Increased access to the internet in authoritarian and nominally democratic countries has been nothing short of transformative. Individuals that care about social justice causes deemed too taboo to exist are no longer forced to silently acquiesce and accept the status quo. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/non-binary and queer/questioning people in socially conservative, authoritarian regimes in particular have covertly organized online and ultimately formed robust social movements in the last two decades that continue to grow to this day. This book tracks the emergence of new LGBTQ+ movements born online in the Middle East and North Africa in the 2000s and 2010s. This second edition of Catalyze includes a brand new preface about the renewed right-wing war on queer people in the West in the 2020s, and how LGBTQ+ rights-namely trans rights-are under attack.
