A Lebanese dancer defies extremist threats and social norms with his sold-out performances

BEIRUT (AP) — Alexandre Paulikevitch put on his white dress and wig and danced his way to center stage, knowing that the extremist groups who had threatened him before his controversial recital might be waiting for him outside the theater.

The Lebanese dancer’s sold-out performance to a cheering crowd at a popular Beirut venue had angered fundamentalist movements ranging from the right-wing Christian Soldiers of God to Sunni Islamists.

The fundamentalists say Paulikevitch is “promoting homosexuality" because he wears dresses and corsets and undulates to classical Arabic music in a way which society largely sees as exclusive to women.

Paulikevitch says he’s breaking social norms and reintroducing forms of dance that were commonplace for men as recently as the early 20th century.

Lebanon is seen as a place of relative tolerance in the region when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, following years of activism from the queer community and supporters. But the community still faces restrictions and even violence.

“I’m not promoting anything, I am just dancing. If you want to come watch me, come,” Paulikevitch said defiantly in his changing room as the audience took their seats outside. “They think if one looks a certain way, that means they have an agenda to convert society. If the society was going to convert, it would have happened hundreds of years ago.”

Male dancers in the 19th and early 20th century in countries like Egypt who moved their hips and torsos expressively were once widely appreciated but today are largely shunned. Paulikevitch says he’s paying tribute to his favorite dancers and songs with local forms that go beyond belly dancing, which he dismisses as a narrow and exoticized Western perception of Middle Eastern dancing.

The crowd gazed at Paulikevitch as he swayed and contorted his slender body to music played by his backing band of traditional percussionists and flutists. His lipstick, eyeshadow, and eyeliner glowed while he moved under the spotlight. Some in the crowd smiled and sang along, while others watched as if mesmerized. Many filmed with their cellphones. All of them applauded.

Paulikevitch, 43, was seen at protests for years, holding a megaphone for all sorts of causes, including labor rights, combating domestic violence, and in the countrywide uprisings against Lebanon's banks and political leadership in late 2019. He also faced attacks and was once imprisoned under Lebanon’s opaque laws.

“We dance because we have no other option. We dance because whatever happened and whatever is happening to us, this is our resistance,” he told the audience in his white dress after his first number.

Over 20 years ago, the first non-governmental organization for queer rights in the Middle East was founded in Lebanon. Helem, Arabic for “dream”, was even formally registered. Owners of a handful of Beirut’s nightlife venues are largely accessible to the country’s LGBTQ+ community, including Metro al-Madina, where Paulikevitch is performing. Some even host drag shows.

However, crackdowns on free speech and expression have surged in recent years, and the country’s queer community has not been spared, in some cases facing violence from extremist groups.

Security forces called the venue before the show, expressing their concern, but Paulikevitch says he refuses to “run and hide.” The venue’s management backed him and brought extra police protection. Armed officers stood outside, but nobody showed up except the audience.

Lebanon has spiraled downward since 2019, with its banks collapsing and corrupt state institutions decaying. Over half its population of about six million has been pulled into poverty after decades of mismanagement and profiteering by the political class. Israel’s widespread destruction of southern and eastern Lebanon in its monthslong war with the Hezbollah militant group last year further compounded the country’s woes.

“With everything that’s happening now, especially now — the killing, the strikes, the extermination, and the insanity that we are living through — is this the time to focus on me?” the dancer said while putting on his makeup. “Who’s paying attention to me? I don’t understand where this gravity is coming from, which is why I refused to stop my show, because something doesn’t add up.”

As Lebanon has struggled to stand on its own two feet, the queer community has been periodically targeted by conservatives and right-wing groups in ways similar to the ongoing culture wars of the United States and Europe. In Lebanon’s fractured sectarian power-sharing political system, it became a rare bridge of unity.

The summer of 2023 was notably hostile. Lebanon’s culture minister moved to ban the movie “Barbie”, saying it “promotes homosexuality and transgenders.” Right-wing groups unsuccessfully lobbied to shut down Helem and have mobilized against anything displaying rainbows, from cakes in bakery storefronts to children’s board games at schools. In some cases, their actions turned violent. Members of the Soldiers of God group entered a bar in Beirut hosting a drag show, attacking several people, and forcing other patrons to hide in a bathroom.

