The Double Threat for Gay Men Syria | Human Rights Watch

Contents:

• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AND TRANS WOMEN SPEAK OF SEXUAL ABE SYRIA
• THE DOUBLE THREAT FOR GAY MEN SYRIA
• IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY IN SYRIA?
• GAY LIFE SYRIA: AN INTERVIEW WH A GAY 'REFUGEE'
• MR GAY SYRIA
• GAY LIFE SYRIA: CHANGG REALI
• OPN THE DOUBLE THREAT FOR GAY MEN SYRIA
• FDG SYRIA'S MR GAY: FILM HIGHLIGHTS ABE OF LGBT SYRIANS WAR

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AND TRANS WOMEN SPEAK OF SEXUAL ABE SYRIA

People Human Rights Watch terviewed said that gay and bisexual men, transgenr women, and nonbary people were subject to creased vlence based on their actual or perceived sexual orientatn or genr inty. Human Rights Watch nducted terviews Lebanon wh 40 gay and bisexual men, transgenr women, and nonbary dividuals, as well as four heterosexual men who experienced sexual vlence Syria.

Report documentg acunts of survivors who fled to Lebanon tails stigma and gaps aid for sexual abe, Lebanon – Gay and bisexual men and transgenr women (GBT) have been subjected to creased vlence at the hands of Syrian state and non-state actors due to their actual or perceived sexual orientatn, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said a new report. One uple, intified as gay based on text msag between them, were beaten, referred to pejoratively as “tante” (ntie) and for 10 nights were forced to strip and have sex wh each other ont of their Syrian army terrogators, who ed chalk to make up their fac. A 26-year-old told of beg bldfold and handcuffed to a ceilg by unintified men who said they were affiliated wh al-Qaeda and who tried to get him to reveal the nam of his gay iends.

In addn to this abe, perpetrated by all parti to Syria’s nflict, more than half the gay Syrians whom Human Rights Watch terviewed told paful stori of fay rejectn, rangg om ostracism to vlence — and, five stanc, ath threats. In at least two s Human Rights Watch documented, gay men were subjected to anal exams by the Lebane Internal Secury Forc — spe lls om the Lebane doctors’ syndite and the jtice mister 2012 to abolish that practice, which amounts to torture.

THE DOUBLE THREAT FOR GAY MEN SYRIA

Humanarian assistance provirs and the Lebane ernment, wh the support of ternatnal donors, mt make sure gay Syrian refuge are receivg basic levels of assistance and protectn.

Isis has btally persecuted LGBT people for several years and nsirs beg gay to be a crime punishable by a number of ternatnal volunteers fightg alongsi Kurdish forc northern Syria have formed an LGBT ary un and named “The Queer Insurrectn and Liberatn Army” (TQILA) – pronounced “tequila” group was set up unr the umbrella of the Internatnal Revolutnary People’s Guerrilla Forc (IRPGF), an anarchist group takg part the fight agast 's formatn was announced a statement posted on s Twter page. Pictur posted on social media showed masked soldiers ary uniforms holdg guns and standg ont of a banner readg: “The Faggots Kill Fascists, TGILA-IRPGF” the background other soldiers hold the rabow flag and a banner showg the group’s logo – an AK47 on a pk has equently murred people Iraq and Syria who ems to be LGBT, cludg releasg vios showg gay people beg phed off buildgs and stoned to group also claimed rponsibily for a 2016 attack on a LGBT nightclub Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. One gay man’s rponse has been to abandon his native Syria and s current upheaval state and live Turkey where he fds support om the LGBT muny but still leav him a man whout a untry.

IS IT ILLEGAL TO BE GAY IN SYRIA?

He is currently a man whout a untry, forced om Syria by a dangero revolutn, fay disagreements as well as ary threats, not so much for his beg gay but for tryg to make a polil statement of fiance toward the Assad regime that’s currently slghterg thoands of own cizens. Adad’s views beme known through his two psdonymo web blogs which advote for human and gay rights agast the ernment treatment of gays as well as the btaly and rptn of the currently lears.

