Khalid Abdel-Hadi

Abdel-Hadi was born and raised in Amman, Jordan. His family has Palestinian and Kurdish-Turkish roots. Abdel-Hadi was bullied at school for acting feminine.[2] He came out to his mother at age 14, telling her he liked men; she told him he was "just yearning for a father figure".[2][3]

He graduated from Petra University of Jordan in 2014.[4]

Abdel-Hadi was interested in magazines since childhood. He had attempted to intern at local publications, but was turned down for being "too out there".[5] In 2007, at age 17, he decided to found My Kali with some of his friends, with the aim of providing LGBT-related content.[5] On 30 October 2007, a local Jordanian publication, Ammon News, reported on its launch, reprinting My Kali's cover image of a shirtless Abdel-Hadi, though it identified him only as a "gay Jordanian teen".[5][6] This article was referenced by numerous publications, outing Abdel-Hadi.[5][6] At the time, Abdel-Hadi feared for his life.[5][7] Abdel-Hadi recounted this event for the 2022 anthology, This Arab Is Queer.

In 2022, Abdel-Hadi co-curated Habibi, Les Révolutions de l’Amour, an exhibition of LGBT artists from the Arab world and diaspora, at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris.[8]

Abdel-Hadi often collaborates with photographers and artists. In November 2017, for example, he was a subject for French photographer Scarlett Coten's series of portraits entitled "Mectoub" of young men from Middle Eastern countries. Coten photographed Abdel-Hadi wearing a black high-waist swimsuit and heels.[9]

In 2011, Abdel-Hadi angered many conservative LGBTQ Muslims by posing for a photoshoot in a speedo on Rainbow Street, Amman, with a mosque in the background. He later published a public apology for the shoot in Gay Star News.[10]

Abdel-Hadi is gay and queer.[5][11] He is also Muslim.[11]

He rarely makes media appearances outside his own publication and those of people who are close to him,[12] and has said he dislikes being the center of attention and speaking in front of crowds.[2]