It all started when Alaa Merheb, who according to his Facebook page, is a “journalist” decided to vomit all over himself. To be fair though “vomited all over himself” does not do justice to his latest article in Al Jaras “magazine.” In that article, Alaa threw up on himself, decapitated himself, shat down his own neck and then slit open his belly, nailed his guts to a tree and ran circles around it. I borrowed that expression from the almighty Stephen Colbert… That is how bad he messed up. It’s such a crappy job at journalism that instead of being mad, I was giggling throughout his whole very poorly researched article about PC Parties.

What are PC Parties?

I’ve covered a few PC Parties here on the blog. The post has loads of pics and everything so you can see for yourself what I experienced my first PC party back in May.

PC stands for something different each time. My first was Pop Culture, my second was Pirates of Cannes and those I remember well include Pretty Clean, Plane Crash, Premier de Classe and most recently Private Coffin, the Halloween edition.

Where do they happen? How do you get in?

The parties are often for 25$ and open bar. The locations change and are often in vacant factories, rooftops or depots. A few regular spots include Sporting Club on Raouche and a couple of factories on the seaside road. All you need to be able go in is be over 18 (so you can legally consume alcohol)

What kind of people go there?

Every kind. There are you rich spoiled kids, your leftist commie-wannabes, your binge-drinkers, your shy nerds who barely go out, your grade-A party animals, your happy couples, your loud divas, your clueless people acting all surprised and people like me: awesome.

Addressing the elephant in the room: Homosexuality

As a biologist, my view on homosexuality is governed by the biological evidence. Thousands of species exhibit homosexual behavior in both female and male individuals. Now, being gay is not purely genetic (about 40% is though) it is also heavily reliant on the specific environment of the individual (both pre and postnatal). In other words, homosexuals were indeed  ”born this way” as Lady Gaga put it, and will most likely become gay if the corresponding circumstances for it arise at different stages in their development.

In other words, I have no problem with the LBGT community. Love is love, no matter what or who it is you’re loving. Even from a legal standpoint, Article 534 in the Lebanese penal code (which is often cited when arguing homosexuality is illegal) states sexual actions “contradicting the laws of nature” are punishable by law. Well, nature has plenty of examples of homosexuality, thus arguing for the possibility that homosexuality does not in fact contradict nature, just religious texts, and is thus, through a legal loophole is not illegal.

I myself am straight, and so are most people who attend PC parties. In fact, I’d reckon the percentage of homosexuals at PC Parties is very close to the amount of gay people at any other club or party. I’ve had the opportunity to experience that first-hand, with guys I see at PC in heels and bras, out the next day in plain old guy clothes in a rooftop club I will not name.

But, at PC Parties, no one cares. If you’re gay and open about it there, you won’t get the typical Lebanese reactionwhich is often disgust. You’d probably downplay the importance and be like “so what?”. Here though, I’d like to take a moment and address the LGBT community in Lebanon: don’t overdo it guys… I’m heterosexual, but you don’t see pictures of vaginas and nude women all over my blog. It gets annoying sometimes, to the point where it looks like the whole point is “hey, look at me! I’m gay!” when in fact, it should be “I’m here to have fun and dance and party”

How Alaa Merheb shamed the journalism industry

1. He assumed all PC parties stand for Private Coffin, and that it is a reaction to the bitterness PC goers have to the Lebanese political and sectarian system, and that they are so disheartened by the ruling class, that they name themselves the “youth of the coffin”.
   Why he’s wrong? Because each PC stands for something different. And what the fuck do politicians have to do with this? It’s just the same old broken Lebanese record of whining and blaming the “system” for virtually everything. Alaa took the Al Manar way, which is blaming Israel for everything that happens in the universe with no real logical or physical evidence.
   
2. He said that the Plane Crash installment coincided with the Ethiopian Plane crash.
   Why he’s wrong? The ethiopian plane crash happened in January 25, 2010. The Plane Crash Party was in summer of 2011. Now, he might be a retard and might believe events 18+ months apart are “coinciding”, if that is the case, then I weep for his parents.
   
3.  He said PC goers have a fond connection and love for blood.
   Why he’s wrong? Really? -_- The intro to Private Coffin (a halloween party) jokingly said “there’s gonna be blood” about the venue decorations. Alaa’s minuscule brain must’ve taken it too literally. It’s like believing a party that will “blow your mind” will make your IQ drop to that of Al Jaras and its team’s.
   
4. He said PC goers get virgins on horses to abandoned locations without the government knowing.
   Why he’s wrong? The government knows and the authorities allow it. And, why the hell would you bring a virgin on a horse? It seems Alaa’s grandmother folktales have had a deep impact on how he sees the world: stupid religiously-fueled fantasy after another
   
5. He claimed PC goers try to make newcomers gay.
   What is this?! Medieval Spain?! No one wants to convert anyone, if anything, you’d be extra certain you are NOT gay after seeing some of the gay couples there!
   

I’m bored of translating from Arabic and the above will suffise. I assure you, the article is oozing with stupidity and unprofessionalism. Alaa wasn’t even there, he just saw a few pictures of the event on Facebook and probably googled “vampires” and translated some vampire-porn-freak’s account about fictional rituals.

I allowed myself to use the same tone as Alaa in this post. Although, my tone is still more respectable (sorry, I tried to be as trashy as Al Jaras, but couldn’t =’( )

Anyway, to everyone who has ever been and enjoyed PC, forget about this article. It’s just a tabloid with a tween of  pseudojournalist who thinks mixing blood, homosexuality and Lebanese politicians means he has a story. Your explosive reactions and calls for lawsuits are a waste of time. Just treat it as it is: tabloid trash, just like news about Haifa and Nancy!

For those of you who wanna double-check the accuracy of my post, there’s a PC Party this Saturday so go and see for yourself!