Gay cure viral video 'paints wrong picture' of UAE

The controversial video depicts two young Emirati men giving their effeminate friend a makeover.

A UAE-made internet video showing how to cure people of their homosexuality has caused a stir on social media.
Titled Be Yourself, the controversial video, which depicts two young Emirati men giving their effeminate friend a makeover, has attracted attention from websites and blogs all over the world.
More than 20,000 people have viewed the six-minute video, including a separate behind-the-scenes clip.
The video shows two young men inviting their long-haired friend, who speaks with a high-pitched voice, into their home to give him a "straight" makeover.
Once inside, the two men tell their friend he needs to "change his personality" and proceed to teach him how to be a "real man" by clenching his fists.
The next clip shows them scrubbing his fingernails, cutting his hair and washing his face with soap. After the "makeover", the man is slapped in the face and told to "stop speaking about boys".
When he returns in the final scene, he appears more masculine and his friends are happy and proud to see he has changed.
Most of the comments on YouTube have been negative, with one post saying: "This is satire, right?"
A Twitter comment on Wednesday read: "#UAE "Straight Makeover" ps: I am speechless!!"
The director, Abdullah Al Saeedi, 21, said he and his friends, who produce short videos under the production label UAE Aflam, made the video in a "simple and funny way to show how gays can be changed to men".
"In our country, being gay is a bad thing," Mr Al Saeedi said.
The video, which is all in Arabic, has been widely criticised.
"It saddens me that these kids believe that being gay is . curable," said a Dubai-based rights activist, who did not wish to be named.
He said the video is "only making things worse" as it "paints the wrong picture" of the UAE.
According to Mr Al Saeedi, most of the feedback has been positive, but admits that "many people also didn't like it".
Homosexuality is illegal in the UAE under Sharia law.
Jamil Abu-Wardeh, a Dubai-based TV, film and Middle East marketing expert, said he hopes people will take the ages of the filmmakers, which is between 16 and 21, into consideration when they judge it.
"They have not yet had the opportunity to form their own opinions based on independent experiences," said Mr Abu-Wardeh.
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