From arrts to honor killgs to ld-blood murrs, when Mahmoud Hasso saw the rights of Syria's lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) muny trampled the btal civil war, he wanted to fd a way to tell the world.
Contents:
- THE DOUBLE THREAT FOR GAY MEN SYRIA
- FDG SYRIA'S MR GAY: FILM HIGHLIGHTS ABE OF LGBT SYRIANS WAR
- AMID BRAZEN, ADLY ATTACKS, GAY SYRIANS TELL OF FEAR OF ISIS PERSECUTN
THE DOUBLE THREAT FOR GAY MEN SYRIA
LGBT Rights Syria: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more. * syria lgbt rights *
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. He told Human Rights Watch that he was not taed bee he was gay, but once his sexual orientatn was revealed, sexual vlence durg terrogatns creased drastilly:.
Homosexualy⚢Vari by RegnGay Marriage⚭✖ UnregnizedCensorship✖ State-enforcedNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsMilary✖ Don't Ask, Don't TellDonatg Blood✖ Banned (fe ferral)Conversn Therapy✖ Not bannedAge of ConsentVari by Regn. Servg openly ary Syria is don't ask, don't 't Ask, Don't Tell Homosexualy is illegal Syria, but no laws specify homosexualy as a dishonorable discharge or prohibn om ary donatns by MSMs Syria?
FDG SYRIA'S MR GAY: FILM HIGHLIGHTS ABE OF LGBT SYRIANS WAR
Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people the Syrian Arab Republic face legal challeng not experienced by non-LGBT rints. Article 520 of the penal of 1949, prohibs "rnal relatns agast the orr of nature", and provis for up to three years' imprisonment. Vigilante executns, beatgs, torture, and vigilante attacks agast LGBT happen all the time Syria, cludg attacks by the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Mahmoud Hasso, a gay Syrian opposn activist and journalist who started the onle magaze Mawaleh, not that regardls of the oute of the civil war, work needs to be done the area of civil rights on behalf of all Syrians, not jt the LGBT muny. Miral Bredda, a secular lear of the Lol Coordatn Commte of Syria, said "Personally I see homosexualy as a private matter. But Syrian society would say "no way" if gays rose to claim their rights. Developg a civil society will take time." Nasraen Ahme, a member of the Free Syrian Army which works to brg down the ernment of Bashar al-Assad, said "If I was charge I would enforce tougher laws agast homosexuals. If someone said homosexuals should be stoned to ath as Iran and Sdi Arabia, I would not object." * syria lgbt rights *
Blood donatns by MSMs Syria is banned (fe ferral) (fe ferral) Syria, there were rtrictns on blood donatn by gay men due to ncerns about HIV transmissn. Syria’s legal and reprsive polil system crimalise homosexualy and outlaw most forms of LGBTQ+ activism and mobilisatn (see: the sectn on Challeng below. 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. 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.
AMID BRAZEN, ADLY ATTACKS, GAY SYRIANS TELL OF FEAR OF ISIS PERSECUTN
* syria lgbt rights *
Unverified anecdotal reports dite that such ndns likely drove some gay men to jo IS, whether as fighters or admistrative functnari, as a form of preemptive protectn. [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.
LGBT Rights Al Lādhiqīyah, Syria: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more. * syria lgbt rights *
” 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. [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. 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.
In 2011, the open prence of trans women or feme homosexual mal the urban slums surroundg Damasc was so normalised as to suggt some gree of popular difference. [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.