Earlier this year, Brett Baraket left the comfort of his corporate accounting job and moved to Beirut, Lebanon.

Baraket has committed a year of his life to helping Helem (the Arabic acronym of “Lebanese Protection for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders”) in its mission to annul the Lebanese law penalizing homosexual acts and to counter the AIDS epidemic and other sexually transmitted diseases while advocating for the rights of patients.

Baraket took some time out on World AIDS Day to speak with the Gay & Lesbian Times about his work – and the impact it is having on his own spiritual life.

The following is Baraket’s story, as told to the Gay & LesbianTimes:

“Being raised Arab, religion was definitely a part of my culture and heritage, particularly during my upbringing. But there was no reasoning behind it. It was just drummed into me that whatever the church says – is right. That has somewhat changed for me now. Religion is not playing such a central part in my own life, in large part because it seems impossible to reconcile being a Muslim and being gay.

“There is no tolerance or acceptance of homosexuality in my faith. Muslims, in general, are very intolerant of gay relationships. For Lebanon, then, it is actually illegal to engage in homosexual activities. This is what we are working so hard to annul, specifically, article 534 of the Penal Code. It is difficult, if not impossible, to unravel the religion from the law in Lebanon.

“That being said, having lived for three months in Lebanon, I see that religion is a major part of people’s lives. And that very much includes the Queer community. Just listening to the every day conversations, so many of the phrases have continual references to God (‘Thanks be to God,’ ‘If God is willing,’ ‘God be with you,’ etc.).

“In Lebanon, it is very different for the Queer community. The month of Ramadan just finished recently. Queer Muslims do not have sex, and minimize their involvement in Queer activities during this month.

“Being gay means you are a minority, almost no matter where you live. And, being gay means that at some point you may have probably felt a sense of discrimination. Therefore, being a minority, it enables me to be more open-minded about anything different, and, I think, more accepting of those differences.

“To some degree, I knew what I was getting into when I came over here. I had a rough time of it with my family. My dad is from Lebanon, and my mom is Lebanese-Australian. So I expected it would be much worse over here. That is why I am here. To do my part. I think that is all someone can do. At the same time, I think it is what everyone must do.