Paulikevitch says he isn’t interested in imposing anything on people and their personal choices, but simply wants his right to perform his art.

“I have a problem with you the same way you have a problem with me, but the difference between us is that I respect you,” he said, addressing the groups attacking him. “Even if your beard or your appearance bothers me, I respect and accept you as you are. You can’t see me as I’m not getting near you, (so) why do you have such a problem with me?”

The dancer has faced more than just threats. He said he was detained for a year under a murky law which criminalizes sexual activity “against nature”, which some interpret as including same-sex acts. In 2020, during popular protests across the country decrying corruption and the country’s politicians and bankers, Paulikevitch was among a handful of activists beaten and arrested by riot police by the Central Bank.

Still, he remains optimistic for the future of the queer community and artistic expression in Lebanon. One member of his band helped him with his wig before a quick rehearsal. His calm demeanor soon turned into nervousness, with his mind fixed on his performance and not on whatever might be taking place outside.

“Me putting this makeup and putting (on) my dresses is a political act, (whether) I want it or not,” he said. “Doing what I do is resisting, is giving the possibility for others to be inspired, to say it is possible. I’m paying a high price, but ... maybe, maybe I can inspire someone.”

Alexandre Paulikevitch performs at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Alexandre Paulikevitch prepares his dress backstage before performing at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Alexandre Paulikevitch rehearses at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Alexandre Paulikevitch gives an interview backstage before his performace at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Alexandre Paulikevitch performs at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump's administration cannot block federal money for child care subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.

The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three grant programs is having an immediate impact on them and creating “operational chaos.” In court filings and a hearing earlier Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for withholding the money from them.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was pausing the funding because it had “reason to believe” the states were granting benefits to people in the country illegally, though it did not provide evidence or explain why it was targeting those states and not others.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, did not rule on the legality of the funding freeze but said the five states met a legal threshold “to protect the status quo” for at least 14 days while arguments are made in court.

Health department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The affected programs are the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for 1.3 million children from low-income families; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant, a smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs.

The five states say they receive a total of more than $10 billion a year from the programs.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the lawsuit, called the ruling a “critical victory for families whose lives have been upended by this administration’s cruelty.”

The government had requested reams of data from the five states, including the names and Social Security numbers of everyone who received benefits from some of the programs since 2022.

The states argue that the effort is unconstitutional and is intended to go after Trump’s political adversaries rather than to stamp out fraud in government programs — something the states say they already do.

Jessica Ranucci, a lawyer in James' office, said during the Friday hearing that at least four of the states had already had money delayed after requesting it. She said that if the states can’t get child care funds, there will be immediate uncertainty for providers and families who rely on the programs.

A lawyer for the federal government, Kamika Shaw, said it was her understanding that the money had not stopped flowing to states.

The other 45 states face a new requirement to check attendance at child care centers and submit “strong justification for the use of funds” that aligns with the program's purpose.

At about the same time the judge stopped the freeze on the child care subsidies, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the administration would freeze about $130 million a year in funding from her agency to Minnesota.

Rollins said the state’s inability to stop fraud schemes led to the decision. Seventy-eight people have been charged since 2022 — and 57 convicted — after federal prosecutors said the Minnesota nonprofit group Feeding Our Future stole $250 million from a program meant to feed children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's office did not immediately have a comment Friday evening. The state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, said he’d fight the new freeze of funds in court.

In a letter to Walz that Rollins shared on social media, she suggested the state could restore its access to the funding by providing justification for how it spent federal dollars over the past year. All the state’s future transactions involving money from the agency will require the same justification, she said.

Walz and Minnesota have become a main target of the administration in Trump's second term.

Last month the president called the state’s Somali population “garbage” in the wake of the Feeding Our Futures investigation and other fraud cases involving Somali defendants.

And this week the administration launched the largest immigration enforcement operation in history in Minneapolis, leading to a fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 at the Coliseum Building in Minneapolis. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP)

Children watch television at ABC Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)

FILE = The Health and Human Services seal is seen before the news conference of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)