Initiated in 2014 as a commission by the NGO Legal Agenda and arts organisation Ashkal Alwan in Beirut, The Against Nature Journal explores “crime against nature” laws and their legacies in order to foster dialogue on sexual and reproductive rights and rethink nature anew.

On the occasion of the research phase of our inquiry in 2014, Council invited Carlos Motta to present Gender Talents, his web-based project that engages movements and discourses for gender self-determination within trans and intersex communities internationally.

In 2015, as both the beginning of The Against Nature Journal and the conclusion of the first phase of research of the project called Manufacturing of Rights, Council organised a pluridisciplinary colloquium at art centre Ashkal Alwan, Beirut. ¹ On this occasion, the film commission Deseos / رغبات by Carlos Motta (2015) premiered. ²

The inquiry thus became a touring installation called Introduction to T.A.N.J (Contour Biennial, Centre Pompidou, Paris, MAMM, Medellin, 2017). ³

Since 2020, The Against Nature Journal took the form of an arts and human rights magazine. Issues intertwine six themes, each becoming the major focus of one issue: Religion, Migration, Medicine, Love, Death, Nature.  After T.A.N.J #1, an inaugural issue devoted to religions and spirituality (Summer 2020), T.A.N.J #2 confronts the theme of migration, a crucial topic when addressing the forced dis- placement of LGBTQI+ people from contexts where “nature” is still used to criminalize consensual same- sex conduct or gender expression (Winter 2021). ⁴

Throughout the inquiry, Council participated in a series of talks presenting The Against Nature Journal to diverse audiences.