Lebanese TV Director Charbel Khalil: You Can Be As Gay As You Want, But I Oppose Same-Sex Marriages In Lebanon

Lebanese TV director Charbel Khalil said in an October 8, 2020 interview on OTV (Lebanon) that he has no personal problem with homosexuality, but that he opposes and will continue to oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage in Lebanon. He said he doesn't want Lebanon to become like Europe, and he argued that homosexuals have otherwise equal rights in Lebanon. For more about Charbel Khalil, see MEMRI TV clip no. 7914.

Charbel Khalil: "There are many homosexual journalists who are good friends of mine and I help them a lot."

Interviewer: "They are very creative homosexuals..."

Khalil: "I have no problem with that. However, I am against legalizing same-sex marriages in Lebanon."

Interviewer: "This is not going to happen in Lebanon. Do you think this is going to happen?"

Khalil: "In the [protest] tent, they presented this issue. They said that one of their ideas was to legalize this. I am against this. That's it. You can be as gay as you want. I don't have a problem with that. I really don't have a personal problem with this, but I am against legalizing same-sex marriage in Lebanon, so we won't be like Europe. They have their rights. Is there a homosexual in Lebanon who does not have his right?"

Interviewer: "What rights do they have?"

Khalil: "Everything except marriage."

Interviewer: "What do you mean 'everything'? Like what?"

Khalil: "Everything. The homosexuals are like us. We are all people and we all live our lives. What do the homosexuals lack that you and I have? Nothing. The only thing is same-sex marriage, which I am against, and I will continue to oppose this for the next 200 years."