Decriminalising homosexuality, abolishing child marriage, improving women’s rights and introducing secular laws. These are just some of the issues that are cropping up as a new Lebanese generation votes for the first time on May 6th. The last election was in 2009—when the iPhone was two years old and Barack Obama was six months into office.

The current parliament voted three times to extend its mandate. Many Lebanese feel that their government has been corrupt and ineffective. Now, independent candidates are competing against the established political parties that have presided over the country for decades. Although some independents have past ties to the major parties, many have campaigned against the government for years. A total of 595 candidates are competing for 128 seats; some 66 candidates class themselves as independent.

These candidates, with the backing of civil-society groups, are advocating for national reforms. Some are calling for the abolition of a law forbidding “sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature”, which is often used to persecute gay men. They also want more secular laws, including civil marriage. Others say that Lebanese women should be allowed to pass on their nationality to their children, a privilege currently reserved for men, and want to establish a minimum age of marriage at 18.

Civil-society groups have been active in Lebanon for some time, but the establishment of a national coalition of independent candidates—who have set aside their differences to form electoral lists in nine of the country’s 15 districts—marks the first time that disparate groups have banded together on this scale. Read more via Economist