BEIRUT — The Lebanese soldiers at the checkpoint peered through the barbed wire.
Across the street from these men in their fatigues and combat gear, another group of men had arrived -- revelers in hip-hugging pants and tight shirts on their way to Acid, an openly gay nightclub in east Beirut.
The soldiers barely flinched.
In Lebanon, homosexuality is becoming less of a taboo. It is discussed with much greater candor on TV and radio talk shows.
The Arabic word widely used in reference to gays means "pervert." Now many leading newspapers have begun using a more neutral term.
New gay bars have sprouted, joining mainstays such as Acid, creating a flourishing nightlife that is attracting locals and foreign tourists alike.
"It's not that the political class is more open today," said George Azzi, a prominent gay rights activist. "But authorities, by portraying themselves as the new guardians of democracy and civil rights, find themselves rather bound not to attack gays."
The 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri unleashed a political firestorm that led to the ouster of Syrian troops from Lebanon. But with its heady rhetoric about freedom and rights, the so-called Cedar Revolution also unwittingly set in motion an unspoken cultural transformation.
Moreover, the political instability that followed Hariri's assassination has left many politicians and clerics too preoccupied with factional feuds to pay attention.
"Politicians are simply too busy today to persecute gays," said Salah Srour, a lawyer who works for gay rights. "They have too many problems to deal with."
Famous for its riotous nightlife, Lebanon has long been known as the most permissive among the Arab countries.
On any given night, Monnot Street in central Beirut is gridlocked with Porsche-driving playboys headed to the area's many bars and nightclubs where a bottle of champagne costs $1,000 but buys precious attention. Many tourists from the Persian Gulf countries come to Beirut for the kinds of kicks they can't get at home.
At Acid, the waiting line snakes around the block on weekends. Others prefer the hunting grounds at the city's traditional saunas known as \o7hamams\f7. In these dimly lighted, vapor-filled rooms, men wearing only towels around their waists cruise for sexual partners.