Although Turkey is nsirably more tolerant of LGBT life than most other Middle East untri (along wh Israel and Lebanon) is still a culture steeped homophobic discrimatn. ” A gay fay member was ually upsettg at first but life had more important thgs that mattered–food, secury, safety, earng e, children’s school lsons and not drawg attentn to yourself or your fay. But then a new police chief felt the need to prove his effectivens, not agast wispread rptn the ernment or the civil service, but agast the meager gay muny for imaged immoral behavr agast the natural orr.

GAY LIFE SYRIA: AN INTERVIEW WH A GAY 'REFUGEE'

However, that fervent actn only lasted for a few months late 2010 when thgs went back to normal “tolerance wh reason” and gay iends ntued to meet and greet each other certa f and private small parti. When Adad was taed by the police a send time the officer charge, probably tryg to timidate him, displayed a large rmatn book wh nam and photos taken om onle social work webs of allegedly gay people Syria (and elsewhere) along wh their profil and iends.

When asked if he has had any trouble om namg gay venu on his webse he said “no, as long as there is not trouble stirrg we are mostly ee to go about our own affairs but they still try to sre and warn agast any big parti or public showgs.

Asked where he would want to live: “of urse I want to live my home culture near my fay but that will not happen any time soon; perhaps a untry where gay people are given some feelg of rights and equaly, like France or Germany. Soon after the short-lived police gay party bts and tentns end December 2010, (why they end is a mystery to Adad; perhaps anticipatn of bigger thgs to e), the ‘Arab Sprg’ reached Syria as the mostly unarmed populace rose up agast the heavily armed ernment.

MR GAY SYRIA

Curly, however, Adad reported that even after the revolutn started the gay muny seemed to be left alone and not specifilly targeted as a moral or secury risk, even as the ernment vilified the opposn forc as ‘homosexual revolutnari’ needg to be put down. Beg gay has always been a reason for firg someone om their job and that is creased now out of fear; the thori may spect an otherwise nocent employer if he is found to have a gay person workg for him. No, we are not sellg Syria as the new Mykonos, San Francis or Sydney, however our experience we have found that Syria and the people there are surprisgly liberal, and ’s a lot easier to travel there as a gay person than you might expect.

And no, bee well, our experience we have wnsed first-hand, gay ctomers talkg wh our lol Syrian guis about this exact issue and our lol guis have been nothg but open and acceptg. A/HRC/29/23, 4 May 2015; Graeme Reid, “The Double Threat for Gay Men  … Contue readg The documented ab clu forced nudy, rape, and anal or vagal “examatns” rried out by Syrian Government forc (and by armed groups), often as a tool of ercn or punishment tentn facili.

” See: Ree Erlich, “Gays jo the Syrian … Contue readg Wr large, throughout the nflict, terrori held by armed surgent groups have arguably been the most overtly hostile environments for LGBTQ+ Syrians, particularly areas held by vlent extremists.

GAY LIFE SYRIA: CHANGG REALI

S/2016/361, 20 April 2016; Michelle Nichols, “Gay Men Tell UN Secury … Contue readg Although sweepg claims should be approached utly, foreign-born armed group fighters were generally more zealo and punive LGBTQ+ matters than Syrian batants the same groups. [27]Razan Ghazzawi, “Delonisg Syria’s so-lled ‘queer liberatn’, ” Al-Jazeera (2017):; Ayman … Contue readg SDF manr Mtafa Bali subsequently downplayed the apparent PR stunt: “while emphasizg our ep rpect for human rights, cludg the rights of homosexuals, [we] ny the formatn of such a battaln wh the amework of our forc. Followg the flux of Syrian refuge to Turkey the early years of the nflict, the untry me to host what was arguably the first anised Syrian LGBTQ+ movements and associatns, lnched large part by gay men Istanbul (see set: Milton of the Syrian LGBTQ+ Movement Turkey).

Several important factors have facilated mobilisatn wh the Syrian LGBTQ+ muny Turkey: Homosexualy has long been crimalised the untry, although social stigma persists, pecially more nservative, outlyg areas.

