The UK’s LGBTQ+ community, their allies and the Lebanese Diaspora are coming together to raise funds to rebuild Lebanon's capital Beirut and support all impacted communities.

We are asking you to help us, by donating what you can to this crowdfund, and joining us on 22 August for an evening of pride, performance and love for Beirut, its people and its reconstruction. Rebuilding Beirut with Pride will be hosted at the Bell Pub in Whitechapel, and live-streamed all night for everyone to watch and take part in. From an art auction to a programme of performance, we want to celebrate Arab and queer art and talent and help rebuild our hometown in the process.

If you'd like to donate more than our ticket prices, please check out our gofundme page.

Why are we fundraising?

Beirut is a disaster zone. On the 4th of August, the city was rocked by a colossal explosion involving 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. To put things in perspective, it is one of the worse urban explosions since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The blast killed at least 157 people and injured 5,000. Hundreds remain missing. With the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, the explosion's shock wave enveloped Beirut, shattering windows and collapsing old buildings. Lebanon's hospitals - already overrun by coronavirus - are in dire need of support. Meanwhile, around 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes. Two of Beirut's LGBTQ+ hubs, Mar Mikhael and Gemmayze, were only 500m away from the point of detonation. These areas have been utterly devastated and, like many other parts of Beirut, are now uninhabitable.

The blast comes at the worse time for Lebanon, hitting a country already in disaster. Covid-19 exacerbated a pre-existing political and economic crisis, bringing the Lebanese to the brink of collapse. This year has seen thousands of Lebanese lose their lifetime savings and the country's hyper-inflated currency remains in free-fall. One in the three people are unemployed, while amongst Lebanon's poorest, famine is approaching. In short, your donations are needed. They will support those people immediately impacted by the explosion, but also Lebanese communities and families facing economic desolation. Please see below for which NGOs and groups we are donating to.

What's happening on the 22nd? 

While we encourage you support us, share this page and ask all your friends to donate throughout the next two weeks, we have an exciting day planned to drum up even more donations! On 22 August there are two events you need to know about:

6:30PM: Art Auction (online) 

We will be auctioning a collection of both Arab and Queer art, prints and designs, kindly donated by artists and designers from both the UK and Lebanon. More details to come, including some sneak peaks at some of the pieces! All proceeds will be added to the goal target. This will be an online auction so everyone can take part! 

Interested? Put in your details here  to keep up to date with the auction so you don't miss out on any information! 

8:00PM: Performances (In person & live streamed)

Rebuilding Beirut with Pride will be hosted at the Bell Pub in Whitechapel, and live-streamed all night for everyone to watch. We have a line up of performers showcasing Arab and Queer talent with opportunities and activities to donate to the fund throughout the night. A full programme of the night will be released shortly. 

We only have a limited number of 30 tickets for the in-person event and will be following strict social distancing measures, including table service and contactless payment. Contact details of attendees will be shared with the Bell for purposes of contact tracing if required.

But don't worry! We have 500 tickets available for our online live stream, where you can take part in the night. 

Where is the money going?

All proceeds will be equally split and donated to the Lebanese Red Cross , Beit El Baraka , Basmeh & Zeitooneh  and Embrace Lebanon . Beit El Baraka provide food banks for victims of the disaster, Basmeh & Zeitooneh are responding on the ground to those who have been made homeless, and Embrace Lebanon offers mental health support. We also pledge a portion of the proceeds to the Lebanese Transgender Relief Fund and are in conversations with the LGBT+ community on the ground to identify other streams of direct support. 

Who are we?

We are a group of Lebanese expats, friends, allies and activists who want to help however we can in rebuilding our home. We each work in different sectors (NGOs, journalism, fashion, music) and want to bring our passions, networks and resources together to help make real change back home.