Is the first Lebanese birth recorded without a religious sect cause for concern or celebration?



Photo via Nidal Darwish [Twitter].

Opponents of sectarianism in Lebanon are celebrating what they are calling the first child born without a religious sect. Nidal Darwish and Kholoud Sukkarieh announced Saturday that their one-month-old son Ghadi had been registered without a religious affiliation. In January, the couple celebrated the first civil marriage recorded in Lebanon.

Ghadi's birth was celebrated by supporters of civil marriage, which was only recently made legal in Lebanon. The country's political system is distributed according to religious sect, with many social and economic implications for Lebanese citizens. Many asked what a sect-less identity would mean for a child growing up in a country governed by sectarianism.

Kholoud Sukkarieh spoke to The Stream about her son: