region within multiple Q&A formats.
Key Concepts: Sexuality; Gender identity, religion and faith; identity and belonging; cultural,
societal, and legal understandings of gender; rights; Arab queer terminologies; discrimination,
stigma, and oppression.

Deliverables:
● Lead focus group discussions (FGDs) with members of the LGBTQ+ community to be done
in person and/or online.
● Organize interviews with experts and specialists in the relevant fields to be done in person

and/or online.
● Conduct research on specific LGBTQ-related topics and gather references for materials as
well as guidance on how to answer questions.
● Provide complete and comprehensive addendum contents and further reading for each
question and sub-category/subject.
● Provide a clear and comprehensive topic description of each sub-category to be utilized in
promotional material.
● Convert gathered information and materials into clear, and comprehensive responses.
● Create a digitized database of information including questions, answers, categories, and
references.
● Accompany a graphic designer in the creation of all audio-visual material for the digital
web directory platform.
● Ensure all aforementioned information is correctly translated into Arabic/English through
a meticulous review of all translations.