[29]In 1858, Sultan Abdul Majid I crimalised homosexualy, th grantg homosexual adults the right to engage sexual activy whout threat of legal, Turkey has a long rerd of receivg and grantg protectn stat to sexual mori om plac such as Iraq and Iran; the untry has creasgly acted as a crossroads for migratn om Asia and Ai to Europe, which — recent years — has cid wh a rise the numbers of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. ” This ncept unrwrote LGBT Rad, a statn that was meant to lnch on 17 May (the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia) 2013, as the first Arab rad statn addrsg gay issu.

OPN THE DOUBLE THREAT FOR GAY MEN SYRIA

[38]Amélie Zacur, “Gay Refuge From ISIS, ” The Daily Beast (2017):; “‘No place for people like you’: An analysis of the needs, … Contue readg LGBTQ+ refuge Lebanon report that employers, abers, and others explo their fear of lol thori to erce them to hostile, unsafe, and abive profsnal and personal relatnships. [44]“The Global Divi on Homosexualy: Greater Acceptance More Secular and Affluent Countri” Pew Reaerch Center (2013): … Contue readg Such attus have rulted stigmatisatn and harassment, vlence, and honour killgs.

Notably, no legal provisn specifilly prohibs women om wearg men’s cloth for the oppose purpose, an illtratn of the way that homosexual women are ls visible than their male unterparts — even legalised persecutn.

FDG SYRIA'S MR GAY: FILM HIGHLIGHTS ABE OF LGBT SYRIANS WAR

For stance, when the popular uprisg epted 2011, affluent Damascene gay men were well-known wh LGBTQ+ circl for hostg LGBTQ+ parti at farms and villas near the pal, unr the watchful observatn — and implic protectn — of thori. In general, the cultural ele Syria’s most smopolan ci, Damasc and Aleppo, have shown some toleratn for semi-overt exprsns of homosexual inty, yet this acceptance has been extend only to the privileged few, and has not translated to a regnn or acceptance of llective LGBTQ+ inty more broadly. [70]Hannah Lucda Smh, “How Jihadists are blackmailg, torturg, and killg gay Syrians, ” (2013): In other s, Government of Syria secury agents and Islamist armed group batants have posed as gay men on social media or datg applitns orr to entrap LGBTQ+ dividuals — a procs that has sometim culmated -person meetgs leadg to arrts, kidnappgs, beatgs, blackmail, ransom mands, [71]Amélie Zacur, “Gay Refuge From ISIS, ” The Daily Beast (2017): and even killgs.

[72]Jam Kirchick, “ISIS Go Medieval on Gays, ” The Daily Beast (2015): As illic war enomi proliferate si Syria, the risk of extortn over sexual or genr inty will grow. [73]Graeme Reid, “The Double Threat for Gay Men Syria, ” Human Rights Watch (2014): Although same-sex relatnships are legal Turkey, homophobic attus are nohels wispread and LGBTQ+ refuge have reported troublg cints, cludg beg pelted wh rocks or beg followed the street and attacked.

[75]“Missg gay Syrian refugee found behead Istanbul, ” The Guardian (2016): … Contue readg In June 2019, another gay refugee, 22-year-old Muhammad Hamsho, was stabbed to ath Mers, southern Turkey. The Lebane Office for the Preventn of Crim agast Public Decency has been acced of targetg gay men[78]Joey Ayoub, “Lebane Police Arrt Four Durg Gay Club Raid, ” Global Voic, 2013, and performg illegal and purposefully huiatg abe, cludg reported e of “anal tts” — which have been banned by a recent cree and were scribed by the Lebane Doctors Syndite as a form of torture. [79]“Digny Debased: Forced Anal Examatns Homosexualy Prosecutns, ” Human Rights Watch (2016): … Contue readg Although Lebane navigatg arbrary teractns wh thori sometim have reurse to fay works, fluential polil party members, or other tsted termediari pable of preventg harsh and arbrary punishment or tentn, Syrian refuge seldom have accs to such mechanisms.