Gay syria

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in Syria face serious legal challenges which are not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. In Syria, LGBT individuals face significant challenges due to prevailing cultural norms, legal restrictions, and the ongoing conflict within the country.

mr gay syria

Men and women are often subjected to discrimination, social stigma, and harassment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBT Rights in Syria: homosexuality, gay marriage, gay adoption, serving in the military, sexual orientation discrimination protection, changing legal gender, donating blood, age of consent, and more.

Over two days in February, Human Rights Watch interviewed 19 gay Syrian men who had taken refuge in Lebanon. (Lesbians are more difficult to find in Syria’s closeted culture.) Their stories. In Syria, severe violations against LGBTQ+ individuals occur without any official investigation or accountability. Syrian law explicitly criminalizes homosexuality, reinforcing a culture of impunity.

Both men and women are criminalised under this law. Syria gained its independence from France in , and adopted its first post-independence penal code in France had not criminalised same-sex sexual activity for more than a century, meaning that the criminalising provision in Syria is of local origin. There is some evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being occasionally subject to arrest by state authorities.

Additionally, since the Revolution in and the ensuing conflict, LGBT people have regularly been detained and executed by militant groups which have controlled parts of Syria. There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including murder, assault, sexual violence, harassment, and blackmail. In December former Bashar al-Assad fled the country as rebel groups overthrew the government of Syria.

The report also highlights, however, it was also noted that information on actual prosecutions of LGBT people in Syria is scarce. It is further reported that in areas where HTS an armed group which administers half the province of Idlib exercises authority, people that identify as LGBT can receive the death penalty, and that the families of people killed in these cases will often accept death as an honour killing or crime so as to maintain their status and reputation in their community.

The US Department of State report noted that there were no reports of prosecutions that year, although there had been in previous years. The report further states that arrests usually take place without warrants and the detainees are subject to verbal, physical and sexual violence. The US Department of State report noted that although there were no reports of police enforcement during the year, in previous years prosecutions had been brought against LGBT people.

Furthermore, several militant groups have been reported as detaining, torturing, and killing LGBT people in recent years. An article published by Syria Direct in October reported that while Article of the Syrian Penal Code is rarely applied, LGBT people are instead prosecuted under other charges, such as disturbing public order.

A report by the UN Human Rights Council documented the sexual and gender-based violence committed in Syria during the conflict that followed the Revolution. The report concluded that this treatment constituted a crime against humanity. In August, it was reported that pictures had been released of a man suspected of being gay being thrown from the roof of a building by members of ISIS.

Since the Revolution a number of reports suggest that LGBT individuals are now exposed to a double threat of being abused; both by Syrian police and Islamic Extremists. NGOs continued to report that the regime and other armed groups subjected perceived members of the LGBT community to humiliation, torture, and abuse in detention centres, including rape, forced nudity, and anal or vaginal examinations. An article by the Atlantic Council published in June noted that openly identifying as LGBT is likely to result in social exclusion, imprisonment or forms of torture.

It was also reported that in areas such as north and northwest Syria, being outed could result in execution. Often families would accept the death as an honour killing to preserve their reputation within the community. These include risks faced by gay men in military service; the danger faced by transgender persons when passing through army and security checkpoints where they are forced to provide ID cards that may not match their current physical appearance; and the vulnerability of LGBT refugees in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, due to the double-stigma they may experience due to being Syrian and LGBT.

The COAR report further noted that lesbian and bisexual women who are open about their sexual identity may be barred from communicating outside the family, and face violence, conversion therapy and forced marriage. The US Department of State report noted that human rights activists reported there was overt societal discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all aspects of society.

There were also reports of extremist groups blackmailing and harassing LGBT people. A report by Human Rights Watch documented the sexual violence faced by gay and bisexual men and transgender women during the conflict. It reported increased and intensified violence, including rape, sexual harassment, genital violence, threat of rape, and forced nudity.

Survivors suffer from various psychological and physical traumas. Respondents from Aleppo noted there was a risk of being disappeared or kidnapped by militias, and described a threat of harassment and abuse by state authorities. They further feared being entrapped over social media by security agents and Islamist armed groups posing as homosexual men in dating applications.

Furthermore, most respondents had been ostracized by family members. According to a Reuters report , gay, bisexual and transgender Syrians were often subjected to sexual abuse or harassment at checkpoints, in detention centres and during house raids.